Since 2013, the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade has actively cooperated with the Pomeranian District of the “Strzelec” Rifle Association, which brings together rifle units in the Lubusz and Lower Silesian Voivodeships. In accordance with the provisions of the agreement, the Brigade and the “riflemen” undertake joint activities aimed at shaping patriotic and defense awareness, promoting a positive image of the Armed Forces, and recruiting candidates for professional military service.
“The young people visiting Świętoszów come from Rifle Unit 3006 in Nowa Sól, Rifle Unit 4054 in Żagań and Rifle Unit 4047 in Wschowa,” said senior corporal Arkadiusz Śliwiński, deputy commander for training of the Nowa Sól unit. “There are already five rifle units in the area: there are also units in Zielona Góra and Sulechów. We have been cooperating with the 10th Brigade for several years, and this cooperation is going excellently. Unlike in previous years, when only the antiaircraft squadron invited us to training, this year we will have classes with soldiers from the engineer company, the reconnaissance company, and, I hope, the mechanized battalion. So the scope of the training will be broader, which makes us very happy.”
On January 21, the young riflemen visited the engineer company. “The soldiers prepared a demonstration of selected equipment. This is engineering, firearms and military engineering equipment used by our subunit,” said Lieutenant Przemysław Pakies, acting company commander. “We have mine detectors here, as well as one of our more recent acquisitions: a device for detecting wires in the ground, intended to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs).”
At the training stations, the young people had the opportunity to see individual weapons and engineering vehicles. The firearms station attracted the greatest interest, but the visitors could also enter vehicles such as the Kroton and Biber. At each vehicle, an operator was ready to answer every question about the equipment on display. And the questions were far from ordinary. The riflemen were not only familiar with the hydraulic system of the bulldozer-loader; they were also interested in other, no less specialized matters.
“The paramilitary and pro-defense movement offers more and more interesting opportunities, which is important in the case of young people,” said Corporal Śliwiński. “Our classes today are no longer about running through the forest with a stick and pretending to be a soldier, but about gaining concrete knowledge and acquiring real skills. Certain legal provisions are also emerging that enable the organization of training such as this. For example, an amendment to the law on the universal obligation to defend the Republic of Poland introduces a 102-hour program for uniformed classes and pro-defense organizations, which allows preparatory service to be shortened. Certain conditions must be met, but this will soon be possible.”
Membership in rifle units is becoming increasingly popular, and there are more young people every year. They are also getting younger. One of the recruits from Żagań is not yet 13 years old: Hubert Jankowy. When addressed, he assumes the attention position and answers the questions confidently: “I am a recruit from Rifle Unit 4054 in Żagań. I have belonged to it since September. Before that, I tried scouting, but I like it better here. I am learning everything that may be useful to me in the army and in defending the country one day. In the future, I intend to join the mechanized forces, preferably, or the tank units. I like the work of driving a large vehicle, such as a tank. Or the vehicle we are looking at today—the Kroton. I really like these classes. I have never had the opportunity to see such equipment before.”
The classes conclude with a demonstration of training involving explosives. Lieutenant Pakies familiarizes the visitors with the construction of firing and electrical training circuits and presents types of explosives. The orange smoke simulating the explosion of charges does not make much of an impression on the young people, unlike the next circuit, which contains real explosive charges. Several kilograms of TNT explode, producing a fairly high plume. “At this spot, the frozen ground will be removed, and it will be possible, for example, to dig a trench for a single soldier,” explains the exercise leader.
Since the classes were organized by the engineer company, most of the riflemen liked the explosions best—the bigger, the better. However, the young people were most interested in firearms, including the 7.62 mm machine gun and the 5.56 mm Beryl assault rifle. The more resourceful ones were already able to partially disassemble the weapons, and the questions they asked the engineers were highly advanced.
“The classes were informative and interesting, in our opinion,” senior riflemen Marcin Macutkiewicz, Gracjan Wojtaszewski and Bartłomiej Berczuk agreed. “Organized, as always, professionally. The Brigade’s personnel are clearly highly committed. The operators willingly answered every question. Now we are waiting for training with other subunits. All of them, and especially the mechanized ones.”
Katarzyna Przepióra