According to the unit's commander, General Slawomir Petelicki, there are officers aged 45 in this unit who are more fit than younger soldiers. Those who eventually leave the GROM often become instructors in military units. GROM personnel are highly trained and motivated. General Petelicki, for example, is an expert in intelligence operations, long-range reconnaissance, and diversionary activities. It takes a minimum of 3 years and costs about 1 million dollars to train a GROM operator.
All training is conducted with live ammunition.
Candidates undergo long and complicated psychological testing. An operator's reactions must be quick but composed under stressful situations. In a typical training session, a soldier is placed in a dark room full of figures representing terrorists and hostages. He must then choose the proper silhouette at which to shoot. In another exercise, he is shown a photograph of a target, after which he must burst into a room filled with post-explosion smoke, select the proper target among the many present in the room, and then shoot at it.