Militari was conferred date back to the World War II - of the Military Cross - consequently the youngest recipients are now over eighty a New Polish Award years of age and for natural reasons the order will become obsolete soon. Amending the statutes would help keep Lukasz Gaszewski the order alive.

It seems that the unwillingness to extend the conferal of Since the passing of the Law on Polish Orders and the reflects the general reluctance to the Decorations of October 16, 1992, the most fundamental Polish military presence in Afghanistan and particularly legislative act regarding Polish decorations, the award in Iraq. In the opinion of the combatant organizations system of has remained practically intact. With and the majority of previous recipients of the order, the the exception of the Cross of the Deported to Siberia of missions to these countries have little to do with defense 2003 and a few minor , issued by various of Poland, so conferring the Virtuti Militari in this case government agencies, no further decorations have been would be most inappropriate. This point of view was added in the following fourteen years. Abandoned was apparently shared by the legislators and the initial idea the project of the Cross of Solidarity, discussed in the of extending the order was abandoned in favor of a new Parliament in 2005; and finally a new major decoration award, which could be a peacetime counterpart of the has found its way. On October 18, 2006 the Parliament Virtuti Militari, intended exclusively to honor soldiers univocally passed an amendment to the Law of 1992, on foreign missions. The name chosen for the new award thus establishing the Order of the Military Cross. The "Order of the Military Cross" refers to that of the Virtuti statutes to the new award were published in a presidential Militari, as it was called in the era of the Duchy of regulation of October 21, 2006. (1807-15). The Order of the Military Cross is intended to adjust the award system of Poland to the needs of modern warfare, On April 26, 2006 the President of the Republic, Lech Kaczynski appointed a committee to design the new with particular regard to fighting world terrorism. The order. The persons representing the following institutions direct impulse to create it was the wish to honor the were appointed (Figure 1): bravery of Polish soldiers in Iraq. Until now Poland had three purely military awards: the Cross of Valor (1920), Prof. Andrzej Heidrich- artist, designer of Polish bank with Swords (1942) and the oldest and notes, most coveted Order Virtuti Militari (1792). The statutes Ms. Hanna Archicinska-Gajewska- Chancellery of the of these decorations, however, do not allow them to be President of the Republic, conferred in circumstances other than war. Mr. Rafal Kepka- Chancellery of the President of the Republic, It seemed that the easiest and most natural way would Ms. Barbara Kruszynska- Chancellery of the President be to amend the statutes of the existing military of the Republic, decorations in such a way, that they could cover also Col. Tomasz Bulira- Ministry of National Defense, non-wartime warlike operations in which the Polish Maj. Juliusz Tyro- Ministry of National Defense, Armed Forces participated. Let me remind that both the Ms. Izabela Prokopczuk-Runowska- Army Museum, Warsaw, and the did not hesitate Mr. Tadeusz Jeziorowski- Military Museum, Poznan. to extend their top military honors, the of Honor and the , as well as the remaining combat Ms. Kruszynska was later replaced by Mr. Rafal Kepka awards, for operations like these. Also the statutes of the from the Presidential Chancellery. recently renewed top military orders of some other countries, such as the Russian Order of St. George or The committee resolved that the new order should differ Romanian Order of Michael the Brave, allow their from the Virtuti Militari in both physical appearance and bestowal for acts of gallantry while on foreign missions. structure, which would emphasize its individual Such was also the initial idea about the Order Virtuti character. Eventually, the order has three classes: Grand Militari. Cross, Commander and Knight. According to the statutes, the particular classes are awarded as follows: Quite surprisingly, the idea faced strong opposition from both combatant organizations and the order’s chapter Grand Cross - to the commander of a unit for itself. To the author of this article such an attitude seems outstanding leadership or initiative, combined with a little bit strange. The last deeds for which the Virtuti efficient command of a military operation.

JOMSA Commander - to a unit commander or another chapter chooses a lieutenant-chancellor and a secretary commissioned for meritorious leadership or from its members. The chancellor and members of the a deed, resulting in a successfully performed military first chapter will be appointed by the President from the operation, or to any officer, NCO or private who first twelve awardees. has been previously awarded the Knight Cross for an act of combat valor at a risk of life; in exceptional The law establishing the order was originally to come cases, this class can be conferred to a staff officer into force on January 1, 2007. The work on the order for collaboration with the commander, if the collaboration resulted in the success of an operation. was hastened though, so that the first awards could be made on Independence Day, on November 11, 2006. Knight - to any officer, NCO or private for an act of During the only investiture so far (this article was written combat valor at a risk of life; this class can also be in January 2007) the class of Knight Cross was bestowed conferred on a civilian or a military unit. upon the following military members.

In the award system of Poland, the Order of Military Warrant Officer-4 Mariusz Korner, 22nd Air Force Cross, irrespective of class, takes precedence after the Base, 5th Class of the Order Polonia Restituta, and before the Corporal 1st Class Mariusz Tomasz Sawicki, 3rd 1 st Class of the . This placement results Reconnaissance Battalion, 16th Pomeranian from the desire to put all classes of the same order Mechanized Division, together. More surprising may be the placing the Order Staff Sergeant Lukasz Pawel Sikora, 1st Special of Military Cross, a combat award, after the civilian Order Commando Regiment, Polonia Restituta, probably due to chronological seniority Sergeant Zbigniew Ulaszewski, 25th Air Cavalry of the latter. Just as with the Order of the Virtuti Militari, Brigade, the insignia of all awarded classes should be worn (in Staff Sergeant Tomasz Murkowski, 13th Antiaircraft the remaining Polish orders and decorations, only the Regiment, 16th Pomeranian Mechanized Division. highest class is worn - albeit this regulation is not always respected). The last conferment was a posthumous one. Staff Sergeant Murkowski (Figure 2) died in Iraq the day The order’s chapter consists of a chancellor and five before, as a result of a mine explosion. A second members, appointed by the President of the Republic posthumous award of the Knight Cross of the Order of from the recipients of the order for a five-year term. The the Military Cross was later made to Private First Class

Figure 1: Presentation of the Order of the Military Cross (left to right): Ms. Hanna Archicinska-Gajewska, Maj. Juliusz Tyro, Ms. Izabela Prokopczuk-Runowska, Prof Andrzej Heidrich, Mr. Tadeusz Jeziorowski.

Vol. 58, No. 3 21 Piotr Nita, 25th Air Cavalry Brigade. Private First Class Nita was killed in action in Iraq on February 7, 2007.

Figure 3: Major General Bronislaw Kwiatkowski.

The class of the Grand Cross is accompanied by a Figure 2: Staff Sergeant Tomasz Murkowski. star, 87 mm in diameter, composed of eight sets of rays, 5 rays in each. A gilt cross of the order with the crown is Apart from the above, the same class was conferred on superimposed onto the center. The star is worn on the three unnamed soldiers of the "GROM" Special left side. Operations unit. The only Commander Cross went to Major General Bronislaw Kwiatkowski, commanding the The badges of the two upper classes are worn as neck International Division Central-South in Iraq (Figure 3). decorations, suspended from a navy blue ribbon, 45 mm wide, with two crimson side stripes of 10 mm, inset 4 The badge of the Order of the Military Cross is a Greek mm. The badge of the lowest class is worn on the left cross with dark blue enamel. A silver Polish crowned breast on a 40 mm wide ribbon, with 9 mm stripes, 3 eagle is superimposed on the center of the cross, which mm inset. is surmounted by the crown of the first king of Poland, Boleslaus the Valiant (Boleslaw Chrobry). The reverse, Ribbon bars, 40 mm wide, can be worn on undress which is without enamel, bears a two-line motto: uniform instead of full badges. The ribbon bar of the MILITO PRO / PATRIA (I fight for the homeland), and Commander’s class has a small in the center; a the year of institution MMV! in Roman numerals. A similar rosette with a gold lace underneath denotes the coronation sword of King Boleslaus runs along the class of the Grand Cross. Rosettes without the ribbon vertical arms of the cross. On the lower arm there is an bars can be worn on the civilian clothes, the class of award number. All metal parts (except the eagle) are gilt Knight being denoted by a narrow ribbon in the same in the class of the Grand Cross, and silver in the remaining colors. classes. A few words need to be said about the crown surmounting The dimensions of the Grand Cross (Figure 4) and the badge. Since crowns are also found in the two upper Commander’s (Figure 5) badges are 45 x 45 mm (70 x classes of the Order Virtuti Militari, as well as in other 45 mm with the crown), and 38 x 38 mm (60 x 38 mm Polish symbols (especially in the Polish coat of arms), a with crown) for the Knight Cross (Figures 6 and 7). question often put forward is why a symbol of monarchy appears in a republican country like Poland. This has

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