A ceremonial assembly was preceded by a Mass for the departing soldiers, celebrated by retired Lieutenant Colonel Monsignor Wojciech Mroszczak together with concelebrants: Monsignor Józef Gołębiowski, Father Przemysław Tur and the regiment’s chaplain, Major Father Paweł Piontek. Alongside the soldiers—led by the regiment commander, Colonel Andrzej Lorenc—the service was attended by representatives of the administrative authorities, commanders and heads of units in the Bolesławiec garrison, as well as the soldiers’ families and loved ones. At the end, the clergy gave the departing soldiers soldiers’ prayer books.
During the further part of the ceremony, the commander of the Artillery Training Team, Lieutenant Colonel Sławomir Kula, made a commemorative entry in the unit’s chronicle on behalf of his subordinates:
I would like to assure you that the service we perform in Afghanistan will be a model of military professionalism and perseverance. I am certain that, thanks to the team members’ good preparation and skills, we will manage to carry out all our duties and achieve the mission’s objective, and, once it has ended, return to our homeland with a sense of duty well fulfilled.
After the Mass, the main part of the ceremony began, during which the commander of the 23rd Artillery Regiment, Colonel Andrzej Lorenc, bid farewell to his subordinates. “In a dozen or so days, the Bolesławiec artillerymen will once again begin a military mission far from their family homes. The Artillery Specialists Training Team, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Sławomir Kula, will teach artillery skills to soldiers of the Afghan army,” he said. “I am certain that, just like your predecessors, you will succeed in carrying out the assigned tasks and achieving the mission’s objective with full success.”
In accordance with tradition, those departing on the military mission were presented with symbols of the unit and the region. The team commander received the flags of the unit, county and city from Colonel Andrzej Lorenc, Deputy Starost Stanisław Chwojnicki and Bolesławiec Deputy Mayor Kornel Filipowicz.
During the ceremonial assembly, five soldiers were awarded the “Iraq Star” and “Afghanistan Star” for participation in previous missions.
(information: Captain Remigiusz Kwieciński/ii)