- Tankblåst — a new hit product coming soon to an IKEA near you.
No matter how much experience you have or how good you are at your job, eventually everybody makes a mistake. And that’s okay — admit your slip-up, make amends, and move on.
You certainly shouldn’t try to covertly sweep your mistakes under the rug. Otherwise, you might end up like Major General Artur Kepczynski.
In his role in the Polish Armed Forces, Kepczynski was essentially the logistics chief, responsible for ensuring troops and military materiel go where they’re supposed. Last year, however, he committed what could be described as a “bit of a goof.”
Soldiers unloading a bunch of material off a train apparently forgot to pick a bunch of high-powered anti-tank mines. The train took off and the explosives disappeared.
You’d imagine there’d be a massive operation to find them, but instead, Kepczynski forged shipping documents to make it seem the mines never existed. His solution worked for a while — until the military got an uncomfortable phone call from a local IKEA store.
The IKEA representative wanted to know when the military planned to pick up the mines sitting in the furniture store’s warehouse.
Suddenly, important people started going through Kepczynski’s shipping logs with a magnifying glass in hand. That ended up about as you’d expect, and he’s now been dishonorably dismissed from his duties.
The moral of the story is, don’t try to hide your honest mistakes. Especially if they involve military-grade high explosives.
Technically Qualified
On paper, you’d be hard-pressed to find a man more qualified to deal with military logistics than Kepczynski. He’s had quite an illustrious career in moving materials of war around.
Kepczynski, 57, had his undergraduate degree from a school specializing in truck logistics, so he got his start in the subject even before his military career. In 2011, he got his first position at the Polish Army’s Support Inspectorate (IWSZ), which is responsible for organizing the army’s logistical support.
In 2015, Kepczynski was promoted to the position of Deputy Head of Logistics at the IWSZ. Three years later, he became the Head of Logistics on a temporary basis, and he took over the entire IWSZ in 2021.
So, he should certainly have what it takes to move troops and guns around. Yet, in the summer of 2024, things went wrong.
Soldiers were unloading material from a train near the city of Szczecin in northwestern Poland, local news report. The load of equipment included a bunch of anti-tank mines.
Intended to bust modern tanks and other fighting vehicles, these things aren’t little firecrackers. Mines of this type typically weigh between 15 and 30 pounds, most of which consist of an explosive charge.
For reasons unknown, however, the soldiers didn’t unload the mines. Maybe they forgot or maybe the cargo checklist was incomplete, but the anti-tank mines stayed on the train.
And then the train took off, with the mines in tow.
‘When Will You Pick Up Your Bombs?’
Understandably, this kind of blunder was embarrassing to the IWSZ. However, considering dangerous military-grade explosives had just gone missing, the logistics unit mounted a full search-and-recover operation.
Nah, just kidding. Kepczynski chose not to report the incident to his higher-ups.
Not only that, but he also doctored the supply documents related to the load of equipment. Suddenly, the official papers showed that the number of anti-tank mines unloaded from the train was just right.
For a few months, it seemed the problem was dealt with. Kepczynski and the IWSZ went on with business as usual, as if the mines never existed, and no one asked any question.
As to where the lost mines went, nobody knew and nobody cared. Until somebody found them.
In late 2024, the Polish military received a bizarre phone call. On the line wasn’t a military expert, but a manager of an IKEA warehouse.
According to the caller, some time ago, the branch of the Swedish furniture store chain received a shipment of what appeared to be heavy mines. Considering the IKEA warehouse wasn’t exactly equipped to store them safely, the manager wanted to know when the army planned to retrieve the explosives.
Uncomfortable Questions
Understandably, the military was a little bit upset about the fact that their weaponry was sitting in a civilian storage unit next to flat-packed particleboard TV stands. But where on earth did the IKEA mines come from?
After all, on paper, every single anti-tank mine the army owned was accounted for.
Naturally, the big bosses of the military wanted some answers and they started pouring over recent supply documents. This is probably where people noticed Kepczynski sweating uncomfortably.
Although the full audit of the situation is still ongoing, it seems the authorities have caught on to Kepczynski. After all, Poland’s Ministry of National Defense dismissed the general from his position at the IWSZ on January 9.
Whether he will face legal proceedings remains to be seen. What we do know, though, is that he would’ve likely been in less trouble if he had just owned up to the mistake from the beginning.
If you’d like to read more about the Polish Army making a little mess, check out our story about the time they accidentally invaded the Czech Republic.