July 26-30, soldiers of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Algirdas Mechanized Infantry Battalion (Jonava district, Rukla) participated in pre-mission training for service in the Lithuania-led Provincial Reconstruction Team of Ghowr. PRT-12 which is mainly comprised of soldiers of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Algirdas Mechanized Infantry Battalion will take over service from PRT-11 in November.
The participants of the training were given lectures on the history, political and economic situation, geography and climate conditions of Afganistan. A lot of attention was focused on the presentation of cultural diversity and traditions of Afganistan, presentation of ethnic groups in the Ghowr province as well as on the peculiarities of communication with local inhabitants. Soldiers were taught about the basis of Islam, its influence on society and relations between religious groups in Afganistan and the province of Ghowr.
During the training, soldiers of previous PRTs also shared their experience and knowledge.
The main goal of the training was to create appropriate conditions for soldiers to prepare for an international mission in Afganistan and to provide them with sufficient knowledge for successful implementation of operation.
This is the second time the Lithuanian Grand Duke Algirdas Battalion is preparing for a mission in Afganistan. Combat flag of the battalion is already marked with a strip with a silver-plate marking that this flag was taken to Afganistan in 2006 where PRT-3 took part in the mission.
Many of the soldiers to be deployed to PRT-12 already have some experience of participating in international operations: they have participated in missions in the Balkans, Iraq and Afganistan.
Lithuania-led PRT of Ghowr is a joint civil and military mission, a part of NATO ISAF, which started operating in the province of Ghowr in 2005. The main tasks of the mission are to provide assistance to local authorities so that they can expand their influence in the province, to ensure security and create appropriate conditions for restoring the province.
Along with the Lithuanian civil and military personnel, representatives from Denmark, Georgia, Japan, the USA, Poland, Finland and Ukraine serve in the PRT camp in Ghowr.
