14 years of service in the JW GROM

Poland’s elite counter-terrorism unit

The GROM Military Unit, named after the Cichociemni Paratroopers of the Home Army, is a Polish unit of Special Forces established on July 13, 1990, to conduct a range of special operations: rescue missions, direct actions and anti-terrorist operations.

GROM was created by then-Lieutenant Colonel Sławomir Petelicki, later promoted to Brigadier General. He built a first Polish unit capable of international cooperation with special forces of the United States, Germany and Great Britain. Today, GROM is a Unit that easily can be mentioned in one sentence alongside such legends as the American Delta Force, SEALS DEVGRU, Naval Special Warfare Development Group, British SAS and Israeli Sayeret Matkal.

GROM participated in police and military operations in Haiti, in the former Yugoslavia, in the waters of the Persian Gulf, in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the Balkans they detained several war criminals, including, Slavko Dokmanović (the Butcher of Vukovar). During the battle of Umm Qasr in 2003, the GROMs were distinguished by boarding and winning over the oil platform.

In 1998, I became the operator of the GROM Military Unit. I served in many anti-terrorist actions and foreign missions, including the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan. I finished my service in 2012 as the section commander in the rank of senior staff ensign.

For the outstanding contribution against terrorism, I was awarded the highest military decorations given in Poland for combat operations during peacetime.

The most important decorations

• Order of the Military Cross – II and III class,
• Gold, silver and bronze GROM badge.

Other decorations

• The gold, silver and bronze Medal of Merit for National Defence
• The Bronze Medal of the Armed Forces in the Service of the Fatherland,
• Military cross,
• Iraq Star – 1, 2 and 8,
• Afghanistan Star – 1, 2, 7 and 9.