Zagan, Poland

A couple days after I returned from America, I had to go to an Army exercise in Poland. It was a very interesting experience to say the least. We were sent as augmentees to help the Polish unit that is preparing for their deployment to Iraq. We acted as the higher headquarters for that unit. Needless to say, there wasn't much expected of us. But, for some reason we had to wake up at 5am and work until 7pm. So, we didn't get to experience much of the city. But there were still some highlights.

Polish soldiers watching a fire fighter exhibition in formation.

The Polish military has an "Opening Ceremony" for their exercises. Seemed very strange to us. But we did something similar to the stuff I did at West Point. We listened to a bunch of people talk and then marched in front of them. But afterwards, they had a big safety brief. And talking about it wasn't enough. So they brought in the fire department. Lit a bunch of shit on fire, then proceeded to put it out using various methods. They even brought the truck out and hosed down the entire building with foam. Very funny.

Polish Generals watching a demonstration

One of the coolest things we got to see was a Polish Military demonstration. It was all staged of course with commentary via loudspeaker. But for us it was neat to be able to see the notorious HIND helicopter in action. This is the huge Soviet copter you see in the Rambo movies.

HIND Helicopter

Polish MEDEVAC helicopter. I'm standing with the Pilot.