recent odc activities 2008 

Illinois National Guardsmen Assist Polish Land Forces

17 March 2008

Familiarization Briefings

Members of the Illinois Army National Guard conducted familiarization briefings for 48 Polish Land Forces Sergeants Major at the Land Forces Training Center, Poznan, Poland, from March 4-6.  Three Sergeants Major from the Illinois National Guard gave briefings on leadership roles, leadership competencies and performance counseling.  Following the briefings, Polish and Illinois Sergeants Major conducted a role play session of situations related to the topics.  The event was funded by U.S. European Command’s Military to Military program and the Illinois National Guard.  The Illinois National Guard and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland maintain a close working relationship through the National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program.  Since 1993, the Illinois National Guard and the Armed Forces of Poland have conducted events to familiarize and enhance the transformation of the Polish Armed Forces. Regionally, Poland receives the most U.S. Foreign Military Financing assistance and is the sixth largest recipient of this funding in the world. To date, this includes over $285 million in direct grants and more than $3.9 billion in loans. Additionally, Poland has received more than $31 million dollars under the Combined Education Training Program, which includes the International Military Education Training Program, the Military to Military Program, the State Partnership Program and the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program.  Poland benefits from U.S. support to help transform and modernize their armed forces.