During his stay in Poland, US Secretary of State John Kerry paid a visit to the Łask Polish Airforce Base on Nov 5, 2013. There he had the chance to inspect the F16 squadron that is stationed at the base but also had a chance to honour one of the best Polish soldiers.

For his service in Afghanistan, LTC Wojciech Bagan of Military Unit 2305, otherwise known as JW GROM, was awarded the US Meritorious Service Medal. During his deployment to Afghanistan, LTC Bagan led a Task Force of selected JW GROM operators known as ISAF SOF TF 49. Under his command, the unit conducted numerous successful operations, including hostage rescue, capture of several Taliban commanders, uncovering a suicide bomb ambulance plot, and neutralization of weapon caches and IED factories. These operations were conducted between March and August of 2011.

John Kerry, Polish MoD Tomasz Siemoniak, LTC Wojciech Bagan of JW GROM
John Kerry, Polish MoD Tomasz Siemoniak, LTC Wojciech Bagan of JW GROM

JW GROM Commander COL Piotr Gąsał, said: This is also a distinction for the special forces and the Polish Armed Forces as a whole. GROM never works alone, in a sort of  vacuum space. GROM operates thanks to the information supplied by officers of the military intelligence service, military counter-intelligence and officers of military reconnaissance.