Grand Duke Gediminas Staff Battalion
The Grand Duke Gediminas Staff 'Battalion' is a unit of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, whose staff it protects. It is also charged with representing Lithuania and its army by providing guard of honour at official events in Lithuania and abroad.
The battalion traditionally celebrates on 25 August, because on that day in 1919, the 1st Infantry Regiment with other Lithuanian Army units won the final victory against Soviet Russia at Zarasai during the Zarasai offensive.
The unit has a museum, which has functioned for more than 20 years.
History
Interwar
The Grand Duke Gediminas Staff Battalion traces its history to the 1st Infantry Regiment and continues its traditions.After the reestablishment of the Republic of Lithuania">Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania">reestablishment of the Republic of Lithuania
On 5 April 1993, the Separate Commandant Battalion was created to safeguard buildings and material possessions left by the Soviet Army that was leaving Lithuania. This battalion was first deployed to Aukštieji Paneriai, Vilnius. In 1997, the regiment's veterans asked President Algirdas Brazauskas to rename any unit of the Lithuanian Army after the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas. So, on 8 September 1998, the Separate Commandant Battalion was renamed to the Grand Duke Gediminas Staff Battalion by order of the Minister of National Defence Česlovas Stankevičius, hence being granted the right to the traditions and insignia of the 1st Infantry Regiment. On 15 February 2002, the Battalion was solemnly bestowed a banner.On 8 January 2019, the PRISM, wired and wireless communication company was separated from the Staff battalion and became the Communication and Information Systems Battalion.
Composition
- Honour Guard Company
- Lithuanian Armed Forces Band
- Headquarters Provision Company
- Light Infantry Company
- Intelligence Support Centre
Honour guard company and its public duties
The Honor Guard Corps of the Rapid Reaction Brigade, formed in the autumn of 1991, became the first unit to which conscripts were assigned. The soldiers who started the service that day were prepared within a few days and already on November 23 participated in the solemn parade of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Liutauras Kavaliūnas was appointed the first commander of the Honor Guard Company. The Honor Guard Company has changed its location several times, operating in Vilnius, Rūdninkai and Nemenčinė. Over the nearly a third of a century since the founding of the Honour guard company, more than 5,000 Lithuanian citizens have served in it and has taken part in more than 9,000 ceremonies and reconstructions.The company's uniform is based on examples from the interwar period. Today, the 98 soldiers and officers coming from three branches of the armed forces use American M14 rifles.
Abroad
In 2003, after Lithuania's accession to NATO and the EU, soldiers of the Guard of Honor hoisted flags at the headquarters of both organizations in Brussels. In August 2016, the color guard took part in the Independence Day Parade in the Moldovan capital of Chișinău. As recently as 2019, it has participated in the Romanian Great Union Day parade on Piața Constituției.Silver jubilee (2016)
The Honour guard celebrated its silver jubilee in November 2016, during which a ceremonial parade of the unit was held in Daukanto Square near the Presidential Palace, attended by President Dalia Grybauskaitė. Grybauskaitė personally greeted the soldiers and said:"These soldiers mirror our army. Each of them evokes a sense of pride and confidence not only here in Lithuania, but also beyond its borders."