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No need to explain. The bull is happy and the intern is busy.
No need to explain. The bull is happy and the intern is busy.
Poland will send soldiers to Chad
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/lates.../idUSL23717667WARSAW, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Polish soldiers will join a proposed European Union mission in Chad aimed at protecting refugees trapped in the violent region bordering Darfur, Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo said on Thursday.
Under a proposal from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the EU force would protect civilians, humanitarian workers and the U.N. mission in Chad, which is facing an influx of tens of thousands of refugees from neighbouring Darfur.
The force -- seen by EU diplomats as comprising 1,500-3,000 troops -- would also work in the Central African Republic to try to block the transit of armed groups between Sudan and Chad.
"I have taken a decision to start preparations of our troops for a possible mission in Chad, which could start as early as this autumn or at the beginning of next year," Szczyglo told Reuters in an interview.
If Ban's plan goes ahead, it would complement the dispatch of up to 26,000 U.N. and African Union troops and police to Darfur, which has been locked in a four-year conflict.
EU foreign ministers are expected to make a final decision on the force in mid September.
Szczyglo said the timing of the mission had yet to be set but diplomats say EU member state troops could go in October at the earliest. Poland has soldiers on foreign missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
For some reason, after I have recovered from hard disk crash, MP.net editor is not accepting special characters - appearing in Polish names. I had to go back to simplified spelling. Sorry for that. - MZ
source: Dziennik, http://www.dziennik.pl/Default.aspx?...rticleId=57132Complex situation in Iraq
2007-08-19 23:42
Izabela Leszczynska
Attacks on Poles have become more refined
Iraqi insurgents organize themselves into units and change their tactics. Initially, they used primitive bombs with timers, now they activate them with help of photocells - "Dziennik" learns from the soldiers who have been recently distinguished by an inscription to the Honor Book of Ministry of National Defense. Six of the ten distinguished soldiers have served in Iraq. Three of them have been distinguished posthumously.
A situation in Iraq becomes more complex for two reasons. Firstly, the opposition movement against international coalition becomes better organized. Secondly, the partisans improve their killing technology.
"The first Polish Military Contingent found the opposition completely destroyed in 2003. The Saddam Hussain army has vanished from the face of the Earth. There were no terrorist groups, only singular people operated. They did not have a commander nor the operational directives" - tells "Dziennik" MAJ GEN W?odzimierz Potasinski, currently a commander of Polish Special Forces, who was twice in Iraq, and was a deputy commander of Multinational division between July 2005 and February 2006. He has been honored for his prominent commanding merit.
According to his relation, just after the first six months of operation the partisans have begun organizing. New leaders have emerged, such as Muktada As Sadr, joined later by former Saddam soldiers. "Now there are organized units, with commanders commanding in Iraq" - says Gen. Potasinski.
The killing tactics applied by partizans changes as well. Sgt. Arkadiusz Mendel from the 2nd Masovian Sapper Brigade, who served with the second contingent in Iraq, has learned about it first hand. His name has been written to the Honor Book because he carried away his badly burned colleague from under the mortar fire.
Mendel was on a de-mining patrol. The sappers were searching old warehouses and open terrain for old ammunition and rockets. They had to be destroyed to prevent partizans using them in production of mines. While the sappers were collecting the old rockets and transporting them to a controlled explosion site six mortar projectiles have been sent towards them. A truck went on flames from the first explosion, and the remaining shells hit the piles of collected rockets, causing huge explosions.
"One soldier was crawling out of that place. His entire body was burnt. Since his cloths were in flames he was ripping everything off. He lost consciousness. I thought he was already dead. But then he started pushing of the ground, attempting to stand up. I run to him. I caught him by hand - he was terribly burnt - and then I recognized him as my colleague. I began pulling him towards an engineering machine, where we had been hiding behind. He was in heavy shock. He was insisting on going back to recover his rifle. A Slovakian soldier run to us, and help me to move the wounded behind the machine. There were no end to explosions. Later on the Slovak was remotely operating that machine and I and my wounded colleague were withdrawing - under the protection of the machine - into a safe place" - says Sgt. Mendel.
The wounded soldier went through a long medical treatment. His face and the rest of his body was burnt. He still has some gunpowder under the skin. In this attack six soldiers have died, including two Poles.
"It won't be easier since the partisans improve their killing technology" - thinks Gen. Potasinski. They observe the behavior and operational tactic of our soldiers. Long ago they used primitive bombs with timers. They were evaluating speeds of our patrols. They knew that a patrol would need specific time to cover a stretch X or stretch Y of a road. They would set the timers at specific hours.
Later, they began blasting off the explosives with the help of cellphones.
"When we began jamming such devices, they were ready with electrical blast offs: when a vehicle was driving over two wires the conductors would connect and a mine would explode" - says Gen. Potasi?ski. He adds that now they use photocells to energize the ignition cables. The partisans also built explosive, which first hit a small steal plate deforming into an arrowhead, moving with a high speed. When it hits a hummer it destroys it. Equally dangerous are bombs filled with mortar bullets, which also have tremendous killing power.
Sawicki: Suddenly five machine guns started shelling at us.
Izabela Leszczynska: What kind of enemy do you deal with in Iraq?
Mariusz Sawicki*: Unpredictable. Two helicopters M-24 took part in the operation, where I was wounded. We were supporting Iraqi army and police from the air. They were combing up the As Suwariyah village, near Bagdad, in the Polish zone. They were looking for partisans and weapons. When we flew first time over the village all was quiet. We did not notice any suspicious looking people. When after a while we approached the village again suddenly five iraqi tracks with 7.62 machine guns appeared in a place where no one was seen before.
Apparently partisan live normal life in the villages like As Suwariyah. They live there, eat their meals and when needed they suddenly pull a track out of shack or bush, or take off the tarp from the vehicle full of weapons. A man with a firing gun suddenly appears in a place which seemed so quiet a while ago. And those people vanish as quickly as they appear.
How did you get wounded
I was a gunner at the right hand side of the helicopter. I suddenly saw those people and the same time I got hit. First bullets went to me. I was thrown back and I could not get up. I got it into my chest and my belly.
Did not you have flak jackets?
We had.
And those flak jackets did not protect your from the bullets?
The bullets found the weakest spots in the vest. A shell went through a kevlar sheet, theoretically non-penetrable. The bullet went from the side. This is a professional risk. We have to deal with it.
What kind of wounds were they?
A bullet went to the middle of my ribcage and probably turned around there. It broke my ribs, slightly damaged my lungs and liver and then exited from behind. Two holes are left: one bigger up front and one smaller at the back. At the beginning I did not know what was happening. An effect of adrenaline. Later I got a sense what has happened. I knew I had to keep cool. I did not loose consciousness but I could not move. I asked the second gunner to check on me. He gave me the first aid and called for American medics. We exited the threat zone and landed. Ten minutes later I was in a hospital in Bagdad. I even do not know what they were doing to me later.
How did you manage the pain?
I felt the worst pain only two weeks after the surgery. At the beginning, after the surgery, they give you anesthetics. I was probably receiving morphine. Later the anesthetics have been gradually withdrawn. The body defends itself, immunizes. Things stitched together begin to coalesce. Then the drains are being pulled off - this is when the pain is the worst. I am now on a sick leave. I still feel some pain at my right hand side.
What is for you to be entered into the Honor Book of the Minister of National Defense?
This is a surprise. This is a great commend, the most important that can be obtained from the Minister. But I do not feel a hero because of it, just a normal soldier.
Would you go back again to Iraq or to Afghanistan?
I am not excluding that. At the moment I need some rehabilitation time.
[*]Corporal Mariusz Sawicki is a commander of a recce squad of 16th Pomeranian Mechanized Division of Elbl?g. He has served in the 7th contingent in Iraq. Has has been wounded during a battle action on October 28, 2006. He was a gunner of a helicopter Mi-24. He has been honored for courage during that mission.
translated by MZ
source: http://www.redakcjawojskowa.pl/gazet...7115&Itemid=29Dangerous terrorists captured
Written by Wlodzimierz Glogowski
Thursday, August 23, 2007
On August the 22nd Polish soldiers apprehended two dangerous terrorists in Iraq. One of them is on a list of most wanted terrorists. The suspect A.H. is a commander of one of the platoons of Mahdi's Army (Jaish Al Mahdi).
He is responsible for several operations against coalition forces and Iraq security forces. Many civilians and coalition soldiers died in terrorist attacks organized by A.H.
The second terrorist is still being interrogated. Besides the captured terrorists the soldiers found and confiscated stores of weapons and ammunition used by terrorists in attacks on coalition forces and Iraqi soldiers. Some uniforms of Iraqi police - used during terrorist attacks - have been also found.
The operation took place in Al Budayr, 58 kilometers East of Diwaniya. It was run by Polish soldiers from special forces formation of Multinational Division Center-South, together with the 1st Battalion of 8th Iraqi Army Division and American Soldiers.
Translated by MZ
It looks like Gen. Tadeusz Buk has received a more clear mandate than that of his predecessor from the previous contingent. This is the second message of this sort that I came across - indicating that Poles in Iraq operate now well beyond the Camp Echo vicinity.
I have no idea what "special forces formation", mentioned above, actually means. Rumors from one of the articles posted here previously would suggest presence of GROM operators in Iraq. Have they all been moved from Afghanistan to Iraq, or are they present in both places? The only official credit to GROM operations in Kandahar have been given by President Bush in one of his official speeches few weeks ago.
Finally some good newsWell done !!!
According to a long article in Polish, http://www.redakcjawojskowa.pl/gazet...7118&Itemid=26, Aleksander Szczyglo, a Polish Minister of National Defense, has forced huge personnel changes within Polish military brass - the largest since 1989.
According to him, 47 generals have resigned or have been forced to resign from active duty in a period between January 1st till the end of last July. Most remaining generals and those recently nominated to the general rank are in their early forties, full of energy, creative, competent, educated in the best military schools of Western Europe, US and Canada - who have served in NATO commands or NATO missions and - ideally - have some battle experience from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Some of dismissed generals and some potential candidates for generals who have not advanced to the general rank yet are kept in a cadre reserve, a MND 'refrigerator' - until the Minister is convinced that they meet the criteria for further advancement.
That's a theory. A lot depends on novelization of advancement rules to be passed by Polish Parliament, personal connections and other realities within the circles of Polish military brass.
Russia's MiG signs contracts with Poland at the MAKS aerospace show
http://militaryphotos.net/forums/sho...d.php?t=118822
Could you give me a link, please?Originally Posted by Mishka Zubov
Thx,
M
I was slightly mistaken - Those were not the direct words of President Bush, but a jounalistic comment.
source: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/di...eekcm0.748668817 July 2007
Poland a Strong Ally, Says Bush
Polish president backs missile defense plan during White House visit
By David McKeeby
USINFO White House Correspondent
Washington – From its troop contributions to international forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to its offer to host components of a European-based missile defense system, Poland is a strong ally that shares a commitment to peace, President Bush says.
“Poland has taken some very difficult decisions to help a young democracy survive in the face of extremist threats,” Bush said in a joint White House briefing with Polish President Lech Kaczynski July 16. “And I want to thank you ... and the Polish people for supporting the people of Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Poland has contributed 1,200 troops to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. While most are deployed in southeastern Paktika and Ghazni provinces to support security operations, Polish special forces also have played a significant role in bringing order to southern Kandahar province.
Poland also was among the first nations to join Operation Iraqi Freedom, deploying 2,000 personnel in 2003. Poland currently has approximately 900 troops in the country and the contribution of those troops gratefully was acknowledged by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in a videoconference with Bush earlier in the day.
“War is never popular,” Bush said. “But having heard from the Iraqi leaders today, and their expression of gratitude not only to the Polish government, but the Polish people and the American people for supporting this democratic experiment, Mr. President, it reminds me of how important what we're doing is.”
....
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Ok, so he was generally speaking about our participation in this mission, thanks.
Pzdr,
m
source; http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n120207Poland holding key Taliban commander: report
24 August 2007 | 00:29 | FOCUS News Agency
Warsaw. Polish troops are holding a Taliban commander known as "Puma" who the radical Islamist militia has demanded released in exchange for 19 South Korean hostages, a report said Thursday.
Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo was cited by the PAP news agency as saying Polish troops serving with NATO-led forces had captured the commander on August 16 in eastern Afghanistan.
He said Puma was the fourth most-wanted militant in Afghanistan and was one of several captured fighters the Taliban were seeking to exchange for their South Korean hostages, seized on July 19.
"It's therefore someone very important," Szczyglo was quoted as saying by the news agency.
The government in Kabul has so far rejected any prisoner swap with the Taliban. (AFP)
source: http://www.redakcjawojskowa.pl/gazet...7140&Itemid=46TUR will protect our soldiers
Written by Marek Mejssner
Friday, August 24, 2007
Polish TUR supposes to be better than American HUMVEE
Five battle vehicles TUR have been sent to Afghanistan to test them in battle conditions. TUR resists explosion of 6 kg TNT mine, protects against shells from Kalashnikov and against shrapnel.
TUR is the first armored patrol-battle vehicle manufactured in Poland. It will be protecting Polish soldiers on foreign missions.
American HUMVEE in its basic variant (as used by Poles in Iraq and until recently in Afghanistan), without special modular armor kit, does not have the best opinion - both in Iraq and in Afghanistan. It is vulnerable to small mines and its armor does not protect against anti-armor shell from Kalashnikovs - the basic weapon of terrorists and ordinary bandits.
Not badly armed
.. and this is why the armored battle-patrol vehicle TUR, designed by Polish company AMZ Kutno, may occur to be very useful for our soldiers.
It weighs 6220 kg and carries five soldiers - four in the armored cabin plus a gunner at the gun station. Depending on the version - it can be armed with 12.7 mm machine gun, 20 mm cannon or 40 mm automatic grenade launcher.
Harder than HUMVEE
But what is most important: TUR has better armor than HUMVEE. Its modular armor of boards and roof makes it a capsule protecting the crew. The engine and its cover is also shielded. Polish vehicle is able to withstand shelling of anti-armor rounds from Kalashnikov. The armored floor protects against mines most often used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
TUR uses some chassis elements from Italian manufacturer of special vehicles SCAM from Varese. It has very economical turbodiesel Iveco Aifo engine of capacity 2998 ccm. It burns only 20 liters of fuel per 100 km - 2.2 times less than HUMVEE, even though it is 1.5 times heavier than the latter. [HUMVEE's maximum acceptable mass is 4.5 tones]. TUR costs half as much as HUMVEE.
The gearbox has six gears but as many as 24 gear ratios: 12 for road driving and 12 for the off-road terrain. It keeps its power in driving uphill - a very useful feature for mountainous Afghanistan.
TUR is comfortable for its users. TUR is quieter inside than the American vehicle. It has also better air-conditioning. The crew communicates via intercom. Its standard equipment includes GPS and infrared system - allowing driving with lights off. A board monitor shows images from outside the vehicle.
Created in eight months
TUR has been created in a record time of eight months. The first batch of these vehicles is already being tested in Afghanistan. TUR will be sent to Iraq as well. This is not a secret that there is a huge demand for such kind of vehicles by world armies. If TUR passes the test the Polish design may appear in greater numbers on the world market of battle vehicles.
TUR's technical data
Persons: five soldiers, including a gunner
Engine: Iveco Aifo, 4-cylinder, 16-valves, turbocharge, capacity 2998 ccm
Power: 122 kW (166 HP)
Tank: 220 liters
Burns: 20 liters/100 km
Max mass: 6200 kg
Load capacity: 1000 kg
Length: 4780 mm
Height: 2350/2770 mm
Fording depth: 700 mm
Weapon: 12.7 mm machine gun, or 20 mm cannon, or 40 mm grenade/flair launcher
Gun station type: crows nest. The gun can be also remotely operated from inside the vehicle.
Multilayer bulletproof glass windows
Armored crew compartment
Cargo box
Anti-mine, v-shape floor.
Translated by MZ
Manufacturer: AMZ Kutno, Special Vehicle Adaptation Producer
source: http://www.amz.pl/en/military_vehicles/news/tur/tur/
Vehicle purpose:
Adapted for transport 5 person with outfit and equipment to danger area. Use for realization of intervention and patrol tasks.
Technical specification:
Engine: Iveco Aifo 4-cylinders, turbocharger and intercooler, Common Rail.
Capacity: 2998 cm3
Power: 122 kW (166 hp)
Gearbox: 6-gears, synchronized + rear gear
Permanent 4 wheel drive mechanism
Clutch: Hydraulic, dry, single disk
Reduction gear and Transfer case allow to use 24 gear ratios: 12 for road drive and 12 for off-road
Fuel tank: 160 L
Range: 600 km
Vehicle ballistic armouring:
Protecting crew against:
Armor Piercing Incendiary bullet: 7,62x39 API BZ (Level 2 - STANAG 4569)
Armor Piercing bullet: 7,62x54R B32 AP (Level 2 - STANAG 4569)
explosive material equal 6kg of TNT (Level 2b - STANAG 4569)
Engine protected by armoured steel plate FB6 class
Vehicle Dimensions:
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) - 6200 kg
Payload - 1000 kg
Wheel Base - 2800 mm
Track Width - 1700 mm
Total Length - 4870 mm
Height - 2350 mm (to the roof level)
Total Width - 2230 mm.
Fording depth (without preparation) - 700 mm
Crew - 5
source: http://www.rzeczpospolita.pl/news.rol?newsId=12286Polish TUR will challenge the Talibs
July 25, 2007
Written by Zbigniew Lentowicz
First Polish patrol vehicle with an anti-mine armor, from a private factory AMZ Kutno, will be sent to fight terrorists. MND is planning to sent a test vehicle to Afghanistan. [Five already sent - see above, MZ] It took only eight months to develop it from the initial concept.
Creating a new Polish armored vehicle in such a record time was only possible in a private company. "The armored intervention vehicle is a concept of our engineers, but we had to cooperate with military institutes" - admits Jaros?aw Stachowski, a vicechairman of AMZ Kutno. The company has started ten years ago in a small production hall, bought on credit - mounting simple bodywork of microbuses. Today the company sells its modern ambulances on Mercedes chassis, bank cars, and buses to Scandinavia, Germany and Arab countries - beginning with Saudi Arabia. The military is a very important customer of AMZ. Armored vehicles Dzik are used by Polish Military Police and 600 of those vehicles - adopted to desert conditions - will be delivered to Iraqi Army by the end of this year.
"The military is a very demanding customer but they pay reliably" - says chairman Stachowski. Last year's revenues of AMZ Kutno exceeded 160 mln zloty, and its net earnings - 16 mln zloty.
Polish Army became interested in TUR during the preparation stage to the dangerous Afghan mission. The vehicle, weighing 5.2 tones, carries five soldiers, uses some elements of Italian manufacturer SCAM from Varese and three liter engine Iveco. "I like the way the AMZ thought from the very beginning about construction that maximally protects people. Especially profiled floor - dispersing the explosion impetus, a modular armor - flexibly adapted to dangers and creating some sort of capsule around soldiers - these are the basic advantages of the vehicle" - enumerates Grzegorz Holdanowicz, a chief editor of the professional periodical "Raport WTO".
TUR is supposed to be much safer and definitely less expensive than American HUMVEE, which has not had a good press in Afghanistan. The economical engines Iveco will burn twice as less of fuel - about 20 liters/100 km - as legendary Hummers - which is very attractive idea for our military.
"For MND it is important that the production of those vehicles that are needed by our forces will be carried in a Polish plant. Thanks to military orders many people will have a chance to find employment here" - says Aleksander Szczyglo, a Minister of National Defence. He announces that before the TURs are ordered their prototypes will go through reliable tests in battle conditions of Afghanistan. Before that the vehicle will be seriously tortured in factory conditions. "We are expanding our plant and currently creating special laboratories for testing the vehicles against shelling and explosions" - says chairman Stachowski.
Translated by MZ
Great news !!! I can't wait to see them in action.
Great news !!! I can't wait to see them in action.
Unfortunately, You will have to wait "a bit" longer. The information about five TUR`s in Afghanistan is untrue- this article is from "SE" and that explains a lot... Our MoND hasn`t made a decision on sending TUR`s to Afghanistan yet. AMZ Kutno hasn`t even made that many TUR`s yet.
I have no clue "SE" is. Couid you explain?
I have translated that text not from "SE" - whatever that means - but from "Redakcja Wojskowa" - which seems like a reasonable source to me.
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