Members of the GROM special forces threatening to quit in row over pay

Soldiers with the GROM special forces are reported to be so disillusioned with their pay levels that many are considering leaving the unit. According to Rzeczpospolita, the soldiers complain the amount they are currently being paid indicates that their superiors do not appreciate their work or their skills. The commandoes say that after the unit was transferred from Interior Ministry control, Defense Ministry officials indicated they planned to incorporate the GROM unit into the regular army, with all the consequences. For years salaries for men in the special unit were 50% higher than for their counterparts in the regular army, in order to compensate them for the extra duties they were expected to perform, and for their special skills. "I don't know anything about what the GROM soldiers are intending to do," spokesman for the army general command, Colonel Zdzislaw Gnatowski, commented yesterday. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A4) A.Z.