Czech SOF Pilots Conduct Rescue Operations In Poland
A rainy weekend in Central Europe became one of the decade’s greatest catastrophes. A weekago Poland was struck by severe flooding but one of the lesser reported stories of the disaster was the involvement of Czech and Polish special operations personnel. Within two days several towns and many more villages in the Silesia region of Poland, were badly flooded by numerous streams and rivers. A widespread failure of irrigation systems and emergency tanks led to casualties among local populations, especially in Kłodzko Valley, a historical border region between Czechia and Poland.
Polish Armed Forces, including engineers and Territorial Defense Forces, have fought tirelessly with the cataclysm, building dams and setting up earthworks to protect local communities. Sadly their effort was too little in the awe of some of the most intense rains in years. Towns such as Kłodzko, Nysa, and Jelenia Góra were soon underwater.
The military and police ran rescue operations using Mi-17 and S-70i Black Hawk helicopters with the addition of smaller aircraft. However, the Czech General Staff and Ministry of Defense agreed to use 3 Mi-171ŠM from Task Force Hippo, 22nd TAB, to support Polish Special Operation Forces at Powidz Air Base to aid the victims of the floods.
Task Force Hippo was established in January 2024 as Czech involvement in providing security for NATO Eastern Flank amid the ongoing War in Ukraine. Pilots of the 22nd TAB cooperated with several Polish SOF units including Formoza and recently formed PJOS, a special Polish Air Force unit from Powidz Air Base. Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, Chief of Staff, Polish Armed Forces, said:
“Strong reinforcement from the Czech Republic. These are the best equipped Mi-17 helicopters in NATO. Their crews are some of the best special operations pilots in the world that I have had the opportunity to meet.”
The helicopters and pilots of TF Hippo had plenty of work rescuing victims of the flooding from towns and villages. The flooding of the rivers Oder and Nysa caused significant damage to hundreds of villages and towns in rural areas before finally receding.