Competitions that test strength, stamina, concentration and ability to admit goals, as well as direct confrontation in simulated short-distance combat – territorialists from the 2nd Lublin Territorial Defence Brigade, along with guests from the Swedish National Guard, stationed regular in the town of Växjö, located in the south of the country, faced specified competition.
The competitions, which lasted from 25 to 28 November, took place on the tributary of tactical exercises of Lublin territories in Majdanek and in the neighbouring forest complex Dąbrowa. The competition was attended by 36 soldiers, after six in the group. In addition to the squad from Sweden, 5 teams from the 2nd Lublin Territorial Defence Brigade stood together. The thought of the task was to test its capabilities, not only in terms of performance and physical strength, but besides the tactical and direct action of the light infantry troops.
On the first day of the competition, Polish and Swedish territorialists performed typical endurance tasks, related to strength and physical condition. They had to drag a military vehicle over half a kilometer on time, carry loads through the obstacle course, and run with obstacles over a distance of 3 km. On the second day, the participants faced a 25 km endurance march. On the way at the designated points, they performed peculiar tasks, specified as hanging on a bar with full equipment, evacuation of the injured on a stretcher, setting and masking of anti-tank mines, crawling in a mask and in full equipment and tasks in the field of military topography.
– All competitions had to be completed as shortly as possible and with the team's full individual status. On the 3rd day of competition, we tested each another for combat training as part of a combat simulation. The task of each squad was to get a dossier box and deliver it to the escape site while eliminating the opponent in a short-distance confrontation, utilizing UTM-colored ammunition. Each squad has set up 3 of its soldiers. The full was held on a kill home facility, i.e. in a peculiar training squad of respective rooms for training tactics and fighting in close proximity to the opponent. Those who were not eliminated took part in the final battle, which consisted in simulating the fighting in the trenches," said Captain Marta Gaborek, press officer of the 2nd Lublin OT Brigade.
Eventually, the squad from the 21th Lublin Light Infantry Battalion came out victorious from all competition. On the second phase of the podium were the territorialists from Kraśnik, and in 3rd place were soldiers from the 25th Light Infantry Battalion from Zamość. Guests from Sweden were placed in 5th position.
Competitions and exercises involving Swedish territorialists, in addition to checking skills, were besides an chance for soldiers to exchange experiences and better integrate with Scandinavian colleagues. This was not the first joint initiative of this type. The Lublin territories have practically since the beginning of the brigade have been working with the Swedish National Guard.
– 2 Lublin OT Brigade has been developing cooperation with the Hemvärnet National defender since 2017. The first visit to Lublin was made by Swedish officers in 2018. Since then, many working meetings and visits to the field have been held, primarily to exchange training experiences. As far as the common professions are concerned, this is another initiative. Previously, in August of this year, 2 LBOT soldiers participated in utility and combat competitions in Sweden – explains Captain Marta Gaborek.
The Swedish National defender Hemvärnet (in a literal translation of “house defence”) is simply a formation that has functioned since 1940 as 1 of the types of Armed Forces of Sweden. It serves about 22,000 territorial defence soldiers. Another 28,000 are professional soldiers.
The service in the Swedish National defender in fresh years has enjoyed a rapidly increasing interest, which is attributed to an increase in the country's threat from Russia. In 2022, at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the desire to join the National defender reported as much as 29 thousand. Swedes, an increase of 619% compared to the average number of volunteers in erstwhile years.
