Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf


Infantry Brigade "Iron Wolf" is the core unit of the Lithuanian Army and forms the country's contribution to NATO collective defence. The name of the brigade relates to the Lithuanian mythical character from the medieval foundation legend of the Vilnius city.
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Function

MIB "Iron Wolf" main mission is to maintain required capabilities as stated in national defense guide in order to defend Republic of Lithuania sovereignty, its territorial integrity, participate in NATO and international peace support operations, plan and conduct brigade staff and units training, main effort preparation for peace support operations in accordance with international commitments.
Main tasks:
  • Plan and conduct the tasks related to military operations;
  • Prepare training and activity plans of "Iron Wolf" brigade;
  • Organize, conduct, evaluate and analyze training of subunits in order to achieve specify tasks and essential tasks of the mission;
  • Control readiness of subunits of IB "Iron Wolf" to conduct stated missions and essential tasks of the mission;
  • Coordinate main spheres of activity with the commander of "Iron Wolf" brigade;
  • Take part in national and international military operations, exercises and projects of the military cooperation;
  • Collect information on experience gathered during exercises and make suggestions to Brigade commander;
  • Provide information and reports to the higher headquarters concerning implementation of training and activity plans;
  • Provide assistance to state and municipal institutions by responding to threats of a non-military nature;
  • Maintain close relationship with local society and participate in their activities.

Structure

MIB "Iron Wolf" is the largest unit of land forces of the Lithuania Armed Forces, consists of the command, its elements and six battalions stationed across Lithuania and named after Lithuanian Great Dukes and Duchesses as the tradition of the Lithuanian Armed Forces goes:Iron Wolf Infantry Brigade, in Rukla

History

The unit originated in June 1990, when a separate Defence Squad was created. Same year, in autumn, the Honors Guards Company was created.

Commanders

International cooperation

The soldiers of the brigade participate in exercises of various levels in Lithuania as well as abroad. In addition, they are conducting peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan and stand by period in NATO Response Force and Battlegroup of the European Union. The Brigade constantly takes part in joint projects, international operations, and wargames together with other countries' military units. Among those are the British Armed Forces, the Army of Denmark, the Army of the Czech Republic, the United States Military, Poland and Germany.

International joint projects

  • ARTBALT, a joint project with Denmark to create an artillery battalion in Lithuania
  • BALTBAT, a multinational project aimed to create and train a joint infantry battalion between Lithuania's, Latvia's, and Estonia's militaries. The project is executed in cooperation with several Scandinavian nations, Great Britain, and the United States.
  • LITPOLBAT, a project to create a joint battalion with Poland's military.
  • LITBAT, a project aimed to reorganized the Grand Duke Algirdas Battalion into a mechanized infantry battalion, capable of operating together with NATO forces. Executed with the help of Denmark's military instructors.Grunwald Wind, a biannual military practice in Poland. The Brigade's HQ and the Duchess Birtutė Battalion take part in those.
  • The biannual Amber Hope military practice, together with other BALTBAT members.
  • The NATO military practice Strong Resolve 2001 and Strong Resolve 2002 in Poland.
  • The Cooperative Lantern 2002 military practice in the Netherlands, attended by soldiers from the Brigade HQ and the King Mindaugas Battalion.

International peacekeeping missions