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Chairman (who is the Premier), with the advice and consent of the council members, is charged with "general direction in the sphere of defense capability of the country and organization of the armed forces."
The Minister of National Defense is aided by four Vice Ministers, who also serve, respectively, as Chief of the General Staff, Chief of the Main Political Directorate, Main Inspector of Training, and Main Inspector of Polish Territorial Defense. The entire military establishment is centrally controlled and constitutes, in effect, a single, closely integrated military force. Although each service and each ground branch is given appropriate consideration in all matters relating to its particular role, the high command and the staff structure are dominated by ground officers.
For purposes of territorial administration, Poland is divided into three military districts -- the Warsaw, the Pomeranian, and the Silesian. The area of responsibility of the Warsaw Military District is the eastern half of the country; of the Pomeranian Military District, the northwestern quarter; and of the Silesian Military District, the southwestern quarter. Headquarters of the districts are Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, and Wroclaw (Breslau),[1] respectively, and in their areas they perform administrative and logistic functions including supply, communications, housekeeping, military constructions, reserve training, and mobilization.
A separate naval headquarters is located at Gdynia. Continuing naval representation at Warsaw is provided chiefly by small naval liaison groups in the General Staff and in those central inspectorates which support and supervise all branches of the armed forces. There is also a naval liaison group attached to the staff of the Pomeranian Military District, the district that embraces the entire coastal area of the country.
B. Joint Activities
1. Military Manpower (S)
Poland has an ample pool of manpower from which to fill its armed forces. Approximately 8,893,000 males are between the ages of 15 and 49, and of these about 7,030,000 (79%) are by Polish standards fit for military service. The number of males reaching military age (19) will average 356,000 annually during the 5-year period 1974-78. The following tabulation presents the estimated distribution of Polish manpower between the ages of 15 and 49 by 5-year age groups as of 1 January 1974:
| Age | Total Number of Males | Maximum Number Fit for Military Service |
|---|---|---|
| 15-19 | 1,783,000 | 1,520,000 |
| 20-24 | 1,674,000 | 1,390,000 |
| 25-29 | 1,225,000 | 1,060,000 |
| 30-34 | 980,000 | 810,000 |
| 35-39 | 1,090,000 | 845,000 |
| 40-44 | 1,140,000 | 800,000 |
| 45-49 | 1,001,000 | 605,000 |
| Total, 15-49 | 8,893,000 | 7,030,000 |
The armed forces are supported by a form of compulsory service generally comparable to that employed in all Warsaw Pact countries. Conscription is accomplished under the provisions of the 30 January 1959 Law on Universal Military Service. All males register for military service in the year of their 18th birthday. A March 1963 amendment to the law lowered the eligible age for induction from the year of the 20th to that of the 19th birthday. Because more men have been available than were needed to maintain the desired troop levels, not all fit young men reaching conscription age each year have been inducted. Compulsory military service is deferred for students studying in higher schools and for workers possessing critical skills. Those bypassed, however, retain their service obligation until about the age of 50, and most of them receive some form of military training in schools or paramilitary organizations.
Approximately 100,000 men are inducted annually. Of these, about 62,000 are taken into the ground forces, and the remainder enter the naval, air, and militarized security forces. Most of the conscripts are inducted in late October each year. The rest of the conscripts are inducted in April and are primarily those selected to attend service schools and those selected for the Territorial Defense Forces. The basic term of service is 2 years except for certain specialists in all services and seagoing sailors whose terms are 3 years. In addition, specialized training is given to volunteers; these men are obligated to serve at least 5 years. The navy also has a special 5-year program for volunteers.
Young men conscripted for military service during the past 10 to 15 years have generally been better educated and more technically proficient than their predecessors. The men chosen for the naval and air forces are better educated and of greater dependability than those selected for the ground forces. Recruits are physically sturdy and are able to withstand hardship and privation.
3
APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070031-4
- ↑ For diacritics on place names see the list of names at the end of this chapter.
