On May 17, Kėdainiai, the centre of Lithuania, will be home to the annual Lithuanian Armed Forces community engagement event: Partisan Honouring, Public and Military Unity Day. The Lithuanian Armed Forces and the Allies will present all its services to the public in a military site built for the event in the Central Park of Kėdainiai.
The static display of the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ and Allied forces’ equipment positioned in the Park and J. Basanavičius street will invite the event goers to see the UH-60M Black Hawk which have been added to the Lithuanian Air Force recently, Dauphin helicopter, NASAMS air defence system, Vilkas Infantry Fighting Vehicle, PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer, JLTV combat support all-terrain vehicles, and more.
Another attraction of the celebration will be uncrewed aerial systems used in the Lithuanian Armed Forces and also different types of simulators the guests will be able to try. Just like every year, the celebration programme includes a dynamic display and a fly-past by aircraft of the Lithuanian Arm Force and fighter jets deployed on the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states.
At the event military campsite, representatives of Lithuanian Armed Forces services and units will tell the audience about military service and respond to questions, while the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania will introduce its activity in more detail to those interested in studying opportunities.
Different NGOs, Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, Fire and Rescue Department, Lithuanian Customs, Lithuanian Police Department, State Border Guard, Public Security Services and other institutions will be also represented at the event.
The tradition to have a day to bring together the military and the civilian society started back in the interwar period, on the third Sunday of May. The premier event took place on May 26, 1935, in Kaunas inviting civilian citizens to become more closely familiar with their military. Once the Independence was restored and the tradition with it, the Partisan Honouring, Public and Military Unity Day is still celebrated on the third weekend of May, paying tribute to the Lithuanian guerrilla who defended Lithuania’s independence, representing activities, weaponry and equipment of the present-day Lithuanian military to the public.
The event programme will be published soon.
Related images: Lithuanian Armed Forces
