Poland names new army chief of staff after plane disaster

Warsaw - Poland's acting President Bronislaw Komorowski named a new army chief of staff Wednesday to fill the position left after the plane crash last month in Russia that killed the president and many senior military officers.

Komorowski said he will appoint to the post three-star General Mieczyslaw Cieniuch, the current senior military adviser for the Ministry of National Defense.

Cieniuch is a person of "great knowledge" and experience, who was "remarkably mature for this function," Komorowski told reporters in Warsaw. Komorowski said he would formally appoint Cieniuch at a ceremony on Friday.

Cieniuch graduated from Armour Officer College in 1974, and rose through military ranks to become commander of a tank regiment in 1985.

In 1996 he took over command of the 8th Coast Defense Division in Koszalin, northern Poland. He was later promoted to Major General in 2001.

Cieniuch was Poland's military representative in NATO and the European Union from 2006 to 2009.

Former Chief of Staff Franciszek Gagor was killed along the the president and 94 other high-ranking politicians and military elite on April 10 in Smolensk, Russia.

The crash also claimed the commanders of the land, air, navy, special forces and operations command, which are all currently being lead by replacements.

Some 11 new parliamentarians were also sworn in Wednesday to replace the MPs killed in the plane crash in Smolensk, Russia.

The replacements were chosen based on the number of votes they received in their party during the 2007 parliamentary elections.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/322153,poland-names-new-army-chief-of-staff-after-plane-disaster.html.