The 34th Bercsényi László Special Forces Battalion (), is a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

-sized formation of the

Hungarian Defence Force The Hungarian Defence Forces (, ) is the national armed forces, defence force of Hungary. Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces has been under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains political and civil control over the ar ...

special operations forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

History

The 34th Bercsényi László Special Forces Battalion was created during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. The unit traces its origin to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Royal Hungarian 1st vitéz Bertalan Árpád Parachute Battalion, which fought against the Soviet Red Army. In 1945 the remaining elements of the regiment were disbanded. In 1951, as part of the Hungarian People's Army, a new parachute battalion was created in

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

. This unit was disbanded after the 1953 military forces reduction. After the events of the 1956 revolution a stabilization process began. In 1957 a special purpose reconnaissance company was created. The company was enlarged to battalion level in 1962 and it was allocated to the Chief of Staffs 2nd Directorate. The 27th Separate Reconnaissance Company was detached from the battalion, forming a sub unit of the 5th Combined Arms Army stationed in

. The unit served as the eyes and ears of the Army for decades. It had during this time three special purpose long range recon companies. In 1977 the 27th Separate Reconnaissance Company was again part of the battalion, and the battalion became the 5th Army's reconnaissance unit. In 1990 the 34th Special Reconnaissance Battalion took on the name of László Bercsényi son of General Miklós Bercsényi. In 2001 the unit moved from its garrison to its present location at Szolnok Air Base. In 2005 the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

's Mobile Training Team arrived to Szolnok to help transform the reconnaissance battalion to a special operations battalion. Members of the unit received "Special Forces" training. Operators of the battalion served in

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

along with other NATO special forces units. The battalion was merged into the MH 2nd Gallant Bertalan Árpád Special Forces Brigade in 2017.

References

*
MH 34. Bercsényi László Különleges Műveleti Zászlóalj
a honvedelem.hu portálon * {{DEFAULTSORT:HDF 34th Bercsenyi Laszlo Special Forces Battalion Military units and formations of Hungary Military special forces battalions Military units and formations established in 1962