They diagnose faults, they service equipment – Polish soldiers safe the American APS-2 equipment warehouse, which operates in Powidzuk. US Army has never entrusted specified military tasks from abroad before. The complex stores, among others, Abrams tanks, Bradley's combat infantry wagons and Paladin's Haubice.
APS (from the English name Army Prepositioned Stock) are crucial for Americans. The army keeps equipment in them in case of crisis or war. There are 7 complexes in total. They were located in delicate regions for troops – from South Korea, through the mediate East, to Italy and the Guantanamo base in Cuba. specified a solution, if necessary, allows to accelerate the spread of troops. Soldiers leaving their home units do not gotta organize the transport of tanks, combat infantry cars or howitzers. They just board airplanes, land at the designated location, take vehicles from the warehouses there, and... decision on.
Last fall. The American syntax was besides launched in Poland. It is part of the European APS-2 syntax (other specified complexes are located, among others, in Germany and the Netherlands). It consists of 5 large-area warehouses, workshops, spare parts and ammunition compositions and an administrative building. Right next door is simply a railway siding. According to the Americans, about 3,000 different types of vehicles, including tanks, are stored in the complex. M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams, Paladin Haubice and Bradley M2A4 Combat Infantry Trucks. The full is commanded by the American command, but the cast of warehouses are mostly Polish. Their number corresponds to the battalion's strength. They belong to the alleged warehouse and workshop warehouse, which is subject to 33 Transport Air Base, but performs tasks for the US Army.
Soldiers are active in the handling and maintenance of vehicles to keep them ready to operate. They're not doing it all by themselves yet. “They are in the process of training, so they carry out work under the supervision of specialists hired by the U.S. Army,” explains Colonel Przemysław Musiej, head of SWM. But it will shortly change. – According to the presumption this year we should take full work for the equipment. The U.S. Battalion Command will stay in the View, but civilian contractors will return to each other. From this point on, we will gotta preserve vehicles, diagnoses, remove insignificant defects – says Colonel Musiej. They are likely to have quite a few work to do, due to the fact that although vehicles were prepared for the time of the crisis, they will most likely leave warehouses on another occasions. U.S. Army regularly exercises moving troops over long distances. Just mention the yearly Defender exerciseDuring which soldiers fly from the United States to Europe, the equipment is partially downloaded from the APS.
Poles serving in the visible complex are soldiers who went to the army through voluntary military service or from the reserve. For us, their experience was important. We preferred candidates who had previously worked on military equipment and have the power to drive various types of dense vehicles. Of course, in APS, they deal with quite a few modern systems than before, but... mechanics are mechanics. It's just easier for professionals with a certain level of cognition to go 1 step further – says Colonel Musiej. Another crucial issue was language. – We cared about people who can communicate in English at a decent level. However, soldiers were inactive waiting for additional courses and exams. Working at Abrams or Bradleys requires mastery of method terminology – says the commander of the Polish battalion.
Meanwhile, as the Americans point out, Polish soldiers are clearing the tracks. “US Army has warehouses all over the world, but, as far as I know, no of them are utilized for maintenance of equipment by local soldiers,” admits Colonel Omar McKen, commander of the American battalion, who is liable for the visible magazines. “We have prepared the ground for akin solutions in another NATO countries,” he adds. The Poles praise George Palmer, manager of APS-2 in Powidz. – We are impressed by how rapidly Polish soldiers absorb cognition and how fast advancement they make. Their enthusiasm, despite language barriers, is extraordinary – he emphasizes.
And Colonel Musiej concludes: – We are pleased to cooperate with highly experienced professionals. Among them are soldiers who formed APS personnel in South Korea. They have tremendous cognition that they can share. We have a hard task ahead of us, but I'm certain we can handle it perfectly.
U.S. statements come from an article on the US Army Europe and Africa website.
