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Polish territorial defence troops to be trained in US

11.09.2019 14:00
Over 100 soldiers from Poland’s Territorial Defence Force (WOT) will take part in a specialised training programme in the United States, the Rzeczpospolita daily reported on Wednesday.
Polands Territorial Defence Force (WOT).
Poland’s Territorial Defence Force (WOT).twitter.com/terytorialsi

The Ridge Runner training programme, organised by the West Virginia Army National Guard Special Forces, offers NATO allied forces training in “irregular and asymmetrical warfare tactics and operations,” according to the US Army website.

Rzeczpospolita quoted a Polish military official as saying that soldiers from Poland’s WOT were set to depart for training sometime this autumn.

Poland’s Territorial Defence Force, set up in 2016, has grown to more than 20,000 soldiers, Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said in May.

Błaszczak also said at the time that the expansion of the Territorial Defence Force was “one of the elements of the defense and deterrence potential of the Polish Army.”

He added that the process was “taking place very dynamically."

When it was created in 2016, officials said the new force was needed in the face of an aggressive Russia.

(jh/gs)

Source: Rzeczpospolita/army.mil