Changes in POLSOFCOMM

Amidst the largest reorganisation of the Command structure in the Polish Armed forces in recent years, the Special Operation Forces Command also went through some changes. With the new year, the Branch Commands have been disbanded and substituted by the General Command of the Armed Forces. A new Special Operation Forces Command went operational on January 1, but this time it is subordinate to the General Command.

The post of Commander of the Special Forces also saw a change with the current Commander BG Piotr PATALONG leaving the post for BG Jerzy GUT. General GUT is one of the former commanders of JW GROM. His last post was the Chief-of-Staff/2nd in Command of POLSOFCOMM. The ceremony of transition of command took place in Kraków on December 30th, 2013. The commanders of all Polish SOF units were also present.

With the newly acquired function as the Special Operations Component Command (SOCC) for the NATO Response Force (NRF) new challenges lay ahead of the new POSOFCOMM and its new Commander.

A new organisational structure has also been established within the General Command of the Armed Forces, the Inspectorate of the Special Forces. This structure will be responsible for providing the means to obtain and maintain operational readiness by all SOF units as well as identify key training and equipment needs of each unit. This will leave POLSOFCOMM free to concentrate more on actual commanding, training, planning and coordination of operations.

Photos courtesy of POLSOFCOMM