Mieczyslaw Cieniuch is Poland’s new Chief of the General Staff of Poland’s armed forces, replacing Franciszek Gagor who died in the April 10 plane disaster in western Russia.

Acting president Bronislaw Komorowski said he would formally appoint General Cieniuch on Friday.

The appointment is part of the reconstruction of much of Poland’s military elite brought on after the Smolensk air crash, when several military top brass lost their lives, alongside President Kaczynski, wife Mari and many politicians associated with the opposition Law and Justice and Democratic Left Alliance parties.

General Mieczyslaw Cieciuch, born on 24 January 1951 and graduated from the Military Academy in Poznan. He also studied abroad - at the Academy of Armed Forces and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in Moscow and at the National Defence University, Naval Postgraduate School and Defence Institute of International legal Studies in the U.S.  

Cieciuch started his military career as a tank platoon commander in Elblag and was quickly promoted to the post of the chief of staff. In 1998, Cieciuch became a member of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, where he was responsible for strategic planning. In August 2001, he received a rank of Major General and two years later of Lieutenant General.

Between 2003 and 2006 Cieciuch served as deputy or the acting chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces. He was also Poland’s military representative at the NATO and the EU Military Committees. Since his return to Poland in 2009 General Cieciuch has been a legal advisor of Defence Minister Bogdan Klich.  

General Mieczyslaw Cieciuch is to be appointed a chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces on 7 May, following a tragic death of General Franciszek Gagor. 

General Mieczyslaw Cieciuch was awarded the highest Polish medals, including the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Cross of Merit. 

Mieczyslaw Cieciuch is married and has a son. (pg/mg)