出版社：U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center * Development Support Department
摘要：The Republic of Poland is a central-European Slavic nation that serves as a crossroads between North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allied countries to the west and former Soviet countries to the east. Each of these countries pursues different strategic goals and alliances, creating a complex environment for diplomatic relations. Given the centralized geographic location of Poland, the Polish people have endured a long history of war, foreign occupation, successive waves of invaders, and civil uprisings. Based on these historic and current events, the Polish are acutely aware of an ever-present danger still posed to many military leaders today—the Suwalki Gap. Often the decisive terrain in operational exercises, this 40-mile corridor comprises the border between two NATO countries—Poland and Lithuania. On opposite ends of this gap are Kaliningrad, an 86-square-mile Russian exclave, and Belarus, a strong Russian ally. Should Russian forces mobilize beyond Ukraine toward this area, they would effectively cut off the NATO allies Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—all former Soviet states. This scenario would force a NATO response, and Poland would once again become the epicenter of a military conflict. The purpose of this article is to detail planning and construction efforts and highlight lessons learned in order to assist future engineers in construction training outside the continental United States (OCONUS).
