The Nil military unit, commonly called ''JW NIL'' and formerly known as ''Jednostka Wojskowa NIL'', is one of six

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

units in

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, ...

Mission

The Nil unit is tasked with conducting

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

, including radio reconnaissance, image reconnaissance, personnel reconnaissance and reconnaissance analysis, supporting command and ensuring logistical support and

military communications Military communications or military signals involve all aspects of communications, or conveyance of information, by armed forces. Examples from '' Jane's Military Communications'' include text, audio, facsimile, tactical ground-based communica ...

History

The decision to start forming Nil unit was issued on 2 December 2008. The formation of the Special Forces Command and Support Support Unit took place in 2009. On 31 July 2009, the Minister of National Defence gave the unit the name of its patron – Brig. Gen. August Emil Fieldorf "Nil" and established an annual Unit Day on 6

September September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern hemisphere, the b ...

. On 18

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

2011, the name was changed to the Military Unit "Nil", and on the Unit Day, the avenue named after Gen. Fieldorf was opened. The first commander of the NIL Military Unit was Brig. Gen. Mariusz Skulimowski (at that time in the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

). From January 3, 2013 to November 11, 2018, the Unit was commanded by Colonel Mirosław Krupa. In the years 2018-2023, the Unit was commanded by Colonel Andrzej Gardynik. The current commander of the NIL Military Unit is Colonel Piotr Gomuła. Some of the soldiers of JW Nil served as part of the operational forces of the Polish Military Contingent in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. They provided information, logistics and command support to the soldiers of JW Komandosów (TF-50) and JW Grom (TF-49) by, among others, reconnaissance IMINT using FlyEye and ScanEagle and by

HUMINT Human intelligence (HUMINT, pronounced ) is intelligence-gathering by means of human sources and interpersonal communication. It is distinct from more technical intelligence-gathering disciplines, such as signals intelligence (SIGINT), imager ...

. On October 17, 2012, the operation to combat

ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

opponents and destroy the training camp in

Paktika Paktika (Pashto: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000 residents, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns but smal ...

was revealed. Reconnaissance activities for the operation conducted by TF50 and Afghan policemen of Provincial Response Company

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

were conducted by the JW Nil sub-unit. File:Odznaka pamiątkowa JW NIL.jpg, JW NIL commemorative badge File:Oznaka rozpoznawcza JW NIL.jpg, JW Nil insignia File:JW NIL ZespWspInf oznk rozp (2014) mund-w.png, The identification badge of the JW NIL Information Support Team for the dress uniform File:JW NIL ZespWspInf oznk rozp (2014) mund-p.png, The identification badge of the JW NIL Information Support Team for the field uniform

Organization

* HQ Staff * Command Team * Logistic Security Team * Command Team * Information Support Team * Medical Security Group

References

{{reflist Special forces of Poland Special forces units and formations