New Polish operational commander takes charge of Baltic operations

On 2 June 2026, Major General (Pilot) Ireneusz Nowak assumed the post of Operational Commander of the Armed Forces (DO RSZ), one of the three top command positions in the Polish military. His remit includes day-to-day command of operations in the Baltic, the protection of Poland's borders and airspace, and Polish contingents abroad. For the maritime sector, it means a new officer now holds operational authority over assigned forces, including the tasks of the Polish Navy, at a time of mounting tension across the region.

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03 june 2026   |   11:48   |   Source: Gazeta Morska   |   Prepared by: Kamil Kusier   |   Print

fot. Przemysław Keler / KPRP

Handover of operational command

The act of appointment was presented to the new commander at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw by the President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief, Karol Nawrocki. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz attended the ceremony. Acting under Article 134(3) of the Constitution and the Homeland Defence Act, the President - effective 2 June 2026 - released Lieutenant General Maciej Klisz from the post and appointed Major General Ireneusz Nowak, until then Deputy General Commander of the Armed Forces and Inspector of the Air Force.

President Nawrocki said that for the most senior posts the nation expects officers free of the Soviet and post-Soviet mindset that dominated after 1945.

- We want commanders ready to serve a free Poland, not ones who, with a complex about communism, turn towards Moscow. Every general must have written into his record a readiness to strengthen NATO and to build relations with our most important ally - the United States of America, he said.

A fighter pilot takes operational command

The new commander is one of the most experienced officers in Polish military aviation. A graduate of the air force academy in Dęblin and of the US Air Force's Air University at Maxwell, he has logged more than 3,600 flight hours, including over 2,500 in the F-16. His symbolic flight was escorting and welcoming the F-35 to the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask. He had earlier commanded that base and the 2nd Tactical Air Wing.

The President described General Nowak as "a pilot through and through, carrying on the tradition of Polish airmen of 1939 and the Battle of Britain".

- He is a graduate of Dęblin and of the American Air Force Academy at Maxwell. The new operational commander is the Republic's first pilot, who since 2004 has taken part in every modernisation effort of the air force, he noted.

Closing his address, the President turned to the new commander:

- Your international experience gives me deep confidence that Poland will be safe and that you will excel at commanding military components anywhere in the world. I entrust this post to you with full conviction. Long live Poland!

Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz also decided that General Nowak may combine the new role with continued active flying, arguing that experience of this calibre should remain in the air.

The Baltic in focus

From the standpoint of the maritime economy and security, the scope of the new commander's authority matters most. The Operational Commander - alongside the Chief of the General Staff and the General Commander of the Armed Forces - is one of the three most senior officers in the Polish military, responsible for the current, operational use of assigned forces, including activity in the Baltic.

This is where today's real challenges concentrate: threats from ballistic missiles and drones, Russian hybrid pressure aimed at the Baltic states and allies, and the security of infrastructure and shipping at sea, which may intensify under hybrid-war conditions. The appointment of an officer who comes from the air force is significant - the Operational Command directs joint forces, and therefore the maritime component as well.

Outgoing commander bound for NATO

The departing Lieutenant General Maciej Klisz, an airborne officer and a founder of the Territorial Defence Force, closes a term marked by unprecedented challenges - among them the Polish and allied response to the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace on the night of 9-10 September 2025.

The President stressed that this is not merely a dismissal but the promotion of a general who will represent Poland as chief of staff at NATO's Allied Joint Force Command in Brunssum (JFC Brunssum). "Thank you for your service, from the 6th Airborne Brigade, through missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Afghanistan. I thank you especially for your contribution to building the Territorial Defence Force - I thank the patriots who had the courage to say these forces were needed," he said.

As Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz announced, this is a stage preparing Poland to take command of the joint forces in four years' time - for the first time in its history.

The Operational Command of the Armed Forces was established on 1 January 2004 as the Operational Command, reorganised in 2007 into the Operational Command of the Armed Forces, and on 1 January 2014 - as part of the reform of the Polish Armed Forces' command and control system - reshaped into its present form. It is responsible for planning and commanding troops and assigned non-military elements in joint, peacekeeping, rescue and humanitarian operations, as well as in crisis situations. It serves as the Ministry of National Defence's Crisis Management Centre and exercises national command over Polish Military Contingents deployed abroad.

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Ireneusz Nowak Dowódca Operacyjny RSZ Maciej Klisz Wojsko Polskie Karol Nawrocki

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