Defense Forces Hold Joint Exercise with Ohio National Guard

Reserve soldiers from four territorial defense regiments of the Hungarian Defense Forces and the Ohio National Guard are holding joint live-fire exercises at the shooting range in Bakonykúti, Fejér County (western Hungary). The exercise is called Valiant Panther 2025.

Brigadier General László Drót, commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces’ Territorial Defense and Reserve Command, said that a company from Hungary and a platoon from the U.S. are participating in the live-fire exercise. He explained that

the two-week exercise began a week and a half ago, and the soldiers have now reached the level of preparation required to carry out live-fire exercises.

On Wednesday, they conducted individual shooting exercises, and on Thursday, they will practice formation shooting, he added.

He indicated that 105 trainers and soldiers are participating in the live-fire exercises, 30 of whom are arriving from the United States. Drót emphasized that preparations began two to three years ago for a task that will involve conducting a validation exercise in the United States next year: a Hungarian unit will participate in the work of a designated unit of the Ohio National Guard, and the American brigade commander intends to distribute the Hungarian company among the American companies in platoon formations. He believed that this would provide a good opportunity for the Hungarian Defense Forces territorial defense forces to practice, participate in international tasks, and train themselves in both language skills and international cooperation.

He emphasized that as part of the long preparation process, the command staff had been selected and the commanders had undergone training in Hungary and the United States. He mentioned that

the task for the next year is to continue training the command staff and to practice how a Hungarian unit can carry out tasks in an American company, for which the current live-fire exercise is an excellent opportunity.

Major General David B. Johnson, the Assistant Adjutant General for Air, Ohio National Guard, confirmed that this exercise is a good opportunity for the American and Hungarian forces to bond. He said that in fact, the only differences are the weapons used by the two sides and the language; apart from that, squad and team-level operations are the same.

He stated that his soldiers were very excited about the live-fire exercise in Hungary, as it would further strengthen their relationship with Hungary and the Hungarian Armed Forces, which has been ongoing for more than 30 years. He noted that this is one of the longest relationships in their state partnership program.

Via MTI, Featured photo via MTI/Vasvári Tamás