Lithuania reorganises engineering battalion into regiment

Lithuania’s Juozas Vitkus Engineering Battalion is being reorganised into a regiment, with a change of commander announced at a ceremony in Kaunas on Monday, LRT reported.

The battalion, which is entering its 31st year, was reorganised effective August 15 as part of efforts to increase the capabilities of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, develop the First Division and meet growing demand for engineering support, the military said.

The new regiment is intended to improve support for the arrival of allied forces by carrying out host nation functions, increase the military’s mobility and counter-mobility, provide general engineering support and contribute more effectively to the development of military infrastructure in Lithuania.

During the change-of-command ceremony, Lieutenant Colonel Ramūnas Sabaitis will hand over the regiment’s battle flag and the axe symbolising the authority of the military engineers’ commander to Lieutenant Colonel Elvinas Serva.

One of the regiment’s key tasks will be neutralising explosives.

The reorganisation also continues the history of Lithuania’s interwar military engineers. In 1921, as the military grew and modernised and the number and scope of tasks assigned to engineers increased, an Engineering Regiment was formed.