On Friday, August 29, a press conference was held at the military unit, attended by Czesław Piątas, Secretary of State for Social Affairs and Professionalization at the Ministry of National Defence. The deputy minister spoke, among other things, about professionalizing the army. “In September next year, there will no longer be conscript soldiers in the 23rd Silesian Artillery Brigade,” he announced. They will be replaced by professional privates and soldiers performing extended service.
The professionalization of the military will proceed gradually. By the end of 2010, the professional army is expected to number 120,000 people. “We do not want people who come to us under compulsion; we want volunteers,” Czesław Piątas said during Friday’s meeting. – “A professional soldier is more expensive, but is five to ten times more efficient. They also have much greater potential.”
To attract young people to the military, the Ministry of National Defence is working on legislative changes intended to provide social protection for soldiers and their families. Among other things, the ministry has begun work on an act concerning veterans of peacekeeping and stabilization missions. As Piątas stressed, the ministry wants those departing on missions to be certain that, if anything bad happens to them, their loved ones will receive support. “This matters greatly to us,” he added.
This will not be the army’s only way of attracting young people. The military also offers competitive pay on the labour market and opportunities for promotion. “We are not closing the path to the non-commissioned officers’ corps to privates,” Piątas stated. Another factor intended to encourage young people to enter military service is pension benefits. “We want our pension system to differ from the general system,” the deputy minister noted.
Women in uniform?
The ministry certainly does not intend to close the path to a military career to women. As the deputy minister of the Ministry of National Defence stressed, women achieve results comparable to men during training. Today, three women serve in the ranks of the 23rd Silesian Artillery Brigade (one of them is a reconnaissance platoon commander). “We are fully opening the gates to women,” Czesław Piątas added.
(GA report)