On August 10 Commander of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade Iron Wolff transferred the command of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group Lithuania from outgoing Commander Lt Col Sebastian Hebisch to his successor Lt Col Hagen Ruppelt at a ceremony in Rukla. Vice Minister of National Defence Vilius Semeška thanked the outgoing leader and wished luck in the service to the incoming one.
At the changeover ceremony outgoing Commander Lt Col S. Hebisch will be presented the Medal for Distinguished Service by Vice Minister of National Defence Vilius Semeška, the ceremony will be also attended by Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces MIB Iron Wolf Col Mindaugas Petkevičius and other representatives of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
“I thank Lt Col Hebisch for his strong leadership , professionalism and excellent job in contribution to the security and stability of our region. And I wish success to Lt Col Ruppelt whose experience will be very meaningful to the NATO eFP BG. I assure you that Lithuania will provide every support you need,” said Vice Minister V. Semeška.
“We have achieved a lot during the 9th rotation and we are sending a strong signal that NATO lives up to its commitments and works to ensure security of all allies. I thank the Lithuanian Armed Forces leadership for the support and manifold assistance to all Battle Group. Thank you to the Iron Wolf Commander whose professionalism and leadership were the foundation of the success of our mission,” said Lt Col S. Hebisch.
The NATO eFP Battle Group was under command of Lt Col Sebastian Hebisch, Commander of the 93rd Panzer Battalion of the Bundeswehr from February. His successor Lt Col H. Ruppelt is the Commander of the 414th Tank Battalion (Panzerbataillon 414) of the Bundeswehr as of 2019, before that he was serving in different units of the German Armed Forces.
The current rotational NATO eFP BG strength includes approx. 1,200 military personnel from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway. The high readiness multinational combat capability of the Alliance has been deployed in Lithuania since early 2017 as a collective and robust contribution of NATO allies to the efforts to strengthen the Baltic security.
“You all are a great example of NATO, you are the soldiers who ensure security and cooperation. You have used all of your rotation term meaningfully, we were training together, shared experience, improved, and I can only express my delight about our mutual achievements that we have proved at international Exercise Iron Wolf 21021-I,” Commander MIB Iron Wolf Col M. Petkevičius said at the ceremony to the 9th NATO eFP BG rotation.
“It is a great honor for me today to thank all NATO enhanced Forward Presence soldiers in Lithuania. We will celebrate the 5th anniversary of our deployment to Lithuania as soon as next year. As I look back at 2017, I have to say that the NATO eFP Battle Group has helped Lithuania to achieve great progress in security area. I am certain that we will continue strengthening NATO unity by our joint effort further,” Vice Minister V. Semeška said.
The eFP BG is integrated into the Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The Battle Group is training with Lithuanian troops, U.S. heavy battalion in Lithuania, NATO Air Policing Mission colleagues, takes part in major national Land Force Exercises Iron Wolf I and II. Over 12 thousand allied soldiers from nine NATO allies – Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Luxembourg, Croatia and France – have already rotated through the eFP to train with the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
NATO forces are rehearsing a range of scenarios at training exercises and maneuvers in Lithuania, from urban warfare and peacekeeping operations to halting actions to stop an approaching enemy. The troops demonstrate multilateral cooperation and readiness to defend the Alliance territory. Pabradė is the biggest training area in Lithuania , ideal for training and exercises. Plans for the first exercises and maneuvers in the second semester of 2021 are already in place: multilateral battle tank and infantry fighting vehicle live-fire exercise will be held in August, Exercise Strong WOLF II – in September, and certification Exercise Iron WOLF II – in October.
Framework nation Germany also has the largest contingent of military personnel in the NATO eFP BG Lithuania. The country has been demonstrating leadership by also completing training area modernisation projects and investing into military training infrastructure in Lithuania since 2018. One of the bulkiest projects planned to be completed by 2023 is a 40 euro investment to ensure the requirements of the NATO eFP BG in Rukla, such as gear and equipment, maintenance and storing infrastructure, a new security post, administrative building, warehouse of different purposes, repair facilities, etc.
Photo credits: MIB Iron Wolf
