VALUES OF THE LITHUANIAN ARMED FORCES
Motivated, well-trained military personnel with the fighting spirit is the foundation of the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ strength. Only the fighting spirit and strong motivation can significantly counterbalance the quantitative and technological advantage of the adversary. Lithuania’s fighting spirit stems from centuries of warfighting traditions, it has matured in the post-war partisan resistance, was reborn in the hearts of the 13 January 1991 heroes, protectors of the Parliament, Vilnius Television Tower and the Lithuanian Radio and Television Committee Building, is cherished in modern international missions and operations.
Core values of the Lithuanian Armed Forces:
Loyalty: dedication of a servicemembers to the Independent Republic of Lithuania, its Armed Forces, his-her unit, brothers-in-arms, subordinates and commander. Loyalty is laid out in the Oath of Allegiance which commits to protect the people of Lithuania with one’s own life if necessary.
Will to fight: determination to withstand and prevail. It is the decisive factor in warfighting that may ensure success in a battle or the war. Will to fight is inseparable from self-sacrifice to the advantage of the brothers-in-arms, family, the nation and the state.
Initiative: understanding the importance of their role, every servicemembers takes initiative in the absence of orders of their immediate superior. To be able to do that, every soldier has to be extremely familiar with the main mission and key tasks. The ability to take initiative is the ability to take timely decisions sooner than the enemy does and enables proper Mission Command (German: Auftragtaktik).
Professionalism: an obligatory individual competence of a service member and (or) a collective competence of a unit which ensures efficiency and aptness of task completion across the various levels of warfighting.
