It is not enough to train a naval officer, he needs to be “developed”

The history of the Polish Navy reveals a multitude of events concerning personnel matters, which in turn introduce us to the issues of loyalty and what I referred to as “development” in the title. By and large, we know quite a lot about the training and education of senior officers, although it may be that we look at the process too superficially and fail to see that it is not woven with exclusively positive values. In my article I raise that we are often saddled with misconceptions concerning the officer’s service, which we want to view in the pantheon of national glory, with the officer emerging as the embodiment of the superior soldierly and civic virtues. I referred to the Government Act – Constitution of 3 May 1791, but only to the extent of reiterating that „the army is a force drawn from the people” and stating “like nation, like army”. I attempted to strongly emphasize the principle of loyalty, because I believe that it gets lost in the maze of diverse qualities that we tend, often uncritically, to attribute to officers, and I considered “development” as one of the most serious challenges, because it essentially determines what officers guard our security.

The history of the Polish Navy reveals a multitude of events concerning personnel matters, which in turn introduce us to the issues of loyalty and what I referred to as “development” in the title. By and large, we know quite a lot about the training and education of senior officers, although it may be that we look at the process too superficially and fail to see that it is not woven with exclusively positive values. In my article I raise that we are often saddled with misconceptions concerning the officer’s service, which we want to view in the pantheon of national glory, with the officer emerging as the embodiment of the superior soldierly and civic virtues. I referred to the Government Act – Constitution of 3 May 1791, but only to the extent of reiterating that „the army is a force drawn from the people” and stating “like nation, like army”. I attempted to strongly emphasize the principle of loyalty, because I believe that it gets lost in the maze of diverse qualities that we tend, often uncritically, to attribute to officers, and I considered “development” as one of the most serious challenges, because it essentially determines what officers guard our security.