On September 16, 2015, the division’s training facilities hosted the best chemical troops, as the first stage preceding this year’s competition at the level of the 11th Lubusz Armored Cavalry Division was to select the winning teams in each subordinate military unit. Many of them had already competed for the top podium place several times, and they know the chemical craft almost by heart.
After drawing their starting numbers, the competitors from the teams began, in the designated order, with training shooting No. 1 using a Beryl carbine. Naturally, as befits chemical troops, they did so wearing gas masks. The subsequent stages of the competition were closely linked to the chemical basics and included, among other things, preparing an IZS decontamination set to eliminate radioactive contamination using a vehicle compressor and preparing a DP-75 X-ray radiometer for operation.
Without a doubt, the signature event was crossing a contaminated section of the battlefield over a distance of five hundred meters. It might seem easy, but the difficult terrain, high temperature and, naturally, the protective clothing being worn made it a real challenge. “Team coordination is very important; without it, one cannot expect a good result or the best possible completion of the tasks at the individual stages of the competition. Every event is extremely important. Every point counts, and the whole team works for it,” said Second Lieutenant Radosław Gruźlewski, commander of the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade’s Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction team.
Awareness of the passing time, which was crucial in the competition, meant that evacuating a casualty from contaminated terrain was no less exhausting for the military chemists. Each competitor wore full equipment, a gas mask, a helmet and a weapon. In such conditions, they had to carry the casualty along the designated section using their own strength.
After exerting themselves fully and fighting their own bodies and minds, the competing teams assembled for the final formation. Once the scores had been tallied, the judges selected the best of the best. The team from the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade in Świętoszów won this year’s competition. Soldiers from the 23rd Artillery Regiment in Bolesławiec finished just behind them, while representatives of the 34th Armored Cavalry Brigade from Żagań took third place.
Second Lieutenant Krzysztof Gonera