Visit of the New JFTC Chief
Marshal Piotr Całbecki met today (January 21) at the Marshal’s Office with Gen. Bogdan Rycerski, who has been commanding the NATO Joint Force Training Centre (JFTC) in Bydgoszcz since September. Command of the center is rotational, and newly appointed JFTC chiefs traditionally pay a visit to the region’s host.
The JFTC is the longest-operating NATO structure in Poland. Similar to institutions of this kind in Portugal and Norway, it is responsible for preparing soldiers and tactical units of the Alliance for joint military operations. It organizes courses and command-staff exercises for the leadership of multinational NATO corps.
Gen. Rycerski, who succeeded German military officer Gen. Norbert Wagner (retired after 43 years of service), is a veteran of missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and a former commander of the 15th Mechanized Brigade of the Polish Armed Forces. Before taking command at the JFTC, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Multinational Corps Northeast, which functions as NATO’s rapid reaction ground force on the so-called eastern flank (Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia).
Press Office of the Marshal’s Office
January 21, 2025