Kuryer Polski has great news to share with the Polish American Community. Ernest Litynski has been appointed to Major General in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Major Generał Ernest Lityński (Source: US Army)
He was born to Polish immigrants in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up under the influence of a strong Polish culture and attended Henryk Sienkiewicz Polish School in Cicero, Illinois for eight years. After graduating from high school, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army – a cavalry officer.
Maj. Gen. Litynski has been serving our country for the past 28 years. He currently is the Commanding General for the 76th Operational Response Command, Fort Douglas, Utah, where he is responsible for the readiness, welfare, and safety of over 6,000 Soldiers and civilians dispersed throughout the United States. He has served multiple combat tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After serving on active duty in the Army as armor platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and cavalry company commander, he transferred to the United States Army Reserves as a Captain. After a few years, he was promoted to Major and then was deployed to Iraq in 2005-2006 where he served with the XVIII Airborne Corps (paratroopers) near Baghdad.
The Polish Center of Wisconsin hosted the promotion ceremony for Brigadier General Ernest Litynski of the U.S. Army Reserve (Source: Facebook)
Due to his Polish language skills, he was also attached to the Polish Multi-National Division – Center South (MND-CS) in Diwaniyah, Iraq, to support the Polish Army during Iraq’s first free National Elections. Together with the Polish Army, Major Litynski ensured that the Iraqi election sites were secured and that every Iraqi citizen's rights to freely vote for representatives and the National Government were protected.
Both the Polish Division and Major Litynski were commended for the lack of violence due to proper security in the area. The elections were very successful and the cooperation of the Polish Army with the American XVIII Corps was heralded as a successful multi-national military operation. As an operations planner and liaison between the Polish and American Armies, Major Litynski helped strengthen the relationship between these countries for the future.
After the first elections, Major Litynski continued to support the Polish Division during the next election, which once again was successful. For his efforts, Major Litynski was awarded the Multi-National Division Center South (MND-CS) Medal for exceptional performance from Polish Major General Piotr Czerwinski, Division Commander of all Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Bulgarian forces assigned to Iraq.
After his deployment to Iraq, Major Litynski once again deployed as a Polish American – this time serving with the 82nd Airborne Division (paratroopers) in Afghanistan in 2007. During this deployment, Major Litynski served mostly in the 4th Brigade, 82nd Division. Within this unit, he was assigned to the Polish 18th Air Assault Battalion. While serving in the same area of operations with the 18th Air Assault Battalion, the Polish American militaries were able to improve the security in the province through numerous stability-security and combat operations.
Col. Litynski is presented with Star of Iraq and star of Afghanistan (Photo: Marcin Murawski)
Even though one of his best friends was killed in action during his deployment, Major Litynski and his unit were able to strengthen Polish-American military relationships and cooperative infantry and airborne operations for future multi-national operations.
Major Litynski was promoted ahead of his peers to Lieutenant Colonel and served as a Battalion Commander in the United States Army Reserves. He has received numerous awards in the Army, to include the Airborne Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, 6 Army Commendation Medals, 5 Army Achievement Medals, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the German Army Efficiency Badge, and the Order of Saint George Bronze Medallion.
In November 2011, Ernest Litynski was presented with Congressman Clement Zablocki Civic Achievement Award and Paderewski Medal issued by Polish American Congress. Consul General Robert Rusiecki of Republic of Poland presented Col. Ernest Litynski with the Star of Iraq and Star of Afghanistan awards issued by the President of Poland.
He graduated from Henryk Sienkiewicz Polish School, holds a Bachelor of Science (BS), Environmental Engineering, from the United States Military Academy (West Point); a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Marquette University; a Master of Science (MS), Engineering Management, from Marquette University; and Master of Science (MS) in Strategic Studies from the The United States Army War College.
Link to the official nomination:
https://www.congress.gov/nomination/117th-congress/1720
