April 13, eleventh rotation of Ghowr Provincial Reconstruction Team will be deployed to the international mission in Afghanistan in a ceremony in the central square of Tauragė Town at the town's castle. Vice Minister of National Defence Rimas Stanislovas Jonaitis, Chief of Defence Maj. Gen. Arvydas Pocius, representatives of administration of Tauragė District, town, and region, guests and relatives of leaving troops will be present at the ceremony.
The festive event will begin with a mass at the Holy Trinity Church of Tauragė and will proceed to the central square of Tauragė where the leaving peacekeepers will align in a solemn deployment formation.
The majority of personnel in the 11th rotation are members of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Kęstutis Motorised Infantry Battalion (Tauragė Distr., Sakalinė village). The Battalion is the first division of the Lithuanian Armed Forces to delegate peacekeepers to ISAF operation for a second time. PRT-11 will be led by Commander of Kęstutis Battalion Lt. Col. Gintaras Smaliukas. More than a half of the shift already have experience of international deployments to the Balkan region, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
PRT-11 will take over the mission from the current PRT-10 in May.
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Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team of Ghowr based in Chaghcharan, provincial capital, is a joint military-civilian mission operating under the NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Lithuania took responsibility for the PRT of Ghowr province based in Chaghcharan in summer of 2005. The main objective of the PRT mission is to assist the Central Government of Afghanistan to extend its authority throughout the province, to ensure security and to help built environment favourable for provincial reconstruction.
PRT-10 currently providing security in Ghowr is based on the 1st Territorial Unit of Dainava Military District of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Force. Along with around 150 civilians and military from Lithuania representatives of Denmark, Georgia, Japan, USA, Romania and Ukraine serve in the Lithuanian-led Chaghcharan Provincial Reconstruction Team. PRT shifts rotate on a biannual basis.
For media: schedule of deployment events, April 13, Thursday.
12.30 holy mass at Tauragė church.
13.30 parade in streets of Tauragė
14.00 solemn formation in the central square of Tauragė
More information at: PIO for PRT-11 Capt. Darius Toleikis, cell phone 00370 685 39497.
Picture by Cpl. Vilius Džiavečka - final exercise of PRT-11 in Kairiai Military Area.
