In this file photo taken Aug.15, 2017 in Warsaw, Poland, Polish Army tank troops salute as their tanks roll on one of the city’s main streets during a yearly military parade celebrating the Polish Army Day. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak says Poland will boost its military presence in the east with the formation of a new division of the armed forces. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, file)
In early November, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak approved the schedule for the formation of the fourth regular division of the Polish Army, according to Polish media.
The new division is to be deployed in the the eastern part of the country near the borders with Belarus and Ukraine – the 18th Iron Mechanized Division (18. “Żelazna” Dywizji Zmechanizowanej).
At present, the Polish ground forces include three divisions (the 11th armored cavalry and the 12th and 16th mechanized), consisting of a total of ten brigades, as well as six separate brigades. The fourth existing division (1st Warsaw Mechanized) was disbanded in 2011 (four divisions have remained in the Polish army since 2001).
However, due to reportedly increased tensions in Europe, in 2016, the Polish Defense Ministry decided to deploy the fourth division in the Eastern part of the country and its formation has now been turned into a reality.
The control of the 18th mechanized division (including the 18th control battalion) was initiated on September 17, 2018 in Siedlce (50 km east of Warsaw). The management of the division should be set up by the end of 2018, and by September 2019 the main command structures of the division should be established.
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By the end of 2019, the 18th Division will include two existing brigades – the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1 Warszawska Brygada Pancerna im. Tadeusza Kościuszki), stationed in Vesola (Warsaw) and part of the 16th the mechanized division.
Brigadier General Jarek Gromadzinsky, previously the deputy commander of the 12th mechanized division, was appointed as the commander of the 18th Mechanized Division and took office on September 17th.
The formation of the third new mechanized brigade, which would become a part of the 18th is planned to begin in the fall of 2019. It is expected to reach combat readiness by mid-2022 and it will be deployed in Lublin.
The formation of the divisional units of the 18th division (including the reconnaissance regiment, artillery regiment, air defense regiment, etc.) will be carried out until 2026.
The costs of the formation of the new division are expected to be approximately $7.1 billion, according to the Ministry of Defense.
The division was initially announced by Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak in September 2018. “I decided to create a new unit of the Polish Army, with its command located in Siedlce. Brigadier-General Jaroslaw Gromadzinski will be the new commander of the 18th Mechanized Division,” the website of the Polish Defense Ministry cited the minister as saying.
Blaszczak said the new division, which can number up to 15,000 troops, will strengthen the eastern flank and respond to “operational needs.”
The base is a move to bolster NATO’s eastern flank against the alleged, and somewhat mythical, “Russian Aggression.”
On September 18th, one day after Brigadier General Jarek Gromadzinsky took command of the newly announced division, US President Donald Trump said that the US would consider a permanent military presence in Poland.
Trump announced the possibility after speaking with Polish President Andrzej Duda. “Poland is willing to make a very major contribution to the United States to come in and have a presence in Poland. If they’re willing to do that, it’s something we will certainly talk about.”
Poland has been requesting a permanent US military base since President George W. Bush was in office. The Bush administration had considered the possibility of using one of Poland’s military bases as part of its missile defense system and locating ground-based interceptors there, however nothing actually took place.
The possible US army base would be called “Fort Trump,” according to the Polish President.
In an interview in September, Estonian defense minister Jüri Luik said his nation would welcome “any increase” of U.S. forces in the region, noting “you don’t have to be a big strategist to understand the U.S. has the biggest deterrence power.”
A massive NATO military drill took place in Poland and the Baltics in June 2018. Saber Strike 18 ran from June 4th through June 15th and involved 18,000 soldiers from 19 nations, primarily NATO members.
The multinational exercise, which is being held for the eighth time, “is the platform to validate our collective capability to rapidly respond to and reinforce allies in a time of crisis,” said US Army Europe. It is “a clear demonstration of the commitment and solidarity of the alliance.”
Expectedly, the US military denied any claims that the exercises are a provocation to Russia.
“Saber Strike 18 is not a provocation of Russia but an exercise with our allies,” US Army Europe said. “This is what normal deterrence business looks like.”
Stupid is, what stupid does.
poland ..and i´m sure that will help against 9K720 Iskander or the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal or the RS-28 Sarmat…….because those are the weapons of any future war with russia.but i quess the money used to pay of the various “elected” leaders, and all the wonderful things one can buy wih it, makes the brain disfunction to a certain extent…..best examples r probably poroschenko,merkel,macron….they all have 1 thing in common killing off their own country , ending in the magnificent nuclear “short ” exchange with russia and the desert that was once europe . thats the path those universally recognized major assholes r taking us.
“mythical” Russian Aggression… well, well. Mythical is a very positive word. Myths are true; real myths that is. But Russia’s aggression isn’t all that big right now. However, whenever Poland was attacked and divided, Russia played a key role. Russia also deprived Poland of much of her eastern territories. Russia (the Soviet Union) stopped her advance to have Nazi Germany deal with the native resistance etc. So, there are a lot of historical precedents when Russia proved to be Poland’s bane. A “mythical” threat would be different, of course, since such a threat represents general ‘gnomic’ thruths, like nature, the human psyche etc. So nothing wrong with Poland having an army… or why should there be a problem if you have peaceful intentions? Now, inviting the US certainly *isn’t* a good idea. The US is the base master of treachery.
Nothing wrong if you seriously have no better or higher-priority use for the nation’s workforce and resources. On that same note, nothing wrong with Poland blowing US$7 billion on a project to provide free mime performances over lunchtime for it’s hard-working citizens to enjoy. Or spending US$7 billion to train far-sighted, monacle-and-tophat-wearing chimps to direct intersection traffic in major Polish cities… like a tourist attraction. Both options are honest attempts at humor. Building the 18th Mechanized Division at great cost as some kind of imagined strategic deterrence against nuclear-armed Russia is a joke. And a bad one at that. Now if they were building it for protection against the Ukrainian Nazis, then that would make sense.
The Yanks are using the dumb Pollacks as a catspaw like they did the Georgians ,Turks,Kurds and Ukrainians who all got left in the lurch!
This 18th armored division is pointed close to the border of Belarus, Trump fort being behind it as a security fall back. It’s fighting capability would consist of the Leopard A4-5, or T72, nothing spectacular, forward deployed units not supported by adequate troop concentration are prone to flanking attacks, especially on the northern flank of Siedlce. Russian First Tank Army along with Belarusian forces supported by Iskander units in Kaliningrad and long range artilery and MLRS would flick the polish division like a booger.
Yeap, it seems all soldiers in that division must have suicidal tendencies, normal person wouldn’t accept instant death. I just hope, if conflict comes soon, Russians will be mild and will give them chance to lay down weapons and save their lives.
The 4th Guards “Kantemirovskaya” Tank Division would lay waste to the 18th armored division, especially after its reequipped with some of the latest weapons and military equipment Russia has to offer.
https://www.vitalykuzmin.net/Military/ARMY-2018-All-photos/
https://www.youtube.com/user/tvZvezda/featured
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Some nations have been used for canon fodder so often that dying for foreign interest became part of their collective DNA. Poland, seems to have taken this genetic flaw to the whole different level – spending bns of hard earned bucks making itself the prime target for nuclear annihilation in first 15 minutes of WW3…Talk about sefl-hate…
You are so right! I have never like Poland and I agree they are a wastrel and slutty nation.Traditionally Too friendly with Rome ,Germans and now Amrikkiastan.
They are just Germanified Slavs like their Prussian cousins anyway. Bloodthirsty and not very clever. Perfect to be the cannon-fodder for the Yanks!
37,000 year old European Genome:
http://sciencenordic.com/scandinavians-are-earliest-europeans
http://sciencenordic.com/dna-links-native-americans-europeans
https://youtu.be/fjsXlpui48o
https://youtu.be/0ueVspcacrM
https://youtu.be/kNTXCMYjwEk
Certainly true! Poland was cannon fodder under the Warsaw Pact and is now canon fodder under NATO. Popular misconception states that the Second World War was fought to free Poland, although if that were true they would have either declared war on the USSR, or would have liberated German-occupied France in the spring of 1942 to try and prevent half of Europe from falling under Communism.
Furthermore, examination of documents in German and British archives reveal that Germany wanted Poland as an ally and a buffer state between Germany and the USSR; it was only after the Polish side was guaranteed by Britain that war became inevitable.
It goes without saying that history is told by the victors.
The Last Days Before the Outbreak of World War II: https://bit.ly/2BvFHnZ
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1f232715d5725347205da38d6e3bd17f8244f206185545c3bebf740c3442acff.jpg
https://youtu.be/br-cE5MWFvY?t=70
My father did construction work building up a destroyed Warzawa again. My fathers father did construction work to build Warzawa up again and my fathers fathers father and his grandfathers father did construction work to build Warzawa up again from the bottom after its was bombed. Some day Poland will triumph in victory over its neighbours. With US backing inside what could possibly go wrong?
Mechanized division? Armor? Hmmm… Sounds oddly familiar.
Kind of like ZATO/U.S. V Corps troops trying to slug it out in the Fulda Gap with the Soviet 8th Guards Army back in the day, which was f’king useless strategy. Useless because any perceived possibility of ‘losing’ by either side would have brought out the tactical nukes. Warsaw Pact plans all included a rather liberal use of battlefield nukes whether the Soviets were winning or not. The still-classified NATO ones: the same.
Now, regarding the armor It doesn’t matter if your intestines liquefy 50% slower inside a tank from the initial neutron radiation shower than they would outside the tank – you’re going to make a mess either way (just before you die).
Granted the conventional Fulda Gap strategy did work, but that was in Desert Storm against Soviet-era Iraqi armor. And no nukes.
That’s not going to work for Poland today if Russia somehow did go crazy and invade them. The Polish mech/armor guys would still need plenty of Depends adult diapers, and their replacement crews would still need equipment to hose the biological waste out the tanks and APCs before re-use.
FFS, $7.1 billion to resurrect a useless cold-war strategy for a fake sense of security? The Poles might want to ask the French how that Maginot Line thing worked out for them https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5eca2a30e616e5a5ccda1e12c671088045e254632da6d9182b451516d88d5a5a.png .
Any strategy involving the use of NBC weaponry is counterproductive to any real-life conflict, unless it falls under the concept of MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction. So either you fight a conventional conflict and live to fight another day, or you fight a nuclear war to guarantee your own self-destruction, as well as your enemy’s.
I agree, but only if you limit the consideration to some kind of imaginary direct, contained Polish-Russian war exclusive of any outside state actors or agreements.
But Poland has been a member of NATO since 1999, IIRC. NATO’s Article V means Russia would have to be sufficiently provoked (or threatened) to attack Poland = all of NATO and expect a response in kind from NATO. Poland is just the doormat state.
It wouldn’t be Russia’s place to say they they only intend to attack Poland and nobody else, so other NATO states shouldn’t worry about it or get involved. It’s not Russia’s call, it’s other NATO member states deciding if they want to honor Article 5. Three NATO members are nuclear-armed: F-UK-US. If either/any of those three honored Article V regarding a Polish crisis, then the basic strategic nuclear calculus is MAD.
However, the battlefield commanders on either side may already have or will be allowed the irresistible option of employing tactical nukes. FUKUS for Poland, obviously. And despite everyone’s best intentions of not being the first to use them, something will happen – just like it always does in war – and someone will be the first to use them. Then the gloves are off and escalation leads to someone hitting the big red button on their strategic nukes.
My strong belief is that any Russian – NATO conflict would indeed go nuclear, and it would do that very quickly.
Big NATO, for its own hegemonic reasons, would easily sacrifice half the population of the west to permanently remove Russia as military, political and economic threat if they believed they actually could. And our senior military advisers would assure the politicians that this was achievable. Because that’s why they are promoted and paid to say. Oh, and maybe we could finish the financial raping of the Russian people and resources because we were not quite done with that after the Post-Soviet pillaging. “Damn you, PUTIN!”
Russia strike me as a bit more reluctant to sacrifice its citizens like cattle today, but they knows damn well what they must eventually do if the crazy next-door neighbor keeps peeking over the fence into the Russian’s yard and periodically screams random accusations, threats and demands over the fence, promising to shoot the Russian, his dog and his kids if they don’t obey.
Russians are polite to, or at least tolerant of crazy people – up to a certain point. Obedient to them? Not so much. Afraid of them? Just… no. My US leaders (the crazy neighbors) don’t realize they’re crazy. in fact, they think they are quite rational. Worse yet, they think we have a moral imperative to ‘correct’ the wrong thoughts and practices of other nations through coercion. Financial coercion. Economic coercion. Military coercion. Manufactured indigenous revolution coercion. “I’ll shoot your kid and your dog…” nuclear coercion.
Russia is not going to wait until the bullets start flying. That’s always waaayyy too late, for them. And their response would necessarily need to be total and overwhelming. MAD. They expect it to be costly – it’s an existential matter for them. FUKUS does have the leisure of waiting until the (small) bullets start flying because the bullet-stopper soldiers way up front are the ex-Warsaw Pact NATO members. That gives the NATO elite a few days to prepare PowerPoint slide decks and have some war-planning meetings. Which will all convince them they should just nuke Russia.
Russia knows that. Neither side’s leaders – NATO or Russia – really believe they can possibly be totally destroyed by nukes, but they both believe the punishment to the enemy will be worth it despite the destruction. Real MAD requires rational, non-psychopathic actors on each side. I contend the US has proven itself rather weak in that department the last few decades. I can’t speak for Russia’s leaders.
I agree with you on a lot of points, although I don’t think elites on either side of what’s left of the proverbial iron curtain would want to give up their comfortable and privileged lifestyles, in exchange for spending the rest of their lives and their grand children’s live in their nuclear shelters.
https://youtu.be/_xWTnNsEvyw
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You have to laugh, the Poles are always annoying their neighbours, and always getting into wars with them that they lose. I think it must be Polish population control? Also a lot of Poles moved to America, which might explain Americas obsession with war.
Too right!
Polish army is a fake army…if they go vs Russian armed forces will be destroyed in few days like wehrmacht did during Poland invasion!
“Poland is willing to make a very major contribution to the United States to come in and have a presence in Poland.”
Paying to be under american occupation….
– Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
Boot -licking slaves is what the Poles have always been!
All these countries pushing Russia to war, how insane.
What kind of tanks do they have now, what kind are they going to buy, M1-Abrams? Keep U.S. Defense contractors rich.
STIRI FALSE SI MINCIUNI PENTRU PROSTI SI SCLAVI