During his two-day trip to America, Mariusz Błaszczak will visit US Army V Corps' Headquarters in Fort Knox, Kentucky and participate in a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, led by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
While in Fort Knox on Tuesday, Błaszczak will attend a ceremony during which Polish general Maciej Jabłoński will replace countryman Adam Joks as deputy commander of the US Army V Corps, officials said.
Maj. Gen. Maciej Jabłoński. Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara
Joks, a major general and the first Polish officer to be assigned to a US military outfit since the American Revolutionary War in the late 18th century, joined US Army V Corps in August 2021.
During a send-off ceremony in Poznań, western Poland, in the summer of 2021, Błaszczak said that Joks was "the first Polish man to assume such an elevated position in the US Army command since Polish American military heroes Tadeusz Kościuszko and Kazimierz Pułaski."
Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak (right) and Maj. Gen. Adam Joks during a send-off ceremony in Poznań, western Poland, in July 2021. Photo: PAP/Marek Zakrzewski
Joks will now return to Poland to continue service in the Polish Land Forces, according to the US Army.
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Source: IAR, PAP, gov.pl, army.mil