Troops of the Belgian rotational force finished joint training with Lithuanian and allied colleagues in Lithuania which lasted nearly throughout October. Today Belgian soldiers departed Lithuania with the equipment they had brought for the exercises thus closing the month-long training period in Lithuania. A day earlier Belgium's military vehicles in column redeployed from Panevėžys to Klaipėda Seaport and military personnel - to Palanga Airport.
Roughly 350 troops with the Medium Brigade 1/3 Bataillon de Lanciers (Belgian Armed Forces) with assigned military personnel from the Lithuanian Grand Duke Kęstutis Motorised Infantry Battalion, National Defence Volunteer Force, and other Lithuanian units, alongside US rotational force trained completing wide spectrum of operations in the major part of the Lithuanian territory.
Unlike other allies' rotational forces, the Belgian troops were raining in the framework of one exercise, Baltic Piranha 2016, throughout the deployment in Lithuania. Exercise sites were located in Klaipėda, later - in Kairiai, Gaižiūnai, and Pabradė Training Areas, and nearby civilian areas.
With Belgian allies having redeployed home, roughly 120 soldiers with the Light Artillery Battery of the Portuguese Armed Forces, and approx. 280 troops with the Able Company, 2-503, and its logistical support element with the US 173rd Airborne Brigade remain training in Lithuania. Portuguese soldiers will be replaced by a mechanised infantry company from Poland in the first week of November. Also, there are roughly 100 soldiers of the French Air Force conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States from Šiauliai Base.
POC: PAO for the Lithuanian Land Force Captain Donatas Suchockis, 00370 5 278 5091, 00370 640 45380, e-mail: donatas.suchockis@mil.lt
Credits: Lithuanian Armed Forces
