After 1989, Poland began dialing back the size of its army. Commands and operational units were dissolved, a shift described by General Bogusław Samol, former commander of NATO’s Multinational Corps Northeast, during an interview with PAP. He noted that after 2015 there was a deliberate decision to rebuild and expand the armed forces.
The trajectory of reducing Poland’s military size
In speaking with PAP, General Samol recalled that following the fall of communism and Poland’s withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, measures were taken to shrink the Polish army. He emphasized that the economy at the time was weak, making it impossible to sustain an army of 450,000 men. The plan was to maintain a force large enough for defense while staying within the limits of the state budget.
The process of restructuring began with a substantial reduction—from about 450,000 to roughly 260,000 personnel. This arrangement persisted into the late 1990s. The 2001 Law on Reconstruction and Technical Modernization and Financing of the Polish Armed Forces set a defense budget target at 1.95 percent of GDP and a minimum army size of 150,000. In practice, those targets were not met. Over a few years after 2001, the population of the armed forces fell to under 100,000, with estimates for 2012 or 2015 placing it around 95,000 to 97,000.
General Samol highlighted these numbers as part of the broader retrenchment.
Disbandment of units
He described how organizational structures were reorganized, with several commands and operational units dissolved. An example cited was the liquidation of the 1st Mechanized Division of Warsaw Tadeusz Kościuszko. In addition, rocket artillery units were dissolved, and brigades and some regiments within divisions were disbanded. The pool of engineer troops—critical for defensive operations—was also diminished. The air force faced downsizing and underinvestment; it was not until 2006 that the armed forces began receiving F-16 aircraft, and even then the process slowed. Several air defense units were disbanded despite allocated funds, with about 6.5 billion PLN earmarked in 2009 to start modern air defense acquisitions.
General Samol noted that reconnaissance units within divisions were cut as well.
He argued that this was not simply a matter of political repositioning or relocation; rather, the units were actually liquidated. There was even talk of pushing the armed forces toward a level as low as 70,000 personnel.
– stated the former NATO Multinational Corps Northeast commander.
It is important to note the broader context. In some discussions, politicians suggested that units had merely moved, but the reality, according to General Samol, was liquidation. The implication was clear: a continued contraction well beyond previous reductions.
Reconstruction of the army
The current period marks a shift toward expansion of the armed forces.
General Samol recalled that the 2014 National Security Strategy identified Russia as a threat. Following the 2015 elections, Poland undertook a strategic defense analysis that underscored the need to rebuild command structures, organizational frameworks, and the material capabilities of the armed forces. The country’s defense architecture was to be rebuilt and modernized.
In 2016, efforts to build territorial defense began, a program described by Samol as having been “completely liquidated” in previous years. He pointed to the Homeland Defense Act of 2022 as a turning point, increasing defense spending and outlining three funding sources for that expenditure.
In 2015 the defense budget hovered around 30 to 40 billion PLN; today it exceeds 140 billion PLN. This growth reflects a determination not to undervalue national security. For Poland to maintain security, political consensus across parties was deemed essential, according to General Samol.