Embassy Events 2005

Senior Polish military officers participated in a Distinguished Visitors Orientation Visit (DVOT) to the US May 21 to June 4, 2005 focusing on U.S. military transformation.

They included Lieutenant General Mieczyslaw Cieniuch, the Deputy Chief of Defense, Lieutenant General Stanislaw Targosz, the Commander of the Air Force, Major General Henryk Tacik, the Commander of Operations Command (Poland’s only Combatant Command), Major General Wojciech Kubiak, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Land Forces, Brigadier General Jan Kempara, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Special Operations to the Chief of Defense, Navy Captain, Andrzej Falkowski, Deputy Chief, Strategic Planning Directorate, General Staff, and Colonel Adam Sowa, Deputy Director, Armaments Policy Department, Ministry of National Defense.

The Polish officers were escorted by US Army officers from the US Embassy's Office of Defense Cooperation.

The visit began at the Pentagon in Washington DC and included transformation visits to each of the military services, as well as Special Operations Forces. U.S. Army visits included, Ft. Huachuca, Arizona and Ft. Lewis, Washington; U.S. Air Force visits took place in Tucson, Arizona and Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona; U.S. Navy visits took place in San Diego, California and Whidbey Island, Washington; and Special Operations Forces visits took place in San Diego, and Ft. Lewis.

The visit to Tucson also provided an opportunity for the Chief of the Polish Air Force to meet with the first Polish F-16 pilot in training, Lieutenant Colonel Roscislaw Stepaniuk.

Poland was the first country ever to initiate and participate in a DVOT primarily focused on military transformation. Since the Polish delegation's return other countries, even older NATO partners, are asking to conduct similar DVOTs focused on U.S. Military Transformation.

The DVOT is a U.S. Security Assistance cooperation program accomplished in the framework International Military Education and Training (IMET).

IMET funds different kinds of military training in the U.S. and Poland.