Polish Army to Train 36 Thousand Reserve Troops

According to the information released by the Polish General Command of the Armed Forces, training and rotational and compulsory exercises organized throughout the year 2016 are altogether going to involve ca. 36 thousand reserve troops. More than 34 thousand soldiers will have to report for duty at the units and training centres operating under the jurisdiction of the General Command of the Armed Forces.

Training of the Reserve Forces is one of the priorities for the Polish General Command of the Armed Forces. In the official announcement, the command stresses that the training is required to maintain the shape of the human resources structure, should a crisis or a war break out. Since 6 years now – from the moment when compulsory military service has been abolished – the preparatory service became the basic source for acquisition of the reserve troops.

This year, three training camps are going to be organized at the units and training centres acting under the jurisdiction of the General Command. In total, the above training will involve more than 11.5 thousand troops, within the scope of the needs of the privates. The first camp is currently on the go, remaining two are scheduled to begin in May and September. After the training ends, the volunteers will become a part of the National Reserve Forces, while the remaining soldiers will join the remaining personnel reserves.

During the year 2016 two preparation service camps are also planned for the non-commissioned officers corps. At the beginning of February and July, ca. 100 volunteers will report for a five-months training at the Land Forces NCO-Training School in Poznan, Air Force Academy’s Non-Commissioned Officers Training School in Dęblin, and at the Navy’s Non-Commissioned Officers School in Gdynia.

General Mirosław Różanski announced that additional compulsory exercise is going to be organized for more than 14.5 thousand reserve troops, and respective calls for duty are going to be issued to them throughout 2016. Różanski noted that thanks to the fact that the compulsory exercises for the reserve troops are organized now, the Polish Army gains a chance to have more trained reserves at its disposal. The Army is also going to be able to train those soldiers in line with the existing needs.

According to Major Romanczuk of the Polish General Command of the Armed Forces, the training must be maximally efficient, and it is going to be realized mainly in the field, during large exercises. The training of the reserves is going to be blended with the training of the regular units. According to the General Command of the Armed Forces, such training has been proven to be effective e.g. during the Dragon-15 exercise. Różanski confirms that similar training of large elements of the reserve forces is going to be carried out during the Anakonda-16 training operation, planned to happen this year.

National Reserve Forces’ soldiers are also going to participate. In total, during the year 2016, in more than 40 military units, with more than 8 thousand troops of the National Reserve Forces, are going to be involved in the aforementioned operations. These soldiers have their units assigned, if any crisis situation breaks out, they are to report at these locations.