B*N*S*N2

From Poland: (You knew we have Polish troops in the GWOT, right? )

To understand Afghanistan
2011-01-21

20.01. Wędrzyn. Meeting with the mullah, the elderly of the village, and cooperation with the Afghani Armed Forces and Police were main tasks for the troops of the 17th Wielkopolska Mechanized Brigade before their deployment to the mission in Afghanistan during the exercises held at the Wędrzyn training field.

During the training organized by the CIMIC specialists from the Kielce training centre, the troops of “Bravo” Combat Group had to perform various tasks that required from them conforming to the rules of the culture and religion of Afghanistan. “While doing patrols soldiers will encounter many times local population, so they need to know how to behave not lose the trust of the Afghani toward the Polish military”, Capt. Marcin Matczak chief of the exercises emphasized.

The scenario of the exercise included among others, meeting with the mullah and the discussion about current problems of the locals. Later on, the soldiers went to check the state of implementation of the road construction project. Unfortunately, as the exercise scenario provided, the troops came under fire of an unknown attacker. During fire contact one of the soldiers received a head injury and had to be evacuated by MEDEVAC.
Thanks to this subunits trained cooperation with the team of the helicopters. "Now, the Bravo Combat Team finish synchronization of their activities before the deployment to the mission. This is a good moment to better coordinate their actions and teach them the habits of the population of Afghanistan", said LtCol Tomasz Biedziak chief of the “Bravo” Combat Team.

Multi-thousand coalition troops acting as part of ISAF implement the tasks according to NATO Counterinsurgency Strategy. One of its chief assumptions is maintaining good contacts with the local population. "I am certain that this way of conducting activities will bring positive effects and increase security and trust to the ISAF forces in Afghanistan", summarized commander of the 9th rotation of the Polish Task Force BrigGen Sławomir Wojciechowski.

(source)