Military Gendarmerie (Poland)

The Military Gendarmerie (Polish: Żandarmeria Wojskowa, abbreviated ŻW) is a military provost created in 1990 in Poland as an independent part of the Polish Armed Forces.

Military Gendarmerie
Żandarmeria Wojskowa
Badge of the Military Gendarmerie
Active1990-present
Country Poland
BranchPolish Armed Forces
TypeMilitary Police
WebsiteOfficial website
Commanders
Current CommanderBrigadier General Tomasz Połuch

History

The Polish Military Gendarmerie is a military police force that traces its history to the communist-era Military Internal Service (Polish: Wojskowa Służba Wewnętrzna), World War II-era Service for Protection of the Uprising (Polish: Wojskowa Służba Ochrony Powstania), interwar-era military police in the Second Polish Republic, formations of the January and November Uprising, Duchy of Warsaw and finally, some officials of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, first created in early 17th century.

The modern Polish Military Gendarmerie was formed on 1 September 1990 on the basis of order No. Pf-42 / Org. Minister of National Defense of 18 April 1990 and order No. 062 / Org. Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army of 15 June 1990. At this formation the structure was as follows:

  • Headquarters of the Military Police in Warsaw
  • Military Police Command:
    • Warsaw Military District
    • Pomeranian Military District
    • Silesian Military District

In addition, the following Military Gendarmerie Departments were established: Warsaw, Krakow, Bydgoszcz, Szczecin, Wrocław and Poznań, and also the Military Gendarmerie Training Center in Mińsk Mazowiecki.

In December 2011 the Military Gendarmerie made an application to the European Gendarmerie Force to become a full member, and has been since 2013.[1]

Role in civilian policing

In October 2020, the Military Gendarmerie were ordered to help the civilian police in the "protection of safety and public order", starting from 28 October 2020. The order was given in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland.[2]

Two military police officers and a four-wheel drive police car from the Żandarmeria Wojskowa.

Structure

The ŻW is organized into:

  • Headquarters
  • 3 special units
  • 10 units
  • 2 departments
  • 45 regional stations

Commanders

The current commander is brigadier general Mirosław Rozmus.

  • gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Jerzy Jarosz (1 IX 1990 – 20 II 1992)
  • Płk dypl. (Certified Officer) Henryk Piątkowski (11 III 1992 – 1 IV 1993)
  • gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Alfons Kupis (1 IV 1993 – 24 VII 2000)
  • gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Jerzy Słowiński (1 VIII 2000 – 30 VII 2003)
  • gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Bogusław Pacek (31 VII 2003 – 3 X 2006)
  • gen. dyw. (Divisional General) Jan Żukowski (3 X 2006 – 1 I 2008)
  • gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Marek Witczak (2 I 2008 – 17 XII 2010)
  • gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Mirosław Rozmus (17 XII 2010 - 11 VI 2015)
  • gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Piotr Nidecki (12 VI 2015 - 24 XII 2015)
  • gen. bryg. (Brigadier General) Tomasz Połuch (24 XII 2015 -)

Ranks
Main article: Police ranks of Poland
Officers
NATO codeOF-10OF-9OF-8OF-7OF-6OF-5OF-4OF-3OF-2OF-1OF(D)Student officer
Żandarmeria wojskowa
 No equivalent
 No equivalent
Generał brygady Pułkownik Podpułkownik Major Kapitan Porucznik Podporucznik Podchorąży
Enlisted
NATO CodeOR-9OR-8OR-7OR-6OR-5OR-4OR-3OR-2OR-1
Żandarmeria wojskowa
Starszy chorąży sztabowy Starszy chorąży Chorąży Młodszy chorąży Starszy sierżant Sierżant Plutonowy Starszy kapral Kapral Starszy szeregowy Szeregowy

Equipment

Infantry weapons
ModelImageOriginTypeVariantNumberDetails
Glock 17 Austria9 mm Para Semi-Auto PistolGlock 171,500[3]
PM-84 Glauberyt Poland9 mm Para Submachine Gun

PM-98

PM-06		 [3]
MP5 Germany9 mm Para Submachine GunMP5A3[3]
Mossberg 500 United States12 gaugeM50440 [3]
Kbk wz. 1996 Mini-Beryl Poland5.56mm NATO Carbinewz. 1996B
wz. 1996C		 [3]
UKM-2000 Poland7.62mm NATO general purpose machine gunUKM-2000P
UKM-2000D		 [3]
Sako TRG Finland7.62mm NATO Sniper RifleTRG-22 [3]

Vehicles
ModelImageOriginTypeVariantNumberDetails
Land Rover Defender United KingdomFour-wheel Multi-Purpose Drive Vehicle100[4]
AMZ Łoś Italy
 Poland		4x4 truck[3]
Skoda Octavia Czech RepublicIntervention vehicle[3]
Opel Vivaro GermanyVan [3]
Ford Transit United StatesVan [3]
Opel Insignia  Germany Patrol car
Yamaha FZ6 JapanMotorcycle[3]

Members who have died in service

Soldiers of the Military Police died during their official duties:

  • Starszy kapral Krzysztof Sypień from the Military Gendarmerie Department in Krakow, † 11 VIII 2002 Krakow, posthumously promoted to Plutonowy.
  • Starszy szeregowy Grzegorz Bukowski from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, † 15 June 2010 Afghanistan, posthumously promoted to the rank of Kapral.
  • Starszy szeregowy Marcin Pastusiak from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, † 22 January 2011 Afghanistan, posthumously promoted to the rank of Sierżant.
  • Starszy szeregowy Tomasz Janowski from the Special Branch of the Military Police in Gdynia, † 29 March 2016 Iraq, posthumously promoted to the rank of Sierżant.

See also

References
  1. Polish Military Police website accessed 25 March 2012
  2. Mateusz, Morawiecki (2020-10-23). "Zarządzenie Nr 180 Prezesa Rady Ministrów z dnia 23 października 2020 r." [Decree No 180 of the President of the Council of Ministers of 23 October 2020] (PDF). government of Poland. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  3. ":: Żandarmeria Wojskowa – Komenda Główna ŻW :: Uzbrojenie ::". Zw.wp.mil.pl. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  4. ":: Żandarmeria Wojskowa - Komenda Główna ŻW :: Pojazdy ::". Zw.wp.mil.pl. 2001-08-24. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
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