Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force Major General Almantas Leika who was conducting a two-day visit in the Kingdom of Denmark met with his Danish counterpart and Commander of the Danish Division (DDIV) and took a tour of the Army Combat School. Major General A.Leika also met with Lithuanian officers serving at the DDIV Headquarters.
The meetings addressed guidelines for bilateral cooperation. The Lithuanian and the Danish Land Force Commanders discussed further cooperation of the Lithuanian Land Force and the Danish Advisory Training Staff (DATS) as well as with DDIV. During the tour at the Army Combat School in Oksbøl the Lithuanian delegation were briefed on the organisation and functions of Denmark's Army Combat School and Juozas Lukša Training Centre of the Lithuanian Land Force (LF JLTC). As soon as in 2014 representatives of the Lithuanian Land Force will be able to familiarise with syllabuses offered at the Army Combat School. Both military training institutions also foresee cooperative work in other areas of arranging and providing military training.
At a training range the Lithuanian delegation observed a DDIV 1st Brigade's platoon-sized unit conduct an attack at a tactical exercise, familiarised with the weaponry and combat equipment used and tactical elements exercised.
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Military cooperation between Lithuania and Denmark has been developed since 1994 when military personnel began being deployed to joint multinational operations in the Balkan region (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo) and Iraq.
Denmark's contribution to the implementation reforms in the Lithuanian Armed Forces and to the provision of weaponry and equipment corresponding to NATO standards was among the most substantial ones.
In 2005 one of the most important Lithuania's bilateral cooperation projects with the Danish Defence, LITBRIG, was launched. Mechanised Infantry Brigade (MIB) Iron Wolf of the Lithuanian Armed Forces was affiliated to the Land Force Division of the Danish Army which entailed the opportunity for the Iron Wolf personnel to train in large-scale (division-level) exercises, training events and joint work of staffs. The primary aim of the LITBRIG project is to fully prepare the MIB Iron Wolf staff and personnel for the full scale of NATO operations till the end of 2014.
Press release by Maj Joana Polekauskienė.
Photo by Ieva Budzeikaitė.
