August 13, Ministry of National Defence and Lithuanian Armed Forces leadership , other distinguished visitors and media representatives observed Exercise Griffin Strike 2020/Hunter 2020 at the Pabradė Training Area. The training event wraps Friday: ahead of that, the training audience demonstrated interaction of combat, antitank, and artillery units to the distinguished visitors. The demo operation comprised land force actions and live combined arms fire support from M50 howitzers, Javelin anti-tank systems, heavy machine-guns and automatic grenade launchers, and close air support with missiles and autocannons from the U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters.
“This exercise is very important in two aspects: first, it enhances capabilities of the Griffin Brigade which is currently in the works. Secondly, it enhances our interaction with forces of our key transatlantic ally, the United States. A repeated deployment of U.S. forces in Lithuania underscores the close bond between our countries and armed forces. The U.S. military presence and training here with Lithuanian troops is not only a way to have quality training , it is also one of the strongest deterrents,” Minister of National Defence Raimunda Karoblis said at the DV day event.
“What we are looking at today in Exercise Hunter 2020 is a result of nearly three decades of cooperation between the Lithuanian and the United States armies in training and exercises,” Ambassador of the U.S. to Lithuania HE Robert S. Gilchrist said. “The coordination of Lithuanian Land Force and U.S. attack and support helicopter capability actions demonstrates our readiness and ability to work together to credibly deter any adversary.”
Exercise Griffin Strike 2020/ Hunter 2020 organised by the Motorized Infantry Brigade Griffin ran on August 2–14. The event at Gen Silvestras Žukauskas training Area (Pabradė) trained over 1,000 military personnel, the majority of the training audience were soldiers of the MIB Griffin who were joined by a company of the Baltic Battalion, and soldiers of the U.S. Army 4th Combat Aviation Brigade currently deployed in Poland. The Baltic Battalion company played the Red Force role to add realism to the operational environment, and allowed conscripts to demonstrate the skills they had acquired over the mandatory military service period.
“We have not only assessed readiness of batteries of the Brig Gen Motiejus Pečiulionis Artillery Battalion to complete fire tasks in the exercise, we have also tested new technical solutions. Excellent results of the Continuous Mandatory Initial Military Service conscripts show that not only career soldiers but also conscripts are able to master individual and support weapons. Firing live ammunition with different systems at the same time has required great individual and teamwork skills and excellent coordination among the participating units. We have reached another milestone today, and now it is time to move forward and get ready for next challenge,” Commander of the MIB Griffin Col Nerijus Stankevičius said.
The main objective of the exercise was to train and assess the military qualification acquired by the Continuous Mandatory Initial Military Service conscripts over the 9-month military service period with Duke Margiris Infantry Battalion, Brig Motiejus Pečiulionis Artillery Battalion and the MIB Griffin Anti-tank Company. Joint training opportunity with the Baltic Battalion and the U.S. Combat Aviation Brigade significantly enhanced the conditions for completing joint tasks effectively and increase interoperability.
The training audience had to complete a number of different asks during the light and the dark part of the day under constant umpire monitoring. Reconnaissance Company soldiers gathered intelligence on the adversary, organised operations of vital target destruction, carried out their first human intelligence; divisions of the Anti-tank Company identified and destroyed armoured equipment, a task that requires specialised knowledge and skilled operation of anti-tank weaponry. Brig Gen Motiejus Pečiulionis Artillery Battalion trained rendering indirect fire support to manoeuvre units , and U.S. servicemembers of the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade provided close air support with AH-64 Apache helicopters and a training opportunity for the Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC).
Photo credits: A. Pliadis and I. Budzeikaitė
