Polish Armed Forces Leaking

Last year 4,500 soldiers resigned from the armed forces in Poland, twice as many as expected by the Ministry of the National Defence.

The Rzeczpospolita daily reports that the problem concerns both officers and other ranks in all specialities. There are enough colonels and generals, however, writes the paper.

In order to prevent the current leakage of personnel the Ministry is planning pay-rises and promises of an easier path to promotion and a professional career.

This year a system of evaluating the situation is to be introduced and resigning soldiers will be subject to various voluntary polls to find reason for their disaffection with army life. As of next year the Polish army is to become fully professional, doing away with the conscript system. This could make the situation even more difficult as it is possible there will be not enough people willing to serve in Poland's various overseas commitments, with troop deployment in various hotspots around the globe, including Afghanistan, the Balkans, and Africa. Polish troops are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq by October this year.