U.S. Army Col. Jesse Chace stands in front of his formation during the change of command ceremony at Camp Kosciuszko in Poznan, Poland, June 28, 2024. The Pentagon has approved accompanied, 24-month tours for service members assigned to the base in western Poland. The dependents must be 18 years and older to join service members there. (Devin Klecan/U.S. Army)
U.S. military spouses may soon be searching for apartments and the best place for pierogis in Poznan, home of the first permanent American base in Poland.
The Pentagon has now approved accompanied, 24-month tours for service members assigned to Camp Kosciuszko. The new travel regulation allows military dependents 18 years and older to join service members with orders to the base in west-central Poland.
“When you walk out our main gate, you’re in the heart of a 500,000-person city,” said Marcus Fichtl, a spokesman for U.S. Army Garrison Poland.
Soldiers on solo permanent orders will continue to serve one-year tours. Civilians on two-year assignments at Poznan were authorized in December to bring adult dependents. The first family members arrived in the spring, Fichtl said.
The two-year tour policy went into effect Aug. 19, Fichtl said Friday. It doesn’t affect units based in the United States that arrive on nine-month rotational deployments, the Army said.
“Bringing permanently stationed soldiers with their families to Poland is a significant milestone as we continue to build our Army home on NATO’s eastern flank,” Col. Jesse Chace, U.S. Army Garrison Poland commander, said in a statement Thursday.
Spouses and adult children accompanying soldiers can expect to live in the city. Housing for personnel on permanent orders is off base and the military housing allowance is “more than adequate for top-quality housing in the city,” Fichtl said.
U.S. military personnel on permanent orders and civilians at the garrison’s posts in Powidz and Swietoszow will continue to serve unaccompanied tours of 12 and 24 months, respectively, since those installations lack the infrastructure to support family members, according to the Pentagon.
The Army designated Camp Kosciuszko as permanent in March 2023, a move reflecting Poland’s emergence in recent years as the center of gravity for Army operations aimed at deterring potential Russian aggression from the east.
The camp is the headquarters for V Corps’ forward element, which was reestablished in 2021 to manage operations from the Baltic Sea in the north down to the Black Sea region.
Though the Army is looking to put down roots in the former Warsaw Pact country, most troops in Poland are on nine-month rotational assignments for now.
In the 15 months since the garrison staked out an enduring presence, it’s grown its headquarters staff from a handful of soldiers and civilians to more than 100 personnel supporting 7,500 troops in the V Corps area of responsibility, according to the Army.
Whether school-age dependents will eventually be authorized for accompanied tours remains to be seen. The biggest hurdle is the lack of Defense Department schools in the country.
Establishing education facilities for U.S. service members and their families is something the garrison plans to work toward, Fichtl said, adding that an assignment to Poznan is attractive even in the current conditions.
“It’s the gem of Europe to live in right now,” he said. “You’re in a cool city but also in an organization that’s growing and thriving. It’s something brand new.”
