On 7 May, at the office of the Territorial Defence Army in Zegrz, the staff and staff of the Ministry of National Defence welcomed the fresh commander of the Territorial Defence Army, Brig. Gen. Krzysztof Stańczyk, at the ceremony.
– Thank you all for your support, for doing your duties. Thank you to all the soldiers and employees of the national defence department. I promise I won't change, I'll work more, I'll request more from myself. Before the Territorial defence Army, the challenge is certification. In the past of the Polish Armed Forces, there has not yet been a situation where the full kind of Armed Forces was checked and certified. I hope that this challenge will be met jointly – said Brig. Gen. Krzysztof Stańczyk.
On 3 May, on 3 May, on the Day of the Constitution, Brig. Gen. Dr. Krzysztof Stańczyk received the act of appointment as commander of the WOT from the hands of the president of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda. He is the 3rd commander of this formation, which was established in 2017 as a fresh kind of Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland.
Brig. Gen. Dr. Krzysztof Stańczyk graduated from the Higher Officers School of the Rocket Army and Artillery in Toruń. He is besides a postgraduate of the Academy of War Art. He obtained his doctorate from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. He began his military service in 1994 in the 9th Armored Cavalry Brigade. He besides served in the 6th Armat Artillery Brigade of General Józef Bem in Toruń and in the Central intellectual Action Group in Bydgoszcz. He was a associate in 5 shifts of missions abroad: Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
He has served in the Territorial Defence Forces since 2017. He initially served in the Territorial Defence Army Command as head of the Military Types Branch. In 2018, he was appointed commander of the 8th Kujawsko-Pomorskie OT Brigade. On 11 September 2023, he assumed the position of 1st Deputy Commander of the Territorial Defence Army, a period later he was appointed acting Commander of the WOT.
The Territorial Defence Army, led by Brig. Gen. Dr. Krzysztof Stańczyk, comprises:
- I'm sorry. WOT Command in Zegrzu,
- WOT command battalion in Zegrzu,
- eighteen territorial defence brigades - of which 4 brigades (1 Podlasie Brigade of Territorial Defence,
4 Warmian-Masurian Territorial Defence Brigade, 19 Nadbuzhian Territorial Defence Brigade,
20 The Industrial Territorial Defence Brigade) form the alleged Border Defence Component- dedicated to defending the state border and border areas,
- Military Unit of Non-Conventional Activities “GRYF”.
- 2 training centres (WOT Training Centre in Toruń and Communication Training Centre and
Computer sciences in Zegrzu),
- SONDA Sub-Office School,
- WOT Representation Centre in Radom (WOT Representation Orchestra and WOT Honorary Company).
- there are 2 further territorial defence brigades in the process of creation: the 15th Lubuska Territorial Defence Brigade and the 17th Opole Territorial Defence Brigade.
On the initiative of Brig. Gen. Dr. Krzysztof Stańczyk and thanks to his efforts, the Territorial Defence Army Command received the military flag on 1 March.
The Territorial defence Army is the 5th kind of Armed Forces alongside the Land Forces, Air Force, Navy and peculiar Forces. Currently, the WOT serves about 40,000,000 soldiers, of which about 35,000,000 are soldiers serving territorial military service, little than 5,000,000 are professional soldiers, and respective 100 are soldiers of active reserve. For wartime, the main task of the WOT is to interact with operating troops, while during peacetime support for crisis management operations, including the prevention and eradication of natural disasters.
Text: DWOT Press Team
