Gen. Cieniuch Visits the U.S.

26 January 2012

Gen. Cieniuch visiting the 162nd Fighter Wing, in Tucson

Gen. Cieniuch at the United States National Defense University

General Mieczyslaw Cieniuch, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, accompanied by a high-ranking Polish military delegation, recently travelled to the United States as the guests of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey.  The trip included briefings in Washington DC, and visits to NATO Allied Command Transformation Headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, United States Special Operations Command and United States Central Command in Tampa, Florida, and the 162nd Fighter Wing in Tucson, Arizona.

The trip highlighted the continuing outstanding military cooperation that the United States and the Republic of Poland have forged over the last 20 plus years and re-emphasized our mutual commitments in Afghanistan, NATO, and Eastern/Central Europe.

Highlights of the trip included one-on-one discussions with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Vice Commanders of US Central Command and US Special Operations Command on various subjects including operations in Afghanistan, the upcoming activation of a US Aviation Detachment in Poland in the Fall of 2012, continued Special Operations Forces cooperation, training, and capabilities enhancement as Poland strives for NATO SOF Framework Nation status by 2014, and our continuing cooperation in the area of Missile Defense through the deployment of the SM-3 Aegis Ashore System scheduled to be deployed to Poland in 2018 as part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach for Missile Defense in Europe. 

General Cieniuch was further honored with induction into the United States National Defense University Hall of Fame, and presented with the United States Legion of Merit Medal by the Chairman, General Dempsey.

General Cieniuch’s trip to the United States concluded with a visit to the 162nd Fighter Wing, in Tucson Arizona where he visited the International F-16 Pilot Training Center and received a top to bottom overview of F-16 unit operations and briefings on the continued great progress of Polish student pilots assigned to the wing.  The 162nd Fighter Wing trains Polish pilots to operate Poland’s newly acquired F-16 aircraft.