Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/861022
done was awfully difficult and extremely expensive. Why you? Why me? Because I have been almost living in the US embassy to get it. I was pestering them for so long that finally I got invited to some sort of a casting that I won. That was my way to the course. One of the things you had to have to get there was a paramedic diploma. When did you manage to go to uni and get it? Funny thing, never. One of the requirements was com- pletion of Infantry Combat Medic Course and I already passed the tests in the US infantry. As it turned out lat- er, the course I took part in was open so the diploma was not that important. What was the most difficult part (apart from quitting smoking)? Most definitely, first months were the most difficult. We have learned anatomy then. The names of body parts, muscles, organs, systems and their functions. Everything in Latin. I have slept some eight to ten hours a week at that time. What was the best then? hen I got back from the apprenticeship. And the end of the course when I was given a diploma and a title of Special Operations Combat Medic. I was one of the few foreigners that passed the ATP – Advanced Tactical Practitioner. It was made for Americans only. Foreigners did not have to do it. But you did. What for? Another challenge, another lesson and the exam that forced me to work and learn. ou really like to make it hard for yourself. Why? I like challenges. I like putting myself in for a test. I like it when it's hard. I like to make sure over and over again that I can do it, that I manage. You went to US for the course after your first deploy- ments. After Macedonia and Iraq. What were you doing in Macedonia? As a Task Force Fox we were meant to keep observers from NATO and UN safe. They were travelling between two fighting sides – Macedonian Army and Kosovo Liberation Army. I served as a paramedic. What did the Polish combat medic knew then? Not much. Really not much. I have finished some cours- es meant for civilians, Basic Life Support and a first course in the Military Medical Training Centre in Łódź. I won't lie that I was a supreme commando medic then. I did not know much at all. Was it enough? It had to be. I did everything I could and tried my best. No one died on me in Macedonia. You went to Iraq afterwards. You did not have that expe- rience of the amazing course yet but I suppose you had some more skills than before? Sure, when I got back from Macedonia I decided I have to start doing things on my own. I found some TCCC courses, tried to learn by myself. Basically, I looked for knowledge everywhere I could. Of course, it was not re- ally structured but I was so keen to learn. Let's get back to the beginning. How did you even be- came a medic? You wanted to be a soldier, a Rambo with a knife in his teeth… That's true. I was a bit forced to do that. I was assigned that position. But when I do something, I do it well, I am this kind of person. And then the passion appeared. You know, taking somebody's life is not that hard. You have to pull the trigger and that's it. The real challenge is to save the life. You have to have an extensive knowledge and really know what you are doing. Isn't it all about being better than the others? Do you like being so? I like to be the best. The better I am, the better I feel. You are a full on operator, with a rifle, you are able to do everything that your buddies from the squad and apart from that you have all of those incredible skills. Does it not feed your ego? Of course. I do not want to lie and tell you that it does not. But I am not the only one. Every single one of us has a secondary specialisation. How about Afghanistan? You were a volunteer to the MEDEVAC team. What did you need it for? That was a time when I already was a thinking medic. I wanted experience. Truth be told, my Afghanistan was a way to further educate myself, to get some more ex- perience. I did not even think I could go there and not fly on board MEDEVACs re you trying to say that all of those high risk operations that you took part in as a member of Task Force 50 were less important because the only thing you wanted were MEDEVACs? Let me clarify. My first priority was to be an operator of the Task Force 50 (POLSOCOM in Afghanistan). End of the story. I did everything I could in that field. But for me, personally, the most important thing was that MEDEVAC experience. First and foremost because I wanted to know what to do if I was ever on the job with my buddies and something bad was to happen. www.fragoutmag.com