Last week, troops of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Force (KASP) left for a mission in Mali. Miglė Vaškevičiūtė and Justinas Petkus of the force say they are well prepared for the mission.
A Lithuanian detachment will be deployed for six months to the UN-led stabilisation operation MINUSMA in Gao province in eastern Mali. The troops will be part of a German company, and will be responsible for providing force protection at the military base.
When asked to describe the feeling before the mission, Justinas said he was curious, and Miglė was happy.
The KASP is an active segment of the Lithuanian Armed Forces reserve ready to complete a wide range of tasks. Military volunteer service is discontinuous and is compatible with civil work or studies.
Justinas’ path to the KASP began in the Riflemen’s Union.
“I saw that I liked it, that it was exciting, and that maybe there was more I could do. The Riflemen’s Union was followed by the National Defence Volunteer Force,” said the young man, who has been serving in the KASP for two years.
Miglė is one of the four girls going on a mission in Mali. Her military service brought her back to Lithuania, as before, she lived in the United Kingdom where she also grew up.
“There comes a time when it seems like you don’t know where your home is. Your name doesn’t seem to mean anything in the UK,” she said. “In my case, [military service] has solved this. Now I know for sure that my home is in Lithuania.”
Recently, there have been debates in Lithuania about introducing universal conscription. A poll commissioned by LRT showed that a majority of people support it, but only for men.
However, according to Miglė, she does not encounter the attitude that girls are not needed in the armed forces.
“Girls who join the armed forces know that they want to be there. We try harder. We still don’t match physically, but you can always do more, lift more than you think you can,” the KASP troop said.
No fear
In preparation for the mission, the KASP troops trained to protect military bases, recognise threats, provide first aid, and work alongside German forces.
The UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA in Mali started in July 2013, and the KASP troops began their six-month rotational service there in October 2017.
“Any mission brings experience to both the troops and the Lithuanian Armed Forces in general in terms of cooperation with [NATO] allies, networking,” Justinas said.
The KASP squad was formed specifically for this mission and has been training and preparing together for some time.
“The atmosphere is great. Most of us already knew each other from before or have seen each other, for example, in peacetime tasks and exercises. But the joint exercises have brought us together as a team,” Justinas said.
According to the troops, they are not afraid of travelling to a less safe region thousands of kilometres away.
“I am not scared because we have trained for this. The armed forces prepare us so that we know what we have to do in any situation,” Justinas explained.
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