Office of Defense Cooperation
U.S. Embassy Warsaw, Poland
October 30, 2006
For over a decade, Poland has remained a vital, strategic partner of the U.S. Our Armed Forces have cooperated to enhance security and economic prosperity in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. As a key ally, Poland has received substantive assistance through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET), Excess Defense Article (EDA), Counter-Terrorism Fellowship (CTFP), and Joint Contact Team Programs (JCTP). These programs, which are executed by the Office of Defense Cooperation in the U.S. Embassy, have supported the Polish Armed Forces in transforming, progressing toward greater NATO interoperability, and further developing expeditionary capabilities.
During the past five fiscal years alone, Poland received over $220 million in FMF support. In Fiscal Year 2007, Poland will likely receive around $29 million in assistance – about twice as much as Turkey and three times as much as Ukraine. These funds have been used to equip rapid-reaction brigades, a Peacekeeping Training Center, the National Defense University’s War Gaming and Simulation Center, the Military Institute of Health and Epidemiology, and numerous airfields.
Polish units have already received hundreds of millions of dollars worth of grant-funded equipment: HMMWVs; command, control, communications and computer systems; navigational aids; and other advanced equipment. By late-2007, Poland’s Land Forces will begin receiving their first two Shadow-200 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems, worth over $50 million. By mid-2008, Poland’s Air Force will receive its first of five C-130E transport aircraft under the EDA program. Some $85 million worth of FMF will fund refurbishment, ground support equipment and preparation of mechanics and pilots. Assistance is also planned to support Poland’s world-class Special Operations Forces.
Even more important than provision of equipment have been the training efforts funded through Security Assistance programs. FMF has paid for the training of program managers, contracting officers, resource managers and other Acquisition Corps specialists. $40 million of FMF will allow us to train an additional 24 F-16 pilots to U.S. Air Force standards. Poland’s State Partner – the Illinois National Guard – has trained hundreds of Command Sergeant Majors and other Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) with the intent of developing an NCO Corps that will serve as a “backbone” of the Polish Land Forces. Several thousand Land Forces soldiers have received familiarization prior to deploying to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Illinois and Texas Air National Guards have deployed F-16 fighters to Krzesiny and Łask Air Bases to prepare Poland’s Air Force for receipt of what will be the most advanced fighters in Europe – 48 Block-52, F-16C/Ds! These aircraft, along with associated precision-guided munitions and advanced training, are being made available through a unique, Congressionally-supported loan program.
Additionally, each year, for over five years, Poland has received over $2 million in IMET funding. Hundreds of officers, to include many of Poland’s most senior generals and admirals have attended senior-level defense courses at U.S. institutions. As expected, these Poles distinguished themselves among their American and allied counterparts. Four of fourteen photos on the U.S. National Defense University’s “Wall of Honor,” for example, are of Polish officers! More training and familiarization is planned for Poland’s Special Operations Forces, staff officers in Operations Command and for colonels and generals who are selected to fill vital, coalition positions. Additional funding via the Counter-Terrorism Fellowship Program is also forthcoming.
U.S. Security Assistance efforts are greatly affecting Polish defense transformation. Some $500 thousand paid for simulations in support of the Ministry of Defense’s Strategic Defense Review which will determine the development of Poland’s Armed Forces for decades to come. Additional funds have been allocated to assist in establishment of a Multifunctional Information Distribution System. Future efforts in support of transformation of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities are under consideration. Lastly, the U.S. will be the “lead nation” at the International Military Defense Exhibition 2007 in Kielce, Poland, where the Department of Defense will exhibit future defense technologies for possible incorporation by our Polish allies.
Every U.S. Security Assistance dollar spent on the Polish Armed Forces is a dollar spent on ensuring mutual security and economic prosperity for our two, great nations.
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