Polish General Staff, formally known as the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces (Polish: Sztab Generalny Wojska Polskiego) is the highest professional body within the Polish Armed Forces. Organizationally, it is an integral part of the Ministry of National Defence and the Chief of the General Staff is the highest ranking military officer at the Ministry. It was created in 1918, and for a time bore the name Main Staff (Sztab Główny). Currently General Wiesław Kukuła holds the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces (Szef Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego).[1]
History and structure
On 25 October 1918, a decision was made to establish the directorate of the chief of staff of the Polish Army. In 1928 the General Headquarters of the Polish Army was established, known commonly at the time as the Main Staff (Sztab Główny). In September 1939, during the Invasion of Poland by the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, all the institutions of the General Staff ceased to function and were transferred to joint German and Soviet. control. On 8 August 1944, the General Command of the Polish Army was created and on 1 January 1945, the National Council of Poland decided to establish the General Staff of the Polish Army, the head of which was appointed Soviet-Polish General Vladislav Korchits.
The General Staff consists of the following command personnel and organizational units at the Ministry of National Defence (MON):
Command personnel (Kadra kierownicza):[2]
Chief of the General Staff (Szef Sztabu Generalnego WP) - Generał broni Wiesław Kukuła
First Deputy Chief of the General Staff (I Zastępca szefa Sztabu Generalnego WP) - Generał broni Piotr Błazeusz
Deputy Chief of Staff (Zastępca szefa Sztabu Generalnego WP) - Generał dywizji Dariusz Pluta
Deputy Chief of Staff (Zastępca szefa Sztabu Generalnegi WP) - Generał dywizji Karol Dymanowski
Director of the Chief of the GS's Secretariat (Szef Sekretariatu Szefa SG WP) - Col. Cezary Kiszkowiak
Director of the Legal Department (Szef Zespołu Prasowego - rzecznik prasowy SG WP) - Col. Joanna Klejszmit
Director of the Coordination Center (Szef Centrum Koordynacyjnego) - Col. Adam Górecki