WMASG: In the first place - how have you come up with the idea of reenacting Polish military unit? Books, movies, computer games - what was your inspiration? Or maybe it was just a will of doing something more exotic than SEALs or Delta?
GROM Chile: There are a couple of reasons behind our decision, some of them even accidental.
Naturally there's the reputation behind GROM itself. We were well aware of its existence even before it appeared in "Medal of Honor: Limited Edition", as they're world-known for their efficiency and effectiveness. They're mentioned in several American books on the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts, always in good regard. Our airsoft community is full of American-Special-Forces-inspired teams and we decided to do something different and pay homage to a unit that's just as capable as those might be.
Additionally, some of us are really into history; personally I've studied the Second World War in depth and have since admired the role that Poles played in the war even after suffering such a treacherous invasion. To me it demonstrated the courage, commitment and valour of your nation. Hence, we felt honoured to carry the Kotwica (The Anchor) on our shoulders.
All that said, what brought us together was actually camouflage. We're huge fans of the ATACS pattern and had been using it for quite a long time while searching for real-world units doing the same. That's how we came to know that JWK was using it and decided to make ourselves JWK load-outs. We started reading a lot about Polish Special Forces while doing so and ended up deciding that reenacting GROM was more in tune with the way we play, even while that meant sacrificing the ATACS pattern in the process.
WMASG: Is this your first reenactment?
GROM Chile: Yes, it is! Frankly we stumbled into it, as we had never considered portraying any real-life units and were more focused on the game itself.
WMASG:How did it start? Did you have some usual airsoft team and the idea showed up in the meantime, when you got bored with "normal" games or have you been planning that since the very beginning?
GROM Chile: It wasn't planned at all. Not all of us even knew each other before this project started.
Some of us had been around airsoft for over a decade and had become bored of the same quick death-match games. We wanted to develop skills over merely spraying the field with bb's. We started looking into better ways of moving, on how to shoot less and hit more. That naturally led us into MILSIM, a process that occurred in parallel with our decision to start our GROM reenactment team.
While we all had "regular" teams before, I believe this is the first time that we play in such a coordinated way, developing different roles and tactics.
We're having a lot of fun while learning a lot about how to be more effective in the field. That said, there's still a long way for us to to go. Please don't picture us as some badass airsoft machines. We're regular players trying to do things a little bit better, game after game.
WMASG:I can see, that your team counts 7 members for now, but how many people were involved in it in total?
GROM Chile: Unfortunately reenactment is a costly and sometimes frustrating hobby. Being on one of the edges of the world, it's quite hard to get our hands on good gear and completing load-outs is a real challenge. Even when you have the gear, using the appropriate guns severely limits your options, as only some brands produce the required models. Many of us had to drop our favourite rifles in order to pick up HK416's, and that has been a painful process.
Considering all this, recruitment has been a problem. Not many players are willing to tackle the investment and commit to a project such as this. Furthermore, we have lost some guys along the way over financial and/or personal issues.
Lastly, even while we'd like to have more people involved, we're very picky when it comes to recruiting. We've been able to maintain a very positive, healthy and relaxed vibe within our team. We do our best to play by the rules and to behave appropriately on the field. We only take those who we believe fit in that environment and who would also understand and value the background of the team: who we're honouring and why.
WMASG:How do people (other airsofters or your other friends) react, when they hear you reenact GROM? What do they say - "Damn, these guys are awesome!" or rather - "Say what? Is this some kind of SealDeltaSASsomething"?
GROM Chile: Reception has been great! Naturally many don't know about GROM so we get a lot of questions on the field, but mainly through our Facebook. Still, we haven't received a single negative comment; everybody has been really supportive of our endeavour.
On account of being awesome, we like to earn our reputation by the way we play rather than by the way we look, and so far I believe we've done a decent job. As I said, first and foremost we like to be regarded as fair-players. If we can top that with effective play, all the better.
The only ones nagging us are our best friends over looking so geared-up; I'm sure they're just terribly jealous!
WMASG:Nice ride by the way. How did you get it?
GROM Chile: For the longest time I wanted to have an old military jeep.
About a year ago I decided to do something about it and began searching for worthy candidates. With the help of a friend I found this old, rusting M151 1971 MUTT in Santiago's outskirts and purchased it without further thought. Since, we've been working hard to make it function properly and to get it ready for the field.
It made its debut a couple of weeks ago and sensations were spectacular. You can find a video summary in our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/GROMChile
WMASG:As we know, when it comes to reenact the most "trendy" units like US or British ones, there is a lot of materials in English. How do you deal with language obstacles? What is your source of knowledge about GROM?
GROM Chile: Well, it certainly hasn't been easy. We we're unable to find any books or websites with good information in English, so we started by the very basics: photographs, Wikipedia and Google Translate. Even so, there's not a lot of actionable information online, even in Polish.
Thankfully we've met very nice people along the way, some of them Poles, with good knowledge and connections. With their help we've been able to improve our recreation and learn a lot more about GROM.
Last but not least, we've been recently contacted by one of the authors of the only book we've found in English about GROM, and he has been tremendously helpful. If you'd like to know more please visit his webpage: www.gromyears.com
WMASG: It's very noble of him to give you guidelines and support. I bet not many "real steel" guys care about airsofters. What was the biggest surprise for you in the things he mentioned about stuff you should take care and/or correct to make your reenactment better?
To top that, we've decided to eliminate our "cichociemni" patches in favour of equal ones with the word "reenactor", just to be sure that we're not confused with real operators in the pictures we upload. Besides that comment, all we've received from the GROM community has been support and encouragement. I believe our purpose is being understood.
WMASG:Can you tell more about yourself? What do you guys do in your everyday life, if you don't mind to share this knowledge of course?
GROM Chile: Well, we're a group of regular people. We work everyday, same as everybody! There are some IT experts, businessmen, office employees and such. While we do different things and come from different places, we feel bound by a special friendship and sense of purpose. I believe this is what makes up the core of our team - the brotherhood we've developed.
WMASG:In Poland airsoft is very diverse - we got people participating to speedball-like games only, people spending long hours during mil-sims or teams using airsoft replicas just as the live firearms replacement for trainings. What is your category?
GROM Chile: In Chile the situation es very similar. People play in varied ways, for varied reasons. We're part of a community of like-minded players who view airsoft as a weekend hobby, who like to have fun and see this activity as a way to release themselves from everyday stress.
That said, we're getting more and more involved in MILSIM events, while participating in regular death-matches from time to time.
WMASG:Anything you are able to say in Polish?
GROM Chile: Not really! I won't cheat by using Google Translate. I'd definitely like to learn, but as our languages don't share the same latin origin I'm afraid it would be terribly hard for me.
WMASG:Do you know some other teams in Chile reenacting Polish military units?
GROM Chile: Unfortunately, no. There are some reenacting American, British and German units though.
WMASG:What was the greatest challenge for you? Apart from terribly difficult language of course?
GROM Chile: Figuring out the appropriate gear! As with many other Special Forces, GROM operators use a lot of custom equipment. Depending on the scenario and situation, you see completely different load-outs. Some of the stuff we had never seen, so it was quite difficult to figure out what everything was.
WMASG:As we know, GROM uses a lot of American equipment, though not entirely. Is there anything apart from patches, you needed to ship directly from Poland (gear, equipment)?
GROM Chile: So far, apart from the patches, we've shipped an original GROM beret and a combat shirt. For everything else it has been easier (and cheaper!) to look elsewhere.
WMASG:Maybe it's not the question regarding directly your team, but it's worth asking, since I have the opportunity - how does airsoft look in Chile? Are there any legal limits and requirements you need to fulfil or you are completely free about that?
GROM Chile: So far it is completely free and unregulated. Fortunately, those who where amongst the first to play saw the need of adopting rules from abroad in order to make it safe and to work towards assuring its legality.
Two or three years ago we managed to have airsoft officially recognised as a sport by the government, which is obviously a huge step towards legal certainty. We've also secured official declarations by the relevant authorities declaring that airsoft replicas are not to be considered guns and that they're completely legal to use, possess and transport.
In terms of rules, we've mainly adopted those in use in the United Stated regarding FPS limits, eyesight protection standards and so on. While there'll always be those who opt-out of these guidelines, I'd say that generally speaking airsoft in Chile is a safe practice.
WMASG:Are you fixed with some particular time period in GROM's history or just trying to keep it going with the most modern look as possible?
GROM Chile: GROM load-outs are changing all the time, and as I've said each operator uses whatever he deems best, so defining a team-look is quite hard. Hence, we've decided to stay as modern as possible while following general guidelines for everyone to adopt. While we risk making a mistake or two, I believe we've managed to look as a single, cohesive unit.
Are you more focused on black (CQB) or green tactics? By green tactics I understand disappearing in the woods for couple of days with full equipment and backpacks.
Below you can find one of the skirmish videos made by the team:
