The competition lasted three days, with platoons from the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade (commander: Lieutenant Marcin Pytlik) and the 17th Wielkopolska Mechanized Brigade (commander: Second Lieutenant Dariusz Laskowski) taking part.
Early on the first day, the soldiers of the mechanized platoon began preparing for the contest awaiting them: they reconnoitered the sites where the various events were to take place, prepared their weapons, and the crews prepared the vehicles for firing. They then reviewed the procedures for installing the beam and self-recovering the infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). Establishing an action strategy and an algorithm for carrying out the procedures was also significant.
The second day began with the ceremonial opening of the competition. Representatives of the Black Division defined the objectives of the competition and presented the schedule of the individual events. The first event was to be firing from an infantry fighting vehicle at the vehicle firing range. Then, at the infantry firing range in Wędrzyn, firing the Beryl carbine for accuracy and grouping, combat firing No. 1 with a PKM machine gun, and training firing No. 1 with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher (RPG) were scheduled.
During the competition at the infantry firing range, nineteen soldiers from Świętoszów achieved very good results. “A completion rate of 78% and an average score of 4.1 in firing the Beryl carbine is a high mark,” summed up Major Wojciech Strzelecki, deputy commander of the 10th Dragon Mechanized Battalion (10bzD). “I am very pleased with this firing. I know how much work my soldiers put into preparing for these exercises. They really applied themselves, thoroughly zeroed their weapons, and it all resulted in an excellent score.”
The Dragons achieved an even better result in firing the PKM machine gun—every shooter received a very good grade. They achieved only slightly weaker results in firing the RPG. “Our platoon is not a standard establishment platoon; it was formed from soldiers from different companies. Because a large percentage of the Dragons are in Afghanistan, we had to assemble soldiers from various subunits of the battalion,” said the commander of the 1st squad, Senior Corporal Mariusz Czuryszkiewicz, who scored 41 points in firing the Beryl carbine in Międzyrzecz. “We trained really intensively from January onward. We owe much of our success to the commanders’ good planning and organization of training: Major Strzelecki and Lieutenant Pytlik. They made time available and gave us the opportunity to hone the skills we had acquired.”
During the entire competition, the most points could be earned on the second day, in firing from infantry fighting vehicles. There, the platoons from the Świętoszów and Międzyrzecz brigades scored the same number of points. However, that same day also included the event involving the self-recovery of an IFV and boarding and disembarking from it. Here, the Dragons once again took the lead, although the differences were small and mainly concerned the time needed to complete the procedure.
“The events were quite difficult. However, the decisive factors in the scoring were the firing events, both with individual small arms and from the vehicles. Both my colleagues and I gave it our all. Everyone knew what they had to do. The time spent training and working together was not wasted,” said Private Wojciech Skrzeczkowski, who scored 46 points in firing the Beryl carbine.
On the final day of the competition, the events included laying a single mine, platoon crawling over 50 meters, putting on a gas mask, evacuating a casualty from the battlefield, and delivering ammunition by bounds. On this day, too, the soldiers from Świętoszów proved better. The only event in which they gave way to their rivals was the gas-mask procedure. However, this did not affect the final result: victory for the Dragons.
“We fought the hardest and fiercest battles in two events: crawling and evacuating casualties from the battlefield. Our opponents were genuinely good,” summed up the final day of the competition Senior Private Piotr Kraśniewski. “However, we were unbeatable in evacuating casualties from the battlefield and won decisively there; the difference in points was very large.”
During preparations for the competition, the platoon representing the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade acquired the nickname “dream platoon.” Corporal Czuryszkiewicz laughs at this: “It is just a humorous term used by our colleagues.”
Major Strzelecki, however, speaks highly of his soldiers’ preparation: “I think that the competition in Międzyrzecz and defeating a truly good platoon from the 17th Wielkopolska Mechanized Brigade showed that the 10th Dragon Mechanized Battalion is capable of a great deal. The General Command competition lies ahead of us. I can say only this: morale is high, and commitment and willingness are very strong. We will certainly fight for victory.”
From March 17 to 27, the winning subunit of the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade will represent the Black Division at the General Command of the Polish Armed Forces Branches competition in Poznań.
(information: Katarzyna Przepióra, assistant press officer of the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade in Świętoszów/ii; photographs from the platoon’s training come from exercises held on February 19, 2014, at the Tank Combat Firing Range)