Posted on 06/14/2003 12:36:51 PM PDT by knighthawk
DRAWSKO POMORSKIE TRAINING AREA, Poland (AP) - When Polish soldiers take command in part of postwar Iraq this summer, they will build on steady progress in transforming a lumbering Soviet-bloc force into a modern army and reap the benefits of serving alongside U.S. troops.
For a nation that emerged from communism little more than a decade ago, the mission rewards changes that have won high praise from U.S. military leaders and helped lift Poland to the status of a leading European ally.
Poland will contribute troops to and command a 7,000-soldier multinational force in central Iraq beginning in mid-August, and a team of 26 officers left Tuesday to prepare for the operation.
They departed as U.S. and Polish troops wrapped up a joint exercise in the fields and forests of northern Poland that underscored both countries' determination to strengthen military ties.
"What we've established is a solid relationship that will be expanded as we go," said Col. Randal A. Dragon, commander of the U.S. Army's 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division from Schweinfurt, Germany.
Poland's elite commando force - known by the acronym GROM, which is Polish for thunder - helped the U.S.-led coalition secure oil fields during the Iraq war. Poland also is buying U.S.-made F-16s to replace Soviet-era jet fighters in the biggest defense contract yet by a former Soviet bloc country.
But Poland hardly is a new kid on the block. GROM took part in a U.S. intervention in Haiti in 1994, while Polish peacekeepers have served in trouble spots for 50 years, from Korea's demilitarized zone and southern Lebanon to Kosovo and Afghanistan. About 2,300 Polish soldiers are slated for the Iraq force.
Poland's defense reform is being pushed along by a growing number of officers trained at U.S. military academies, including the top commanders of ground forces and the air force.
Other Cold War vestiges have faded as Poland meshes its standards and military planning with NATO, which it joined in 1999. Heavy armor is giving way to lighter units, military staffs have been reorganized and troop strength has been slashed to 156,000 from the communist era's 400,000.
U.S. officers say the changes are underpinned by shared experience on the ground, especially in Kosovo peacekeeping after a NATO bombing campaign drove the Yugoslav army from the province. Polish troops have been in the U.S. sector in Kosovo since 1999 and now lead a joint unit there with Ukrainians.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert J. Botters, a Kosovo veteran who took part in the Polish maneuvers, said working together in Kosovo as well as the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina was a critical prelude to the combat operations in Iraq.
"This contact through Kosovo and over the last decade has set the conditions for these kind of operations," he said. "We found a great compatibility at squad and platoon level."
In the five-day exercise here, American and Polish paratroopers practiced the nighttime seizure of an airfield while Polish officers worked with U.S. counterparts to plan a computer-simulated evacuation of the airborne force.
Inside a bustling command tent, Polish officers listened intently as a U.S. military planner briefed them in English on their role in the mock evacuation. They then huddled to discuss among themselves at a cluster of desks strewn with laptop computers, manuals and a map.
Despite Poland's progress, the process is far from complete. English abilities will take time to filter down through the ranks, and a new generation of junior officers is still developing.
"We need to work on language," acknowledged Lt. Col. Andrzej Knap, a U.S. Army War College graduate who speaks fluent English. "That's the basis of cooperation."
More rewards could be in store for Poland as U.S. military planners weigh shifting bases from western Europe to the east and south to meet new responsibilities in the post-Sept. 11 world.
Though no decisions have been announced and Polish officials say Washington has not approached them about bases, the Drawsko Pomorskie training area, about 65 miles east of the German border, is a potential candidate.
"This post meets many of our primary training requirements," said James Ellingwood, a civilian adviser to U.S. Army Europe in Heidelberg, Germany. "It suits our needs."
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