From water, air and land since 1975. This is how Formoza works – an elite unit of naval commandos, which began as a secret peculiar Action Division in the structures of the Polish Navy. What did the service look like there, or Polish combat divers pulled distant from the American, for which they were trained – says erstwhile soldier of Formosa St. Chor. mar. dir. Henryk Wisowata.
Formosa Military Unit Operators during Tactical and Fire Training (JCET)
Ilha Formosa – a beautiful island – is the name that Portuguese sailors gave Taiwan in the 16th century. Polish Formoza has a much shorter history. alternatively of a lush green that has delighted visitors from Europe centuries ago, it welcomes with steel and concrete. The waters in the Gulf of Gdańsk are incomparably cooler than those surrounding Taiwan. Name Formase However, it stuck permanently to the German torpedo plant, which, like a Chinese island, fought in the 1950s with a continental power, is close to the coast.
Formosa is an identity component of marine commandos, although the legal name Formoz Military Unit only valid since 2011. – For a long time there was a ban on speaking “Formoza”. It was a unit of 2808/4 and the end – says st. chor. mar. diz. Henryk Wisowaty, who first passed through the base of the respective 100 metre pier in 1983. At the time, the unit functioned as the peculiar Action Division (WDS) in the structure of the 3 Fleet Ships.
1989 camp Drawsko Pomorskie
The boy from Mazur went there as part of a three-year primary service. Since childhood, he's been connected to water, he's had civilian finnish privileges. In the navy, he could make his passion first at the Divers' Training Centre and later “on Formosa”. – After 2 years, I was offered to stay on the part of a professional officer. I had a dilemma due to the fact that it was shortly after the war. But the thought that I could fulfill my dreams of diving and they would pay me for it, dispelled all doubts – says Wisowaty. He served in Formosa for 15 years.
Mystery
Formosa was dependent on the Polish Navy for many years. The unit was mainly visited by sailors, but Mr Henry besides mentions fellow Red Berets or 3 Ensigns immediately after school in Elbląg. We had a love of water. We were all passionate about swimming, diving – says the reserve Ensign and adds that Formosa has always had difficulty completing. – Various people came to us, soldiers of the primary service were "fished" mainly from OSN as part of the first selection, which included fitness tests and swimming tests at the pool. The officers were selected from the MW Specialist Training Center in Ustka. Officers and Ensigns, on the another hand, were obtained from the Naval Academy and the School of Ensigns – explains Wisowaty. A real selection, however, was the service in Formosa, where appropriate verification of whether or not individual was fit for further service took place.
Formosa worked without publicity from the beginning. In the MW port, no 1 knew what was going on at the dive base. There was a ban on talking to people from friendly individuals who knew only about “formosiacs” that “they were diving something.” “We had naval uniforms and a regular moro, we did not stand out,” he recalls a reserve Ensign who even the closest household did not know precisely what he did in the ministry for years. And present she chooses words with caution, telling about her 1983–1998 Formosa.
1985 training at the training ground in Jaworz
Nor was there any distinctive symbolism. At least it's official. Mr.Henry gives me a file of pictures – he stands on 1 of them as a 20-year-old with a flag and painted “Paskuda”. It is simply a celebrated symbol of Formosa, which only in 2013 became a legal hallmark. – We wanted to have our symbol connected with water. At the time, there was quite a few talk about the Loch Ness monster, so the choice fell on something like that. The plan of the badge was created by Lieutenant Andrzej Szymanski (the commander of the peculiar Groups of Plenivores from 1989 to 1998 – ed.). During the presentation of the project, 1 of the sailors at her sight said "...but nasty". That message was accepted adequate to be called that badge. Everyone liked it – he recalls. Just coming to Formosa meant nothing. erstwhile upon a time, a soldier came to us and tattooed our symbol on his shoulder. Muscular, confident, and on 1 of the tasks I had to wear his backpack with my colleague Krzysztof Sierkiewicz, due to the fact that this "mother" could not manage. Many of them came and went, says Wisowaty. The name of the soldier with the tattoo inactive remembers.
Another symbol marking the distinctness and uniqueness of the service of naval commandos in the Navy was a commemorative badge. Created as in the case of “Paskuda” by kmdr. Szymański, she presented 2 facing seahorses against the background of parachute bowls, wings and anchors. On top of the badges there was a GSP inscription, which was an acronym for the peculiar Pleading Groups. In order to get it, a number of diving qualification requirements had to be met.
Amendments
Formosa began writing her communicative in 1975 as WDS 3 FO. In 1990–2007, the Marine commandos first operated in the structure of the Hydragraphic Ship Group and then as peculiar Plenipotentiary Groups in the Reconnaissance Ship Group 3 FO. It was only in 2007 that the Ministry of Defence formed JW 4026 as a stand-alone military unit, subordinate to the fresh kind of Armed Forces of Poland, which were peculiar troops. In 2011, even then as the Marine peculiar Action Unit, it was given the authoritative name – the Formoza Military Unit.
1985 training at the training ground in Jaworz
The Vistula, who was never part of the staff, changes taking place in Formosa are mainly associated with equipment. The beginnings were very difficult. We had any hopeless foams that were rubbing under our knees. Any fins. But we couldn't afford the only equipment available to restrict us. So we worked on swimming techniques, so that the leg in the knee would bend little and pull more from the hip. This not only helped us deal with the hardware limitations, but besides extended the distances that we had travelled through – said erstwhile combat diver. all year the situation improved. I remember quite a few joy erstwhile we went to the fresh foam fitting. I besides remember a communicative about sprint fins. The Stomil rubber mill in Grudziądz made them especially for us. It is worth mentioning that the Polish marketplace was not as wide as today's scope of swimming equipment. The first model of these "Akwanauty" fins was brought from Lviv by Mamdr. Szymanski, and the deputy commander of WDS for method affairs, Mr. Szczepanik went with them to Grudziądz to ask for akin performance. That's how Sprints were made. There were besides fresh breathing machines, thanks to which the dive was much better – he added.
Such changes were groundbreaking for marine commandos surviving behind the Iron Curtain. In the 1990 ’ s, however, erstwhile they began making contact with American operators from peculiar units, they experienced a real shock. The peasant recalls the first visit of Americans to Formosa in 1994. They flew Hercules from Sicily. 1 of them pulled the device with the antenna, and after a while he said he had submitted a study of arrival. It was a shock to me! I utilized the R-354 radio station in Formosa. The information was encoded on the cut film. I sent the code to the communication node and went further to command – says Wisowaty. Another shock survived in 1996 erstwhile he flew to a training center on Key West. - Those were the days erstwhile cell phones came in, and they utilized GPS on assignments. 1 night, we sailed with them towards Cuba's territorial waters. With the aid of GPS, we were expected to meet at respective points at the indicated time. For us it was unthinkable, he admits.
training in Gowidlinski, 1980s
Force of will
The first contacts with Navy SEALs were, on the 1 hand, a shock for Formosa, which was far behind in equipment and technology. On the another hand, she showed Poles that the celebrated seals are no better than them in terms of physical preparation. Where Formozo did not request hardware, she made up for her fitness and swimming technique. There was no another way. I went to the championship of what I do. Perfect preparation was crucial to the tasks, due to the fact that I felt more assured and at the same time I could take care of my colleagues. Everyone wanted to be certain that he could number on the second, so we had to constantly make and strive for perfection – the erstwhile combat group operator explains.
What were the trainings and tasks of Formosa? – We were passionate about diving and we learned everything from each other. At the time, combat divers were destined to check, among others, the tightness of the state border from the sea side. To this end, we have been practicing leaving the Orp Eagle submarine. We utilized the K-5 cutter for the sea transport in the area of operation, and the MW helicopters from the close base in Babich Doła. The level of training or accomplishment of a given capacity was verified by carrying out applicable tasks which were performed by WDS supervisors. Over time, these tasks were increasingly difficult. After each of them, we analysed and learned. For the PRL, we had no exercises with the then allied armies, so we came up with everything ourselves, frequently by trial and error. I cannot neglect to mention here 1 of the officers, Włodek Adamczyk, who had a immense influence on the improvement of Formozy as a peculiar unit in many areas – says Wisowaty.
1985 training at the training ground in Jaworz
Formosa was besides active in checking the safety features of strategical points, specified as the site of the construction of the future atomic power plant "Zarnowiec" or various military units. Marine commandos were trained to reconnaissance and diversion, mincing ships on the shore, searching for underwater dams. The actions afraid the territory of the Polish People's Republic, no abroad missions were mentioned. Doesn't mean Formoz was just looking at her backyard. – During the Cold War we were “set” on Danish islands. So far, I know the convenient landing sites on Bornholm. We knew what was there, how many tanks, where there was a radar point, which must be destroyed first. Physically, there was no way they'd let us out there for reconnaissance, but we had our ways. In addition, we had to be able to admit the water units of all the armies from the Baltic Sea basin, and what is important, that's all in the night conditions," says the reserve Ensign.
Elite
From the communicative of a retired combat diver emerges a image of Formosa as an elite unit that lived and developed mostly thanks to committed enthusiasts. Over the years, they have been faced with hardware limitations that have frequently virtually prevented them from doing their job. Example: an open-loop breathing apparatus that betrayed the position of the fin through air bubbles on the surface of the water. “On 1 of the tasks, the dog noticed these bubbles and alerted the sentinel,” recalls Wisowaty in the past. But all these difficulties, challenges and limitations made them only the best in Formosa. Yes, we felt like an elite. We knew we were doing something extraordinary and many wanted to join us. Initially, there was nothing to talk about Formosa outside our environment, but in time it was impossible to keep the fact about WDS secret – he admits the reserve Ensign. At the time, I was arrogant to belong to specified an elite. Not just due to what we did and how we did. But I had people around me I could trust on under the most hard conditions. We did not hesitate to quit the breathing apparatus erstwhile he was in need. This is how we acted and present I can besides say that I am arrogant to be in Formosa – blooms St. Chor. mar. dir. Henryk Wisowaty.
