Polska comes to Éire

[TheShammySocialist]

The Polish delegates would follow behind Kennedy as he led them to a waiting helicopter that served to ferry them to South Shields. All three of them spoke for a few minutes in Polish as the helicopters' rotors spun up and they began their ascent into the sky, all of them used to flying in various forms of aircraft by now. They took the opportunity to discuss a few matters about the newly-inked treaty with Ireland in low tones of their native tongue. After they were done their small discussions, they all turned back to their hosts, making light talk and taking in the sights that they could as they flew for the base.

 

The Poles would all warmly greet the base commander, Anderswozski offering a crisp salute to his counterpart as they greeted, before exchanging a firm handshake. They would politely listen to Jones' short statement, and were more than happy to tour some of the vessels at the base, with Sikorski seeming quite giddy to get on board the ships. Given the steady numbers of meetings that revolved around the development of the Polish Navy, the President was quite interested in getting to see actual naval ships, instead of hearing about designs on paper and digital models. The Polish delegation all seemed quite taken with the tours of the vessels, asking questions of the Captain and other Irish politicians, and warmly greeting crew members who were present, asking questions at various parts of the tours. Most of the questions about the ships themselves and technical data, they would ask of the crew members themselves, letting the individuals who ran the systems, and knew them best, answer the questions. As was typical, Sikorski took much pleasure in speaking to the enlisted and non-commissioned officers more so than the senior officers, seeing as the Polish President had been working class.

 

As the delegations sat down again, the Polish President would politely request his regular tumbler of whiskey to nurse during the talks, the Polish delegation seemingly more relaxed after their tours of the ships. When Kennedy posed his question to the Poles, Sikorski nodded at Anderswozski, who would take the helm again on matters of military affairs. "We're thinking that Scapa Flow will have the facilities to be able to dock a reinforced carrier battlegroup, that being the carrier and her attendant cruiser, plus destroyers and frigates, a handful of corvettes, it might include some amphibious capabilities, alongside basing at least a wolfpack of submarines there." He quickly added, "A wolfpack, by our count, means about half a dozen submarines, which could be made up of one class, or a mixture of all three classes we are constructing."

 

He cleared his throat, taking a sip from a glass of water, "As I understand it, the Polish government is not one to sit around," he chuckled, looking over at Sikorski and Maczek, who both smiled. "Like myself, Mr. Sikorski likes to get things done, the Ministry of National Defense is essentially full of what you might dub 'go-getters' and people who don't rest on their heels. I want to say that engineer assessment teams will be requesting to make a lengthy trip to Scapa Flow within the next seventy-two hours, and a civil-military task force will be assembled to facilitate the construction of the base within a week. Depending on weather and bilateral cooperation, we could have the first facilities under construction within two months or so, we're quite experienced from our experiences in constructing the naval station in the Gulf of Morbihan."

 

"The Polish naval contingent that would be stationed here would contribute to the overall defense of the United Republic if it should find its' sovereignty imperiled. I'm unsure of your own naval strategy or doctrines, but I'm sure that can be alleviated through joint exercises, but our navy operates with an offensive mindset. Essentially, taking the fight to our enemies before they have a chance to respond, and controlling their theater of operations. In Europe, this means coordinating not on naval assets, but land-based aerial and missile assets to the overall strategy, as it is certain any other nation state within this region would do the same. This also means defeating any threat on the open seas before it can threaten your sovereignty, should the attack come from the open Atlantic. In such a scenario, depending on the size of a threat, this could bring the balance of the Polish Navy from its various bases out and into the fight," explained Anderswozski, producing a tablet, which would be able to project a high-resolution image of various threat scenarios to the United Republic.

 

Sikorski smiled proudly at Anderswozski's crisp presentation, before speaking himself, "I would like to pose a similar question to you, Grand Chancellor, what kind of role do you have in mind for your forward-deployed Marines in our military relationship? I trust we can rely on local contractors for helping with base construction in Scapa Flow? And lastly, what kind of support can Poland's Navy rely on your own fleet in a regional-based conflict, or one that comes from the open Atlantic?"

[lkfht]

"Well I wouldn't expect anything less from the Pole," chuckled Kennedy. "I will ensure that the Ministry of Defense and members of the Irish Navy are assisting you in any way possible concerning the construction at Scapa Flow."

 

After listening to Anderswozski, Kennedy would respond, "The United Republic has traditionally taken a defensive approach to naval and overall military doctrines, however that seems to be changing over the past several years. We currently see the North Sea as the main theater for possible armed conflict and so we have positioned most of our naval assets to the region. In terms of forward-deployed Marines in our military relationship, I would say that while they are there for the overall defense of mainland Poland, they are also there to have a learning experience from your combat-proven military. I can also assure you of the support of local contractors for helping with base construction in Scapa Flow. In terms of a regional-based conflict, Ireland's Navy currently has a permanent formation assignment to the North Sea along with an Expeditionary Strike Group and Carrier Strike Group. Plans are in the works for a possible permanent naval formation for the Atlantic Ocean, but lack of resources and funding have delayed its progress. We currently have a Carrier Strike Group and Expeditionary Strike Group whose main area of responsibility is the Atlantic. While we currently see the main threat coming from the North Sea, growing tensions further south do worry us."

Edited March 29, 2014 by lkfht