Colonel Jarosław Mika handed over command of Command Support Brigade (CSB) to Colonel Wojciech Kucharski during an official military ceremony held in barracks in Wałcz on 11 March 2011.
A number of honourable guests participated in the ceremony of change of command, including the Commander of the Polish Land Forces Lieutenant General Zbigniew Głowienka, the Commander of the Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE) Lieutenant General Rainer Korff, his Deputy Major General Ryszard Sorokosz as well as representatives of the Polish General Staff, Polish Land Forces Command, uniformed services, national and municipal authorities, units subordinated to CSB and other friendly organizations and institutions.
As soon as the guard of honour and colour parties entered the main square in the barracks in Wałcz, Lieutenant Colonel Waldemar Janiak reported to the Commander of the Polish Land Forces Lieutenant General Zbigniew Głowienka. Then, the outgoing CSB Commander Jarosław Mika welcomed all the guests. After reading out the official orders, General Głowienka took the floor. “I would like to thank you so much, Colonel, for your outstanding service and work,” General addressed Colonel Jarosław Mika wishing him successes in his future assignment. The Commander of the Polish Land Forces also stressed the values and strengths of Command Support Brigade in his speech, mentioning numerous exercises and peace keeping mission the personnel of the Command Support Brigade had been involved in. “The structure and equipment of the subunits give the Command Support Brigade wide range of tasks related to command and communication support and logistic support of the Multinational Corps Northeast,” he said. General Głowienka also addressed the new CSB Commander, Colonel Wojciech Kucharski, wishing him a lot of successes in military career and expressing his conviction that CSB would be well trained, “ready to conduct necessary operational missions for the honour of the Republic of Poland.” Right after the speech, the official ceremony of hand over command was conducted.
“Thank you soldiers for your work service and very well done job!” said Colonel Jarosław Mika who also admitted that his command of CSB was the source of pride and satisfaction. Among other things, Colonel Mika mentioned the integration of Polish and German units as one of numerous successes of the Command Support Brigade. “We form one organism,” he stressed, explaining that all tasks performed by Command Support Brigade require a high effectiveness of action, continuous training, improving professional skills and a common understanding. “Time that has passed since bringing our Brigade to life we used to know better each other, we improved our joined skills, we are the example of perfect Polish-German cooperation,” he said. Colonel Mika thanked all the soldiers, civilian workers and partners asking for support for his successor. “Let the words – God, Honour and Homeland always accompany the soldiers of Command Support Brigade of the Multinational Corps Northeast,” he concluded.
The continuity was the keyword stressed by the new CSB Commander Colonel Wojciech Kucharski who also addressed the soldiers and guests. “As the Commander of CSB I will continue lines framed by my predecessors and will refer to experiences of soldiers and civilian workers of CSB,” he said. “Let the star of Command Brigade shine brightly on the firmament of the Polish Land Forces and Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland.”
“Being a Brigade Commander is always a challenging, but also a beautiful time in a soldier’s life. To be the Commander of this special unit, the CSB, is even more challenging and beautiful,” the MNC NE Commander Lieutenant General Rainer Korff addressed Colonel Kucharski. “I am looking forward to cooperating with you,” he said.
General Korff also recognized the merits of the outgoing CSB Commander. “You personally contributed to the development of the CSB and so to the development of the Multinational Corps Northeast,” General Korff announcing that Colonel Mika had been awarded with the Corps Medal of the Multinational Corps Northeast, the highest award given by the Corps Commander. “Thanks to Colonel Jarosław Mika’s personal engagement and efforts, the Command Support Brigade has earned a reputation as a reliable and professional unit, a part o MNC NE and Polish Land Forces,” among other things the justification read out by General Korff stated.
As soon as the official ceremony ended, there was time for bidding more personal farewell to the outgoing CSB Commander and welcoming the new one. It was clearly felt that lots of emotions were involved. However, as the military life shows, someone has to leave for another assignment so that someone new could arrive. As a matter of fact, this rule of rotation as an inseparable element of a soldier’s life was noticed by General Głowienka as one of its strengths when discussing Multinational Corps Northeast. “I can see a very important role of this Corps especially when talking about training the staff. A number of officers, who served at the Multinational Corps Northeast, came to key positions in the Polish Armed Forces. It had a substantial effect on the preparations of the staff and finding themselves within the international environment,“ General Głowenka said.
