Evaluation of selected elements of the potential of the Polish Armed Forces

Abstract

The article contains a presentation of the Polish Armed Forces and in-depth characteristics of selected areas, which, in the author s opinion, determine the level of its military potential. The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland were characterized, focusing on the main defense tasks that are set for soldiers of the Polish Army in the context of fighting and securing the interests of the Polish state, as well as tasks resulting from international agreements. A definition of the Armed Forces potential was showing the approach to this issue by various authors. The number of soldiers was assessed and compared with the strength of the world s most powerful armies as well as the armies of neighboring countries. An analysis of material resources was made, presenting not only their current state, but also the prospects for development. In this context, the current state of armament of the Land Forces of the Polish Armed Forces as well as the main armament and equipment of the Polish Armed Forces are presented in detail. Additionally, it was emphasized that apart from personal and material resources, an extremely important element influencing the military potential is the psychophysical condition of Polish soldiers. Therefore, the elements of the psychophysical condition were characterized, including mental health, personality traits and physical fitness. It was emphasized that a particularly important feature that should characterize a soldier is high level of physical fitness. In order to understand this problem well, physical fitness has been defined according to the approach of various authors, gross motor skills have been described, broken down into fitness and non-fitness skills, and the method of assessing the physical fitness of soldiers of the Polish Army has been presented. In the last stage, reference was made to the results of the physical fitness assessment presented in the available national literature. In this approach, the basic results of research carried out, among others, are presented. on soldiers of Special Forces and air cavalry.