For Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel deployed on Operation Legio in Poland, the air feels different. It’s not a war zone, but it isn’t peace either.
It’s a surreal, suspended space – a place where ADF personnel live side by side with Ukrainian soldiers who have come straight from the frontline, sometimes within 24 hours of combat. A place where the urgency of war collides with the slower, steadier rhythms of military training.
Led by Norway as the framework nation, Operation Legio comprises 12 multinational partners providing training for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to enhance their lethality and survivability.
As one of the most recent contributors to the mission, Australia has deployed more than 40 personnel to Camp Jomsborg in Poland.
The Australian contingent commander, Major Frank, said the mission was simple: train Ukrainian forces to be able to win the war on their own terms.
“We are here training the Ukrainians to failure,” Major Frank said.
“Through the conduct of realistic training, intense, realistic training, we’re able to develop lethality and survivability in the training audience.”
To achieve the Legio mission, the Norwegians have worked to instil a warrior ethos throughout every aspect of training.
‘It’s about how you handle stress, how you handle being afraid.’
The Commander of Legio Training Command, Lieutenant Colonel Hans, of the Norwegian Army, said it was nothing out of the ordinary.
“The warrior mindset is about making the soldiers down here, from the Ukrainian side, acknowledge what they are going to face at the frontline,” Lieutenant Colonel Hans said.
“It’s about how you handle stress, how you handle being afraid.
“It’s a mentality you need in order to survive and be lethal at the frontline when you meet up with the enemy.”
Major Frank concurred.
“It’s about bringing the Ukrainian trainees in and building trust with them, whilst taking them through and testing their plans and tactics through to failure in a safe environment,” he said.
Major Frank said this allowed them “to understand how to adapt, evolve and build the warrior mindset today, to meet the enemy on the battlefield tomorrow”.
Lieutenant Colonel Hans said it was not just the shift in mindset that was important to the training, but also how they taught it to the trainees that set the operation apart.
“To be very clear, the best people to instil that warrior mindset are the Ukrainian instructors coming here,” Lieutenant Colonel Hans said.
“This training integrates more closely with the instructors from the Armed Forces of Ukraine … it allows the contingent to apply actual, valuable lessons to our training audience here at camp.”
‘The warrior mindset is about making the soldiers down here, from the Ukrainian side, acknowledge what they are going to face at the frontline.’
He said being in close proximity to Ukraine meant they were able to understand and adapt to emerging tactics, techniques and procedures, along with new situations that were happening on the battlefield in real time.
While the operation is Norwegian-led, Lieutenant Colonel Hans said support from Poland was critical.
“We could not do what we do here without Poland,” Lieutenant Colonel Hans said.
Major Frank said the mission would not be achievable without support from the Polish Government.
“They have been incredibly generous to the Legio community,” Major Frank said.
“They have allowed us to establish and run very realistic training, which often requires waiving certain policies to allow training like the application of drone warfare and electronic warfare within sovereign borders.
“They also supply a number of vehicle platforms to allow us to enhance the realism of the training.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Poland.”
