On 15–16 October, the Central Combat and Tactical Utility Competition for command, reconnaissance and topographical subunits of the Rocket Forces and Artillery was held at the facilities of the Artillery and Armament Training Centre in Toruń.
The best full-time teams of the Polish Armed Forces, selected during earlier competitions at the level of individual military units, took part in the rivalry. A committee appointed by the Artillery and Armament Training Centre in Toruń assessed the competing teams’ level of theoretical knowledge as well as their practical skills.
Of the eighteen reconnaissance groups, the one from the 23rd Artillery Regiment proved to be the best. The Bolesławiec artillerymen:
The winning group, consisting of: Senior Sergeant Krzysztof Fekieta, Senior Corporal Radosław Machnij, Senior Private Grzegorz Piechurski and Senior Private Stanisław Grasza, first had the opportunity to test its level of training and combat, physical and psychological readiness by completing an almost thirty-kilometre azimuth march, during which it carried out a series of special tasks, including building a “Dakota Fire Hole”, identifying silhouettes of equipment used by the armies of other countries, reading map contents, estimating the distance to a target and precision shooting.
On the final, and therefore decisive, day of the competition, the following events proved to be a test for our group: conducting reconnaissance and determining target coordinates, as well as establishing the location of an observation post. Our artillerymen proved unbeatable in these events.
Nine teams took part in the topographers’ competition, competing in events such as a theoretical and practical test for the team commander, reading map contents, determining geographic coordinates, determining distances using a short-base resection, and a hanging traverse. 23rd Silesian Artillery Regiment: – The Bolesławiec topographers were represented by: Senior Corporal Mariusz Skrętowski, Private Mateusz Lizurek, Private Aleksandra Stec and Private Mateusz Cebulski, and the total number of points they earned allowed them to take the highly commendable second place.
The cups and diplomas were presented to the winning teams by Colonel Zenon Wiśniewski, Head of the Rocket Forces and Artillery Branch of the Land Forces Inspectorate of the General Command of the Branches of the Armed Forces, and Colonel Remigiusz Zieliński, Commandant of the Artillery and Armament Training Centre. Congratulations to all participants, and especially to the winning teams.