During the visit, Błaszczak appointed Major General Adam Joks, previously deputy commander of the US V Corps, to the position of the new Polish 2nd Corps' commander.
Marcin Bielecki/PAP

Poland will organise the 2nd Corps of the Polish army on the model of the US Army V Corps, Polish defence minister has said.

On Friday, Mariusz Błaszczak, together with the US Ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, observed joint Polish-American military exercises at Nadarzyce Central Air Force Range in northwestern Poland.

During the visit, Błaszczak appointed Major General Adam Joks, previously deputy commander of the US V Corps, to the position of the new Polish 2nd Corps’ commander.

He said that his goal is to use Joks’s experience from serving in the US army.

“We are proud that the US Army V Corps forward command is in Poland, owing to President Joe Biden’s decision… The Polish 2nd Corps will be organised on the model of the V Corps,” he announced.

Błaszczak also said that the new Polish corps will be created by General Joks “to strengthen interoperability with the United States and to strengthen the defence capabilities of the Polish Army” and will include “an element related to the air force – Apache helicopters, as is the case with the V Corps.”

The Ministry of National Defence informed PAP on Thursday that the 2nd Polish Corps – Land Component Command will be created on the basis of the Land Forces Operations Centre – Land Forces Component Command, responsible for the use of Land Forces units in operations commanded by the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces.

The 2nd Corps will be based in Kraków.