Capt. Drew Weaver of the Illinois Army National Guard discusses firing weapons with Maj. Andrew Majcherek of the Polish Territorial Defense Force on a range at the Guard’s Marseilles Training Area on March 25, 2023. (Bradford Leighton/U.S. Army)
Poland’s military has recognized and honored four members of the Illinois National Guard for training Polish troops to use American weapons amid the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine.
Officials said the four Guard members taught Polish troops how to use Javelin anti-tank weapons and trained them in sniper operations and emergency medical procedures for a few weeks in 2022. Capt. Drew Weaver, Sgt. Elizabeth Hernandez, Sgt. Albert Herda and Sgt. 1st Class Paul Herrick all received the Polish Army Medal (bronze) on Saturday at the Illinois Army National Guard’s training center in Marseilles, Ill.
They received the medals from Col. Edward Chyla, commander of the Polish Territorial Defense Force Training Center.
The Illinois National Guard said the training that the U.S. soldiers provided will benefit Ukrainians defending their homeland against Russian forces on the battlefields of Ukraine.
“Many of the Polish trainers have helped train Ukrainian soldiers as they fight off the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” the National Guard said in a statement Monday.
U.S. troops were sent to NATO ally Poland, which borders Ukraine, last year after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February.
Since Russia’s invasion, the United States has given more than $32 billion in military aid to Ukraine for tools, vehicles and weapons, including M1 Abrams tanks, armored personnel carriers, Javelin anti-tank systems and a Patriot air-defense system.
Weaver is the commander of A Troop, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment and was the sniper officer in charge of the training team last year. In civilian life, he is an Illinois State Police trooper.
Hernandez, an EMT in civilian life, is a senior medic for the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment and helped train Polish troops in mass casualty response and emergency medical care. Herda, a medic for the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, helped Hernandez in the medical training.
Herrick is a full-time readiness noncommissioned officer in the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment and reconnaissance platoon sergeant who assisted Polish troops with infantry training.
The Polish Army Medal recognizes outstanding service by foreign civilians and military personnel in helping Poland’s army. The medal is awarded in three grades: gold, silver and bronze. The same medal was given to Army Maj. Gen. William Enyart, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, in 2011. His was gold.
