On June 14 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas met with Chief of Defence of Denmark General Peter Bartram on a visit in Lithuania. The Danish and the Lithuanian military leaders met in Rukla to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation, the run-up for the NATO Summit in Warsaw, and other topical themes. On the same day the Generals attended DV Day of multinational field training exercise Iron Wolf 2016 in Rukla where the Chiefs of Defence and other distinguished guests from NATO allies had an opportunity to extend their knowledge of the course of the exercise, training audience, weaponry and materiel used, and to talk to participating soldiers.
Lt Gen J. V. Žukas thanked his Danish counterpart for the benevolence and cooperation between the two countries' militaries, both in bilateral and NATO formats, and also underscored the fact that Denmark had deployed an over 1,000-strong battalion task force with equipment to an exercise in Lithuania for the second time. According to the Lithuanian Chief of Defence, experience of moving and training forces of such size in the Baltic region is particularly beneficial for both countries' armed forces, therefore Lithuania will provide full host Nation Support and contribute to the organisation of joint training of military units in the future too.
The battalion task force formed by the 2nd Danish Division, with a company of the Lithuanian Armed Forces in composition, is undergoing certification for standby for the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2017 at Exercise Iron Wolf 2016. "We have an interest to prepare the NATO rapid response force for possible military action in Lithuania, side by side with our forces, as well as possible," Lt Gen J. V. Žukas said.
The multinational field training exercise Iron Wolf 2016 is part of Exercise Saber Strike 2016. It runs concurrently on June 6-21 in military training areas of Gaižiūnai and General Silvestras Žukauskas training over 5 thousand soldiers from 7 NATO allies: Denmark, France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, and the United States.
Danish-Lithuanian defence cooperation
Since Lithuania first joined a peacekeeping operation in 1994, over a thousand of Lithuanian soldiers were trained for the purpose with Danish assistance. Lithuanians were assigned to the Danish Contingent to deploy in the multinational operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Iraq, and Kosovo, while Denmark's troops served in composition of the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Ghor province, Afghanistan.
Denmark has great merits in training and arming General Romualdas Giedraitis Artillery Battalion of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, this ally continually renders assistance by arranging training events for Lithuanian military, joint military exercises, and deploying Danish soldiers to take part in military exercises held in Lithuania. Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf, Lithuanian Armed Forces, has been affiliated to the Danish Army Division (DDIV) as part of bilateral LITBRIG project since 2006, which increases the ability of both countries to carry out joint operations, and gives Lithuanian soldiers the opportunity to train in NATO exercises and training as part of a division.
The Danish Royal Air Force has deployed four rotations of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission and one augmentation of 6 fighter aircraft (in May-August 2014) so far.
Danish officer Colonel Jakob Sogard Larsen is in command of the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) established in Vilnius last year.
Spokesperson for the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Captain Mindaugas Neimontas, 00370 5 278 5091, 00370 682 25359, e-mail: mindaugas.neimontas@mil.lt
Credit: Capt Paulius Babilas
