600 specialists to support NATO reaction force

GROM commandos, logistics specialists from Opole and a mine sweeper unit from Brzeg are among those military units to form part of the future NATO rapid response force. According to official information, 600 troops including, among others, chemicals specialists from Brodnica and Tarnowskie Gory, biological warfare specialists from Pulawy and paratroopers from Krakow and Bielsko Biala will undergo special training to meet new NATO requirements. The new military formation, to consist of three parts - land, sea and air formations with a combined total of 21,000 troops - will reach full fighting readiness by the end of 2004. Poland will also offer the services of its two frigates, ORP Pulaski and ORP Kosciuszko, as well as the logistics support ship Kontradmiral Xawery Czernicki which is currently providing supplies to American forces in the Persian Gulf. It is also possible that the Polish-Lithuanian batallion would be incorporated into the new force. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A3) J.K.