Territorials - Polish National Guard

A new Polish tradition was born 4 years ago - Territorial Defence Forces, called Territorials for short. . The best idea of the former Defence Minister Macierewicz. In all his life.

First, they were ridiculed and mocked as Macierewicz`s private army. Time passed and they proved very useful in fighting. Luckily, not real combat fighting, but dealing with disasters. Now, they are helping to set up facilities for covid patients.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_Defence_Force_(Poland)

The Territorial Defense Forces are dedicated to:

-Conducting defense activities in cooperation with the Operational Forces and supporting elements of the non-military system.
-Carrying out unconventional activities, anti-sabotage and offensive landing.
-Participate in safeguarding the reception and development of allied reinforcement forces in commanded areas.
-Implementation of projects in the area of: crisis management, the eradication of natural disasters and the elimination of their effects, property protection, search and rescue operation

The idea to start a discussion about the Territorials occured when I read about the death of another heroic female soldier who took part in Warsaw Rising as a 15 yo military nurse (she told the recruiters she was 18). She took part in all crucial combat operation of AK battalion Zośka. Twice injured and twice awarded the Cross of Valour.

Major Lidia Markiewicz -Ziental
tvn24.pl/tvnwarszawa/srodmiescie/warszawa-zmarla-major-lidiamarkiewicz-ziental-ps-lidka-4749183

Territorials recommend her on their site as a role model patriotic citizen and soldier.

Great job, guys.

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The Polish wiki shows their armament. Wow, they even ordered 100 light suicide drones made in Poland.

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojska_Obrony_Terytorialnej

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It's basically an government funded and well organized militia or a regular army focused on defense only?

Militia which cooperates with the regular army. Both are considered defence and deterrence organisations.

And they invite women, of course. According to superb traditions of Polish female freedom fighters, starting with the legendary Emilia Plater.

Grunwald, I presume you will immediately join the Territorials now. hahaha

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@pawian
Funny
I am interested to know the difference cause I am joining the army, am planning to join the professional&regular army. There are women there too, don't worry pawian.

Women aren't meant for only one thing ;)

Of course, nobody claims it here. But I know from another thread that you are looking for a woman who could share your interests. So, a female soldier, either amateur or professional, might be a perfect partner for you.

@pawian
I thought we were joking around, humor has allways been my weakness as I am quite serious at times and in a very subtle way joke with people. Useally it flies right over their heads, on a serious note I do hope to find a spouse within the military as it attracts patriots (not only of course).

I remain rather pessimistic for the time being, but not without hope.

I hope for this thread to expand, as it can be useful for anyone who is curious about Poland's current armed forces.

What makes you think so? I stopped joking long ago, it is pandemic time if you didn`t notice and fooling around doesn`t become us.


But only Territorials, not regular army.

If I was younger, I would gladly join them. I have always been fascinated by the military. However, I am very insubordinate and rebellious, that is why I didn`t suit regular forces.

@pawian
Then I apologize for any misbehavior on my part towards you, most likely it was my bad attempt at humor.

I can imagine the rebellious part, me however I am very calm and have no problems or qualms doing thing I even dislike doing as long as it's part of duty and I am not burned out mentally.

Illegitimate behavior however I can easily and very strongly reject/oppose.

I was a bit worried about the Territorials only being a form of reserve. Do you know if it's a standing army or reserve army?

To be honest, when I first heard about plans for creating Territorials it sent chills down my spine - the way PiS behaved made my think that they were going to create their own fanatical and faithful militia that would be ready to quench any dissent in case the police or the army didn't agree to do it...


You know, pawian, when last year I was reading your farming thread I remember thinking that maybe you missed your calling and should've gone into the military - with your energy and zeal... I can easily imagine you digging trenches all day long with a smile on your face ;D


But there are less "regular" forces in the military...

you may have forgotten that Macierewicz started KOR

Pity he ended up being such a nutcase...

I remember there was an article about Territorials and PiS' plans behind that formation: "Fabryka oficerów Macierewicza" (Macierewicz's officers' factory).
And here's another one:
money.pl/gospodarka/wiadomosci/artykul/wot-mon-blaszczak-kadra-oficerska,3,0,2413827.html

Btw, Mr Grunwald, is there a particular type of forces you'd like to join?


Have you thought about becoming a sniper maybe?

@Paulina
I have been considering the mechanized infantry, even more when I heard recently that the 12th mechanized infantry brigade has a lot of experience co-operating with U.S forces. My English skills would be well used in such a unit.

Ideally I would like to work for an military attaché at an embassy (one can dream right?)
More realistically I see myself in the mechanized infantry as tank support

I haven't considered being a Sniper, as I expect one needs Hawk like vision to do so. My eye sight is rather good now, but certainly not at the level required to be a sniper

To be honest, I think they're more like boy scouts! That's the role they've filled during the pandemic, delivering food parcels to those in quarantine, disinfecting public spaces etc. Hopefully, they'll never need to be more than that.

@Atch
You got some reading to do about Polish Boy Scouts then Atch :)
Lwów eaglets, Boy Scouts during Polish-Soviet war, 1939 versus the Germans

They certainly aren't your regular wanna be nice little boys only club

Nearly a hundred years ago - come on. I've had the pleasure of assisting a young boy scout with making cookies, yes, that's right, to give as a gift at one of their weekend camp things. He came home with a book mark, handmade by another scout. It was covered in green velvet and decorated with painstakingly cut-out gold lettering.Very impressed by their fine motor skills :) but I wouldn't be relying on them for the defence of the country.

@Atch
Poland will be full of surprises for you it seems :)

Boy scout cookies lol

Maybe those boy scouts know what they're doing... They could throw those cookies at Russians... As every Ziemkiewicz knows, Russians would be willing to live in mud huts and eat only potatoes so only Mother Russia could afford lots and lots of rockets... So, in case of a war with Poland Russians attacking Polish territory would be starving... They would throw themselves at those Diversion Cookies and Polish boy scouts would be able to capture them in a humanitarian way, because Russians would be, understandably, completely disarmed by the extra chocolate :))

Joking aside, I hope Polish kids won't have to fight enemies of Poland ever again... That's what army is for, and now - also Territorials...


I googled a bit because I was confused myself about what those Territorials are about and I found an article which explains it, I think. It's an interview with Col. Grzegorz Kaliciak, who was the commander of the defence of Karbala city hall in 2004 (there's a Polish film about it, btw). Now he's a commander in Territorials.

Territorials are Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej (Territorial Defence Force). It means they are to defend Polish territory, people and infrastructure in case of an armed conflict on Polish territory only and even then they'll be more of a support for the proper army forces, if I understood the interview correctly. If there's going to be no war on Polish territory (and I doubt it will come to this in our lifetime - hopefully not...) then it's going to be as Atch wrote - Territorials' main role will be helping out during floods, epidemics, etc. When my father visits a hospital he said a soldier stands in front of an entrance to the hospital and takes his temperature every time. I'm guessing he's a Territorial. I've also seen a fragment of a documentary about them and it seems they're also being trained to aid the police in the search for people in difficult terrain.

So, I guess Territorials are for people for whom taking part in real combat isn't a priority - you won't be sent on a mission to some God-forsaken country like Afghanistan, for example...

The interview:
defence24.pl/plk-kaliciak-zolnierz-ot-nigdy-nie-bedzie-specjalsem-wywiad


I don't think snipers have some kind of super eyesight - normal, healthy eyesight is enough... Snipers in the US army can even wear glasses. It's more about having particular character traits and, of course, being willing to do that kind of job, because it isn't easy...

Anyway, I hope that whatever career path in the military you'll chose, you'll succeed :) Good luck!

No, they are soldiers. Scouts are not trained to kill humans as far as I know.


Yes, but everywhere it is required to follow the orders of superiors some of whom are complete idiots and azholes. I have always had a problem with that coz it is below my dignity to obey a moron while I always know better. hahahaha.


Yes, a perfect opportunity to lose some weight. Farming labour has finished for winter and I feel I am putting on weight again.

I want one of those rifles in Post 5. Do you have any info?

Looks like they are the typical 5.56mm NATO Assault Rifle.
You already have one, Rich, only it's not full auto.

Of course:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FB_MSBS_Grot

Grot, Bolt, after a nom de guerre of WW2 AK Commander in Chief.

I only have 9mm pistols.
I wonder if that Polish piece is available as a semi.

@Rich
I thought you said you had an AR-15.


The Polish GROT is a knock off of our M-16
The MSBS GROT is a selective fire modular assault rifle which is capable of semi-automatic, 3-round burst and fully automatic fire.
It has a cyclic rate of fire of around 700-900 rounds per minute.
Problem is that the tube would be so damn hot after 200 rounds of rapid fire that there would be no accuracy to speak of.
You would just be making noise and spraying lead.


To put under your bed to collect dust until Biden comes to take it ?
I am sure they are not available to the public.
I had no idea that Poland had a National Guard.

I don't remember the context so it must be about the illegals and me offering my services to shoot the illegal border crossers. Then, if allowed, I would buy my own AR.


I just read about it. They have a civilian version. They are made in Radom where I lived with my grandma till I was 10. I loved that town.

Yes, coz it was created recently.


Apart from Poland, they also worked abroad. Did you read about their contribution into clearing the Channel lorry backlog?

The Polish military's Territorial Defence Force arrived later in the day to help with testing and food distribution, the country's UK embassy said. They codenamed their operation "Zumbach", after the famous Polish Second World War second world war pilot Jan Zumbach, who fought for the allies in the Battle of Britain, the embassy said.

nope it is not. look up spec.

As for the GROT gun, there is a huge scandal going on about it now.The media revealed the gun had been ordered by the rightist Defence Minister before the testing and improvement stages were completed. The result? The gun is faulty and unreliable - to such an extent it can even hurt an operator. .

read this article through Chrome translation:

wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/szokujacy-raport-o-karabinku-grot-ujawnia-pelen-zakres-jego-wad/0yent0v