On July 10 Lieutenant General Remigijus Baltrėnas officially assumed the duties of Director General of the International Military Staff (IMS) in Brussels. As Director General, he will for three years lead the team of nearly 500 military and civilian personnel from across NATO. The change of command ceremony took place at the NATO Headquarters presided by Chair of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Giuszeppe Cavo Dragone who thanked the outgoing Director General Lieutenant General Janusz Adamczak. The ceremony was attended by the Military Representatives of all the Allies, Staff members and representatives of other divisions of the NATO Headquarters.
The outgoing Lieutenant General Janusz Adamczak (Polish Armed Forces) was honorably discharged from the duties he relinquished to Lieutenant General R. Baltrėnas as of that day.
“This is the first and historical precedent in Lithuania’s military and statehood book. As Director General, it will be my responsibility to facilitate agreement and assessment at strategic military level. It has been a recognition of Lithuania’s potential to be assigned to fill this position,” said Director General IMS Lieutenant General Remigijus Baltrėnas.
The Director General International Military Staff (DGIMS) provides coordination to the Alliance’s decision-making bodies: two strategic commanders, NATO and Partner national military forces in Brussels, and the civilian International Staff which supports NATO Secretary General and the North Atlantic Council, thus enabling the International Military Staff to form the best military advice to the Military Committee and consultations to the political NATO level.
Lt Gen Remigijus Baltrėnas has served in numerous positions of command and staff officer across the Lithuanian Armed Forces over his 30 year-long career. While in position of Commander of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Algirdas Battalion, General Baltrėnas was put in charge of ISAF’s 12th Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team of the province of Ghor, Afghanistan. His career is built of highlights ranging from the Deputy Commander of the Baltic Battalion’s Infantry Company in the NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Joint Command and Staff Course Director at the Baltic Defence College, Advisor to the Minister of National Defence and the 15th Director of the Defence Intelligence and Security Service under the Ministry of National Defence. General Baltrėnas was the Military Representative of Lithuania to NATO and the EU for four years and led the Defence Staff for nearly a full year.
Lt Gen R. Baltrėnas received his Bachelor’s education at the Military Academy of Lithuania and proceeded to earn an MA in Strategic Studies at the U.S. Army College. He also graduated from the Joint Forces Staff College of the U.S National Defence University and the Marine Command and Staff College of the U.S. Marine Corps University.
Photo credit: Sgt Spc Karolis Kavolėlis
