From advance party to activation staff: the Brigade’s next milestone event
Germany is deploying a brigade to Lithuania to protect NATO’s eastern flank, thus showing its commitment to the integrity of Allied territory. The build-up of 45 Armoured Brigade is making great strides: With the new commander’s arrival and the shift from advance party to activation staff, a new phase is beginning.
Brigadier General Christoph Huber will command 45 Armoured Brigade. Five thousand servicewomen and men will be deployed permanently along the border of the Alliance’s territory. The Brigade is to ensure deterrence and defence on NATO’s eastern flank and achieve full operational capability by the end of 2027.
In 2017, Huber served as the first commander of the multinational NATO Battlegroup in Rukla, the enhanced Forward Presence (eFPenhanced Forward Presence) Battlegroup protecting NATO’s eastern flank in Lithuania. According to the Brigadier General, the build-up of 45 Armoured Brigade is making great strides. Its ambition is to be ready for combat at any time and short notice. “The Bundeswehr and the military and political leaders continue to be committed to everything Germany and Lithuania agreed on in their common roadmap last year in December”, Huber says.
Official activation in 2025
The Brigade is to be officially activated as early as 2025. A formal ceremony will be held in 2025 to mark this important next milestone on the road towards establishing a warfighting-capable brigade. Initial forces of the headquarters and support company, the signals company, the medical forces and the military police, as well as first elements of the logistic battalion will be stationed at temporary bases in Nemenčinė and Rokantiškės until the target infrastructure has been finalised. Future Commander Huber says that Lithuania is making every effort to enable Germany to deploy its personnel to Lithuania as scheduled, for which he is extremely grateful.
“Eventually, Germany will deploy a warfighting-capable brigade here in Lithuania that is able to defend this country.”
Tactical training for the activation staff, which will later become the brigade staff, will begin before the end of this year. Initial training projects are planned for December 2024, Huber says about the ambitious schedule for his troops.
The activation staff is growing
The Brigade is being built up steadily in order to reach the next milestone: The few dozen military and civilian members of the Bundeswehr who are currently working at 45 Armoured Brigade’s office on Rinktinės gatvė in the centre of Vilnius will be joined by some 150 additional staff by November 2024. As part of the activation staff, they will continue the work of the advance party of the Brigade.
Under the command of Colonel André Hastenrath, who will serve as Deputy Brigade Commander from 2025 onwards, the advance party had since April 2024 been working hard to make preparations for the arrival of further Bundeswehr personnel and their families in Lithuania. Matters to be resolved included: Where can we find family-friendly accommodation? Are there enough school and pre-school places nearby? What about local medical care for the families?
Attractive conditions could make it easier for families to pack up everything and move to Lithuania. While the challenge of sufficient school and pre-school places has been solved, efforts are still ongoing to increase the number of flight connections, for example to northern and central Germany. There are also plans to offer language courses to family members moving to Lithuania.
The “Zeitenwende” omnibus act
The Artikelgesetz Zeitenwende or “Zeitenwende” omnibus act is intended to help raise the attractiveness of this deployment. The Federal Cabinet adopted this draft bill in September 2024. The act will contain amendments to legislation covering working hours, separation allowance, pay and pensions as well as military service law. Among other things, the bill provides for military personnel returning from the Baltics after several years to be recompensed for their move back home and to receive separation allowance should they be assigned to another Bundeswehr agency within Germany. The act has yet to be approved by the Bundestag.
“This omnibus act definitely makes things more attractive”, says Lieutenant Colonel Tom H. He has been serving with 45 Armoured Brigade as a member of the current activation staff since August. He has brought along his wife and children – and he is deeply convinced that he is doing the right thing. “I believe that this is what we need to do.” He claims that otherwise, the Zeitenwende would be nothing more than empty rhetoric.
Cooperation with Lithuanian personnel is good, he says, and Bundeswehr members are highly regarded by the Lithuanian population. The family of four feels like they have settled in by now. They have moved into an apartment in the Old Town of Vilnius. Their three-year-old son looks forward to seeing his new friends at the nursery every day. The fact that initially the conditions were not entirely clear never discouraged Tom H. from choosing to serve in Lithuania.
A pioneering spirit
Just like the Lieutenant Colonel, another 300 men and women will deploy to Lithuania in 2025, and they will be motivated, above all, by one thing: pioneering spirit. “Everybody who comes here wants to make a difference. Our common goal is to make this Brigade ready to fight. That is the goal which everyone is committed to here”, says Brigadier General Huber.
It is usually easy for Bundeswehr personnel who have joined the Brigade in Lithuania to find a suitable apartment. Sergeant Kai-Uwe H., for example, signed a rental contract after looking at only one apartment. He will work as an artificer in Lithuania. In this capacity, he is responsible mostly for the management and storage of ammunition. He checks and maintains ammunition and verifies that it is in working order. He loves doing pioneering work: “It’s always the most interesting to start from scratch”, the 47-year-old explains about the challenges he is faced with in his new job in Lithuania.
The housing programme of the Bundeswehr supports newcomers in finding a new home. Its personnel will help applicants get a feel for the housing market and get in touch with potential landlords. “Everyone eventually found what they were looking for”, Steffen V. sums up his experiences with house hunters.
Assume collective responsibility – deter Russia
With this Brigade, the Bundeswehr will strengthen NATO’s defence capability. By permanently deploying a combat unit, Germany fulfils its responsibility within the Alliance to protect its Allies in eastern and northern Europe. The build-up of this Brigade is the beacon project of the Zeitenwende and is a first in the history of the Bundeswehr. Never have so many military and civilian members of the Bundeswehr been permanently deployed abroad. Designed as a heavy manoeuvre brigade, it will in future be placed under the command of Army Division 2025. 45 Armoured Brigade will comprise three major combat units: 122 Armoured Infantry Battalion from Oberviechtach in Bavaria, 203 Tank Battalion from Augustdorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, and, from 2026 onwards, the eFPenhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup.
First a roadmap, then a supplementary agreement to provide legal certainty on the status of forces
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his then Lithuanian counterpart Arvydas Anušauskas laid the foundation for the deployment of the Brigade on 18 December 2023 in Vilnius when they signed the roadmap detailing the individual steps of its implementation.
Another important milestone was achieved on 13 September 2024, when Pistorius and Minister of National Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas signed a supplementary agreement about the deployment of the German Brigade. This document creates a legal basis for the permanent presence of Bundeswehr members and their families in Lithuania.