NATO Eastern Flank in Lithuania: Training for emergencies

A tank battalion practices for its Lithuania mission. Because of the Russian war of aggression, it could become a military operation in the event of NATO defense at any time. Armed with this knowledge, the soldiers prepare.

It’s just after seven in the morning when the first shot is fired, somewhere in the distance. It promises to be an uncomfortable day – two degrees Celsius, sleet, the ground is soggy and white from the snow from the night. You walk past the 60-ton “Leopard 2” battle tank without noticing it. Disguised with fir branches, he stands a few meters away from the path in a small wooded area.

In the army’s combat training center in Gardelegen in Saxony-Anhalt, the 363rd tank battalion from Hardheim in Baden-Württemberg practices for two weeks in an emergency. The worst case would be a Russian attack on the NATO partner Lithuania. The battalion will be transferred to Lithuania for six months in the summer to protect the country’s eastern flank and thus NATO.

It is not the first deployment of the Bundeswehr in Lithuania, on the contrary: Shortly after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO decided to strengthen its troops along the eastern border of the defense alliance. NATO forces were stationed or reinforced in the Baltic States and Poland.

Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) is the name of the mission and means that it is about deterrence. The German Bundeswehr has been in command of the Lithuanian EFP forces for seven years. Added to this was the increased threat situation after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which also left its mark on the soldiers.

Multinational operation to protect NATO countries

Lieutenant Colonel Andreas Kirchner is not only the commander on this battle tank, but also the commander of the entire Hardheim battalion and will later also have command of the multinational troops in Lithuania. He is aware of his responsibility for the 1,500 soldiers under his command and for our security in Germany.

Kirchner is one hundred percent behind the mission: “I am a tank officer through and through, and after more than 20 years of service I can have the great honor of being commander of a tank battalion and then also of the EFP battle group, and with it the responsibility To have for the soldiers is definitely a great honor and responsibility, but above all it is the fulfillment of a childhood dream.”

In the combat training center, the entire force is brought together for the first time, explains Kirchner. The participating soldiers come from Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg, France, the Czech Republic and Germany. Here they practice combat situations with all vehicles intended for use: from the Leopard battle tank and the Wiesel reconnaissance tank to the Fuchs and Boxer wheeled tanks.

It quickly becomes clear that here, too, the Bundeswehr’s equipment is not up to par. By the end of 2022, the battalion should be able to have 44 “Leopard 2”, they currently have 14. Twelve of these will be transferred to Lithuania in the summer. If there were more tanks, more would be deployed there as well.

What about the remaining equipment of the soldiers who go into action? First Lieutenant Julian K. replies: “At least there is definitely the intention to bring it to 100 percent. That all the material that the people on site need is actually there.”

Lithuania operation needs heavy armored formations

Previous deployments abroad by the Bundeswehr were always designed differently than this one, explains Lieutenant Colonel Kirchner. Mainly infantry, i.e. armed foot troops, were transferred to Afghanistan, Mali or Kosovo. For the first time such massive firepower of battle tanks is stationed abroad.

“It’s a different mission because we’re now going abroad as a tank battalion on our core mission,” says Kirchner. In the Balkans and in Afghanistan, the armored troops were only very rarely actually deployed with battle tanks, only briefly in Kosovo. “And apart from that, we have taken on cross-sectional tasks that other branches of service have done in exactly the same way. Now the big difference on NATO’s eastern flank is that we are doing our job in our core business with the ‘Leopard 2’ battle tank.”

Then the tank crew gets involved in the exercise. Lieutenant Julian K. leads to the “General’s Hill”, a hill from which we have an overview of part of the Gardelegen Combat Training Center. It measures 230 square kilometers in total. Various combat situations can be played through here and practiced over and over again.

Bundeswehr should delay Russian attack

The enemy side in tanks marked in red and the defenders in blue are trying to capture territory. The Reds are a train from Gardelegen. “They know every stone here,” explains the lieutenant. That is the special challenge for the defenders from Hardheim. And so several leopards of the defenders quickly flash white. That means they got hit.

The shooting here is not sharp, but with a laser system. The unharmed tanks retreat to the nearest line of defense, so that’s trained. One cannot stop a Russian attack on Lithuania alone. The task of the Enhanced Forward Presence in the case of defense is to delay an attack until NATO sends support.

In an emergency, the crews of the two tanks hit would now be in great danger. The motto here is: back to the start and do better next time. There would be no next time in the event of war. That’s why the commander attaches great importance to practicing the tactical maneuvers again and again: “The preparation time is not short, but intensive. You have to see that we have different management levels, it has a logical structure and you don’t train by laying on hands.” His principle in training is deep preparation, says Kirchner. “It’s better to take one step at a time than to go wide too quickly and that will be a mess.”

The special challenge can be felt

A mess in the preparation could have devastating consequences for the soldiers in Lithuania. Their families know that too. The Bundeswehr therefore ensures that those stationed abroad can have regular contact with their families. For those who stayed at home, there is the “Bundeswehr family support service,” explains the commander. “It starts with updates about the situation in Lithuania, where people come together.”

In summer there is also the opportunity to do a summer party with the children. “And then another weekend has passed when the relatives are in Lithuania,” says Kirchner. “It’s easy to meet people who have the same problem at home because the neighbor is usually not a member of the Bundeswehr.”

Nevertheless, the talks before such a mission are more intensive than before other missions. The tank driver, Corporal Marc S., says he regularly speaks very openly with his parents. They gave him a lot of support in the profession he chose, he says: “They say that what I do is right and important. Definitely. I decided to become a soldier. And then that’s my job too. “

The gunner Oberfeldwebel Felix S sees it in a similar way. “You always try as best you can to keep calm. And nothing has happened yet. Nothing will happen in the near future that you as a relative will have to worry about.” He describes his own feelings very calmly: “For me, the operation is like the training ground, we are introduced there very well. We are a volunteer army, we have signed up to do everything for it. In the worst case, you have to know where we are going that there could be a sharp shot at any time.”