Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1542142
has officially been withdrawn from service. Yet in many mi- litary units OP1 is still used for demonstrations instead of the new FOO suit. The reason is the lack of FOO training va- riants, which is a serious pro- blem because the unit will not be able to prepare the correct number of kits for wartime in time. On the other hand, given the high turnover of reservists called up and the lack of know- ledge about who will ultimately be on the assignment, this is a problem that does not preoccu- py the staff. Returning to issue sizing in terms of issued uni- forms: there is a total lack of respect for reservists in that area. Although reservists are asked practically every time they visit the WCR to provide biometric data such as height, shoe size, head circumferen- ce and even hand size, these data do not reach the entities issuing uniforms, and there are always problems with sizing when uniforms are issued. Size problems are among the smaller issues, but as for the quality of uniforms, it is an outra- ge. Since the return to normal numbers of reservists called up for exercises, the quality of issued clothing has declined. In 2016–2018 reservists received new boots and underwear to take home and new uniforms, albe- it of poor quality. Since 2020 — after the COVID-19 outbreak — increasingly worse uniforms have been issued, not only used but worn and even dirty, and the peak was — and not so long ago — issuing dirty, foul-smel- ling underwear and moldy bo- ots. And this happened not in a single unit but in several over the course of two years! Despi- te informing both the MOD and the General Staff, there was no reaction other than meaningless promises suggesting that by the end of 2025 a decision would be made and enter into force allowing Passive Reserve sol- diers, like the Active Reserve, to take uniforms home. Uniforms aside, and this is no less im- portant, there is disrespect for regulations concerning rank insignia and reserve soldier identification. These two regu- lations — para. 37 concerning rank insignia and para. 46 con- cerning reserve soldier insi- gnia of the Regulation of the Minister of National Defense of 20 May 2023 on wearing uniform by soldiers — are not respected when reservists called up for exercises are uniformed. And how is the much-promised esprit de corps, repeatedly announced by Chief of the General Staff Gen. Kukuła, supposed to be built?The authors do not know. It is what it is — it was supposed to change, because at the start of this year a "mass" military training program was loudly announced for Polish ci - tizens aged 18 to 60. Tens and hundreds of thousands of Poles were promised training to make them ready for service in case of war. They even appealed to the Swiss system as a model. They for - got only one detail: the Swiss system works entirely differen- tly from the Polish one because the Swiss armed forces are in fact based on a militia model. Yes, there every male citizen undergoes regular training with strong emphasis on marksmanship (reservists keep their servi - ce weapon at home), but… these are people who have completed full, regular military service in the Swiss Army. According to the announced plans, in Poland this was to apply to completely unaware people, unaccustomed to the military, for whom such training would be the first con - tact with it.[Nieznany 8] Mo- reover, they forgot that mili- tary service in Switzerland and subsequent participation in re- serve exercises come with spe- cific bonuses for reservists in the form of tax benefits. Thus a reservist effectively earns from training and loses those bene - fits if he resigns. We see that the Swiss model cannot simply be transplanted here, and not because our re- servists do not have service weapons at home. Quite simply, ANALYSIS