|
Poland Reserves and Mobilization
In the communist era, reserve training programs were
inadequate to maintain large numbers of personnel in
serviceready condition. In fact, some reservists completed their
twentyyear obligation without ever attending training.
Regulations
limited both total training time and total call-up time of
reserve personnel to twenty-four months or less. In 1982
this
system had produced 605,000 reservists whose training was
labeled
as adequate. In the early 1990s, reserve training remained
quite
spotty.
The new Polish defense system places special emphasis
on the
mobilization preparation of reserves because of drastic
decreases
in active-duty forces. In case of military threat or war,
an
estimated 5 to 6 percent of overall combat forces would
come from
reserve units. In this context, the training of reserve
personnel, especially command, staff, and specialist
positions,
is much more important than it was under the communist
system.
According to 1992 policy, which did not vary greatly from
communist-era doctrine on the subject, 400,000 to 500,000
reservists would be available for call-up. Reserve units
are
formed according to geographical location to achieve
cohesiveness. In wartime their mission is to delay an
enemy force
in their area long enough for the regular army to engage.
One
difficulty with this system is the requirement that
individual
reservists maintain weapons at home specifically for
emergency
use, a practice at variance with Polish culture and
criticized as
introducing firearms into civilian society.
Data as of October 1992
|
