A Fireman, Soldier, Herder of Sheep, You’ll Be All Three, … Or!?

Abstract

The Hungarian Armed Forces is primarily a national army, and from a historical perspective, commitment, mission and professional competencies have proved to be significant for its members. Szabó Kun’s (2018) retrospective analysis claims that the organizational culture of the military, determined by its history, size, and technology, enhances the development of a strong sense of belonging among the members of the army, which has also ensured their national status for a long time. On the other hand, the Hungarian youth have been magnetized by these identity-shaping drives for centuries, so these drives can be assumed to exert their motivational power in the field of career choice among the students in contemporary formal education as well. In the present study, we have tried to sift the validity of this statement within the framework of the military professional training operating in our country, i.e. in the three distinct forms of the current cadet training. A questionnaire survey was completed to gather information about which subjects the students studying in the given form of training consider to be the most useful for their later career, which the most important motives for choosing the Honvéd Cadet Program are, how participants assess the quality of the training, and in their opinion, to what extent the training encourages them to follow a military career in their future. In the present paper, students’ reasons for selecting the Honvéd Cadet Program provided by the schools were mapped, as well as the effect the program has on their further education aspirations. It is also discussed how the Program influences students’ intention to continue their education on completion of their studies on the courses of the distinct types of the Honvéd Cadet Program.