Speaker A
Fast roping from airborne assets can give the Grom a fast insertion technique on building tops.
US Marine reviews Polish GROM Special Forces, highlighting their tactics, gear, maritime skills, and joint operations with US Navy SEALs.
Key Takeaways
- Polish GROM is a highly capable special forces unit with diverse operational skills including urban, maritime, and airborne tactics.
- Their training is rigorous, focusing on realism, stress management, and teamwork with strict discipline.
- GROM maintains strong international cooperation, especially with US Navy SEALs, enhancing their operational effectiveness.
- The unit’s gear and tactics are modern and well-suited for a variety of mission profiles.
- Historical roots and legacy play a significant role in GROM’s identity and operational philosophy.
Summary
- The video introduces the Polish GROM, an elite special forces unit with roots tracing back to WWII resistance fighters called Cichociemni.
- GROM specializes in fast insertion techniques like fast roping from helicopters, urban hostage rescue, and maritime operations.
- The unit's gear includes multicam uniforms, high-cut helmets with communication headsets, HK416 rifles, USP pistols, and Glock sidearms.
- Training includes urban repelling, close quarters battle (CQB) or kill house drills, combat stress courses, and proper prisoner handling.
- Maritime capabilities feature ship boarding using caving ladders and specialized climbing techniques.
- GROM emphasizes strict muzzle discipline, hand signals, minimal communication, and coordinated team tactics during operations.
- The unit was established in response to a 1989 incident involving Polish diplomats in Lebanon, led by Lt. Col. Petelicki.
- GROM has a history of joint operations with US Special Operations forces, particularly Navy SEALs, including deployments in Iraq.
- The video showcases GROM’s training facilities, including shoot houses and rock climbing walls, highlighting their versatile skill set.
- The channel encourages viewers to share operational examples and insights about GROM in the comments.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
And other areas that make a traditional helicopter landing impossible.
Speaker B
All right, y'all, welcome back to Command Arms channel.
Speaker B
Okay, so today we are checking out a unit out of Poland.
Speaker B
So these guys look pretty freaking legit.
Speaker B
This is the Polish Grom, which stands for Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno-Manewrowego, which I guess means operational maneuvering response, which also kind of means thunder.
Speaker B
I don't really know.
Speaker B
But they look really freaking cool.
Speaker B
This video is going to give us a pretty short introduction to them, so of course, if you guys have any sort of operational examples of how these guys were actually implemented, definitely throw them down below, but yeah, they look pretty freaking cool, so let's check out this video.
Speaker A
The Grom name appropriately means thunder.
Speaker B
Nice.
Speaker A
And the unit traces their roots back to World War II and the Cichociemni, the dark and silent.
Speaker B
Okay.
Speaker A
Polish unconventional resistance fighters that would bring the fight to Nazi occupied Poland.
Speaker B
No kidding.
Speaker A
The name comes well deserved as these unconventional forces.
Speaker A
Would come quietly in the night and kill their Nazi German prey silently.
Speaker B
No kidding.
Speaker A
In 1989, two Polish diplomats were shot in Beirut.
Speaker A
The man in charge of overseeing the safe transfer of civilians and Polish diplomats in Lebanon was Lieutenant Colonel Petelicki.
Speaker B
Oh, snap, dude.
Speaker B
This is legit.
Speaker A
Being a forward thinker, Petelicki realized that Poland lacked an established counter-terror unit.
Speaker A
Petelicki proposed a special operations unit that would become Poland's premier anti-terror unit.
Speaker B
Okay.
Speaker B
So I imagine the unit back in World War II wasn't necessarily the the Grom specifically.
Speaker B
But like they're saying, they get their sort of roots from them.
Speaker B
So, man, this is so freaking cool.
Speaker B
Again, a nice freaking little shoot house set up here.
Speaker B
With, of course, you got the the catwalk up ahead so you can watch all the badass stuff going on.
Speaker B
So, let's check out the gear.
Speaker B
It looks like they're rocking multicam, which is pretty freaking nice.
Speaker B
Uh, pretty decent looking armor, nice high cut helmets with Peltors, it looks like.
Speaker B
HK416 with uh, maybe a D-ball laser and an EOTech.
Speaker B
Okay, if I get any of this wrong, definitely let me know.
Speaker B
But yeah, this the gear looks pretty freaking sweet so far.
Speaker B
We got some fast rope stuff.
Speaker B
You guys already know I love checking out the fast roping.
Speaker B
And then we also have some maritime stuff.
Speaker B
So it's it's going to be pretty awesome checking out all the stuff that they're capable of.
Speaker B
Because you'll see them doing a vast range of operations with a bunch of different equipment to sort of suit those needs.
Speaker A
For the first time in Grom unit history, Safrep was invited behind the fence.
Speaker A
To take a snapshot of the unit's training compound.
Speaker B
Okay, sorry, I know I just paused it, but oh man, that's so freaking cool.
Speaker B
I just got one of these rope bags, these repelling rope bags myself.
Speaker B
And it is just the coolest freaking thing.
Speaker B
It looks like they're rocking USP pistols, which, okay.
Speaker B
I've not seen a unit rock a USP recently.
Speaker B
It looks like this dude has a Glock as well.
Speaker B
So it looks like, you know, they have a little bit of leniency with what they're actually using.
Speaker B
But, oh man, the the urban repelling.
Speaker B
Once you see people doing the urban repelling, you know they're freaking legit.
Speaker A
Fast roping from airborne assets can give the Grom a fast insertion technique on building tops.
Speaker A
And other areas that make a traditional helicopter landing impossible.
Speaker B
Oh yeah.
Speaker A
Next, we see the Grom in action practicing an urban vehicle hostage rescue operation.
Speaker B
Damn.
Speaker A
Practicing with the caving ladder is an essential skill for all modern SOF.
Speaker B
Classic.
Speaker A
Here, a Grom operator demonstrates the proper use of the caving ladder.
Speaker A
These ladders are often used during open ocean non-compliant ship boardings.
Speaker A
Grom boats come swiftly in the night, quietly fixed ladders to the side of a ship underway.
Speaker A
And climb up and take down the vessel.
Speaker B
Okay.
Speaker B
Yeah, so again, we we saw a little bit of that maritime capability before.
Speaker B
But this is kind of cool.
Speaker B
Again, you see this with pretty much every sort of counter police unit.
Speaker B
So this is pretty standard.
Speaker B
But I do like how they're implementing, so it looks like they have some fake sort of injuries here.
Speaker B
That's pretty freaking sweet to implement some medical training as well.
Speaker B
And then this freaking thing, man.
Speaker B
It's such a pain in the butt.
Speaker B
So this is what they're talking about using for the maritime operations.
Speaker B
But yeah, this thing twists a lot.
Speaker B
So I've seen a few different techniques to actually climb up it.
Speaker B
But I think the most common is sort of reaching around from the the back and climbing up like this.
Speaker B
And also putting your heels, so you can see his heel would basically go on the back side of the of the ladder.
Speaker B
Which, yeah, it looks pretty awkward and it definitely is awkward.
Speaker B
But yeah, it is kind of cool to see this sort of maritime capability.
Speaker B
And again, it's just nice to see their facilities as well.
Speaker B
It looks like they have a sort of rock climbing wall over here.
Speaker A
And climb up and take down the vessel.
Speaker B
Yes.
Speaker B
Nice.
Speaker A
No modern spec ops unit is complete without a sound background of close quarter battle.
Speaker A
Or what is commonly referred to by units worldwide as kill house training.
Speaker B
Okay.
Speaker A
The name of the game is a smooth and fast dose of violence of action.
Speaker B
All right, let's see it.
Speaker A
Here, you can see the Grom have a firm grasp of this skill.
Speaker A
As they clear the building, all fields of fire are covered, keeping strict muzzle discipline.
Speaker A
Where possible, hand signals are used and communications are kept to a minimum.
Speaker B
Well said.
Speaker A
Here, a Grom operator takes a simulated terrorist prisoner.
Speaker B
I like that.
Speaker A
Proper prisoner handling techniques are incredibly important.
Speaker B
So this is I like that, the flashbangs on the back, the kits might confuse a lot of people initially.
Speaker B
But obviously, if you're in a stack, if he ends up being the one man, the two man can just grab a flashbang off of him, makes a lot easier since you're already looking in that in that direction.
Speaker B
But I'm liking their CQB tactics, not going to lie.
Speaker B
Their kit looks very well suited for what they're doing.
Speaker B
They have, you know, secondaries.
Speaker B
If they need to transition to them.
Speaker B
But you can see here, he's also, you know, pulling long security from inside the room.
Speaker B
Which a lot of people don't implement so much.
Speaker B
They usually clear a room out and then go right back into the hallway and pull long security there.
Speaker B
Which, you know, it is possible to do that and it is recommended in some circumstances.
Speaker B
But for this, it's nice to utilize some cover and pull that long security while your buddies are pushing up and getting the rest of the rooms here.
Speaker A
Simulated terrorist prisoner.
Speaker A
Proper prisoner handling techniques are incredibly important.
Speaker A
Another extremely important training evolution is the combat stress course.
Speaker B
Okay.
Speaker A
Unit members are scored for time and accuracy, and it pays to be a winner.
Speaker A
These drills are often conducted with a large peer group present to create added pressure by the Grom trainers.
Speaker A
Again, muzzle discipline and cover are extremely important to the operator.
Speaker A
If you listen closely, you can hear the shooter's shots hit the steel targets.
Speaker B
Listen closely, it's pretty easy to tell.
Speaker A
The combat stress course is smooth as fast, fast as smooth.
Speaker A
In the second Gulf War, the Grom were deployed alongside US Special Operations forces in Iraq.
Speaker B
No kidding.
Speaker A
Grom developed a close working relationship with the US Navy SEALs.
Speaker A
The partnership was sparked in part by an American citizen, an immigrant from Poland, and a Navy SEAL with the nickname Frago.
Speaker B
Nice, that's a cool nickname.
Speaker A
Frago was instrumental in building a bridge between the Polish Grom and the US Navy SEALs.
Speaker A
Often the units would operate jointly.
Speaker B
No kidding.
Speaker A
To inside of SEALs worked alongside the Grom in Iraq, would often give Drago a hard time for sometimes yelling at the SEALs in Polish.
Speaker A
And the Grom in English over the radio.
Speaker B
That's funny.
Speaker A
Regardless of the banter, a close bond and a mutual respect was formed between the two units.
Speaker B
That's cool.
Speaker A
The mission is real and the consequences potentially deadly.
Speaker A
Tactical lights can also give an operator an advantage if night vision goggles can't be used.
Speaker A
Due to a lack of ambient light.
Speaker A
The weapon mounted high lumen lights can blind an enemy and create a tactical advantage for the operator.
Speaker B
Okay, yeah, for sure.
Speaker B
White light is an amazing thing.
Speaker B
And it's pretty much a must have when it comes to CQB.
Speaker B
Because night vision is awesome, it's awesome to be like as low key as possible.
Speaker B
But when you start shooting or if it's just in a really dusty environment, night vision is going to be useless.
Speaker B
Even if you do have ambient lights, you're going to have all this smoke.
Speaker B
All this stuff, you know, flying around.
Speaker B
And you're not going to be able to see very well.
Speaker B
I mean, you can use thermals in those sorts of environments.
Speaker B
But for CQB, that's also pretty awkward.
Speaker B
So white lights work really freaking well.
Speaker B
But it is kind of cool, I like how they gave us sort of background as to how the Grom were actually working with the Navy SEALs back then.
Speaker A
High lumen lights can blind an enemy and create a tactical advantage for the operator.
Speaker A
Here, you see live prisoner handling techniques in use.
Speaker A
Bag them and tag them, Grom style.
Speaker B
Nice, dude.
Speaker B
So cool.
Speaker A
Safrep and special operations.com were given the opportunity to sit down and interview former and active members of the Grom.
Speaker A
Including their current commanding officer.
Speaker A
This access was a first for Western media outlets.
Speaker B
Now, I will say, I'm skipping a little bit of this video.
Speaker B
So I'll put the original video in the description if you guys want to check it out.
Speaker B
Their interviews are pretty freaking interesting.
Speaker B
So I definitely recommend checking the video out in its entirety.
Speaker A
No space left unchecked.
Speaker A
You never know where weapons or improvised explosives could be hiding.
Speaker B
Yep, some sensitive site exploitation.
Speaker B
It's such cool footage, especially with the white lights and whatnot.
Speaker A
Like their Navy SEAL counterparts.
Speaker A
The Grom also have a maritime capability.
Speaker B
Yes, sir.
Speaker A
Here, we take a look at the Grom in action on the open ocean.
Speaker A
Normally conducted at night, here we see a daytime training exercise.
Speaker A
Notice the caving ladders and hook poles on the back of the boat.
Speaker B
Yes.
Speaker A
These poles will be raised by an operator to hook and fix the ladder to the boat.
Speaker B
Oh.
Speaker B
Man, they're clearing a nice facility.
Speaker B
I got to say, when I trained with the the Recon Marines, they were not attacking a vessel this nice.
Speaker B
It looks like a cruise liner or something.
Speaker B
So this is what the Recon Marines were assaulting.
Speaker B
So didn't look as cool, probably wasn't as nice after the fact as well, getting to chill on that ship.
Speaker B
But I mean, with counter-terror sort of special forces units, you do have the potential of.
Speaker B
You know, taking down these really nice looking vessels as well.
Speaker A
There's no mistaking the Grom's significant contribution to the US-led fight against terrorism worldwide.
Speaker A
The unit is one of the world's best, and the Grom operators are cut from the same cloth of their US SOF counterparts.
Speaker B
Hell yeah.
Speaker B
The MP5s and stuff.
Speaker B
I love fast roping so much.
Speaker B
I can't say that enough.
Speaker B
Oh, freaking MP5s.
Speaker B
Nice clips, I will say.
Speaker A
In today's mission, it's truly one team, one fight.
Speaker B
Freaking sick, man.
Speaker B
Nice.
Speaker B
This was a really freaking sweet video.
Speaker B
I didn't expect to see all the operational footage, but it is really nice because you get a really good appreciation for what these guys were doing.
Speaker B
Sort of behind the scenes, of course, you're not going to necessarily hear about them as it's happening.
Speaker B
Because special forces takes a little bit longer to hear about what units were involved with certain things.
Speaker B
But it is nice to get some of that footage and some of that coverage after the fact.
Speaker B
So you can sort of remember and think about what was going on back then.
Speaker B
And just picture these guys doing their stuff in the background.
Speaker B
So, super freaking cool.
Speaker B
Again, their tactics were awesome, their equipment, their capabilities were awesome.
Speaker B
And again, that that backstory of them working with the Navy SEALs, it's just cool, that's not something that we've heard previously in, you know, any other sort of video.
Speaker B
So it's kind of cool how there's like one person that was kind of pivotal for that sort of working relationship.
Speaker B
But yeah, if you guys have any other sort of videos to recommend, especially operational clips of these guys doing some stuff.
Speaker B
Definitely throw that down below.
Speaker B
Because that is a lot of fun to check out.
Speaker B
But yeah, let me know if you guys have anything else to share, if you have any first-hand experience or first-hand knowledge of these guys.
Speaker B
Or how they operate or what they've done, throw that down below as well.
Speaker B
And of course, if you have any other recommendations, you can throw those down in the comment section.
Speaker B
Or you can head over to the Discord and recommend them there.
Speaker B
But yeah, this was this was a lot of fun to check out.
Speaker B
I got to say, I was pretty hyped.
Speaker B
Just seeing the fast roping is always cool.
Speaker B
That's pretty much all you need to get me hyped about a video.
Speaker B
But yeah, that is it for this one.
Speaker B
Hopefully you guys enjoyed it.
Speaker B
If you did, you can hit the thumbs up, comment, let me know what you think.
Speaker B
And definitely consider hitting that subscribe button.
Speaker B
But that is it for this video.
Speaker B
I'll see you all in the next one.
Topics:Polish GROMspecial forcesUS Marine reactionfast ropingclose quarters battlemaritime operationscounter-terrorismHK416Navy SEALscombat training
