On February 4-5 Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Armenia Major General Andranik Makaryan conducted a visit to Lithuania. On February 4 the guest met with Chief of the Defence Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Maj Gen Vitalijus Vaikšnoras at the Defence Staff. He received a briefing on the Lithuanian Armed Forces, military training and exercises, preparation of citizens for defence and the NCO reform in the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
On February 5 Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Armenia met with Commander of the Training and Doctrine Command of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Brig Gen Gintautas Zenkevičius. The guest was briefed on the activities, mission, courses delivered at the Training and Doctrine Command staff and structural units, and on the NCO training system. Maj Gen Andranik Makaryan was particularly interested in the Lithuanian NCO training system and in the ways that work is distributed between NCOs and officers when implementing tasks.
Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Armenia also paid a visit to the Division General Stasys Raštikis Armed Forces School in Kaunas were Commandant Col Egidijus Karvelis presented to the guests the mission of the School, activities of the training centres, and international cooperation with Armenia and other countries.
Cooperation with Armenia
Lithuania and Armenia has been developing cooperation on the basis of an agreement on defence cooperation updated in Yerevan in June 2012. The bilateral military cooperation is conducted according to annually signed plans.
Lithuania shares its experience of participation in multinational operations, invites Armenian officers to observe exercises, provides consultations on public relations, legal, NCO training, military police, explosive ordnance disposal, cyber defence issues, shares experience in developing defence concept, refining democratic control of armed forces, reforming legal system.
Lithuania has been providing financing for Armenian officers' English language and Command and Junior Staff Officer Course studies at the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, Baltic Defence College (Estonia, Tartu) since 2004. Since 2008 Armenian representatives have been invited to military medics and since 2010 to instructors courses at the Division General Stasys Raštikis Lithuanian Armed Forces School.
Multilateral initiatives. A Lithuanian representative is assigned to the NATO-led expert team working to help Armenia reform its military training system according to NATO standards. Lithuania has also provided consultations to Armenia on NCO and junior officer training system reform.
Photos: courtesy of the Defence Staff and the Training and Doctrine Command
