Home  /  Newsroom  /  News  /  2022  /  Exercise Rising Stallion tests proficiency of NATO eFP Battlegroup Lithuania

SZCZECIN, Poland – In September in Rukla and Pabrade (LTU), NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battlegroup Lithuania executed exercise Rising Stallion. Approximately 800 men and women from six Allied nations demonstrated military proficiency, and strengthened the cohesion of the Battlegroup’s 12th rotation.

The exercise served as the first major test for the Battlegroup’s new command to orchestrate the procedures necessary to conduct their deterrence mission in Lithuania. Rising Stallion encompassed the 200 km road march from Rukla to Pabrade – one of the country’s biggest training areas, and a variety of tactical maneuvers performed in the field by the Battlegroup’s subunits. 

The Lithuanian people have a distinct understanding of our contribution to their security,

said Lieutenant Colonel Marco Maulbecker, Commander eFP Battlegroup Lithuania. Rising Stallion saw infantrymen, medics, logisticians, armoured crews and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) defence specialists working together to meet the exercise’s principal objectives. 

During Rising Stallion, 800 service members from NATO eFP Battlegroup Lithuania trained in Pabrade alongside their Lithuanian Allies / Photo by eFP BG LTU

Among other aims, Rising Stallion had two considerable highlights. The Norwegian Army’s CV-90 armoured fighting vehicles and Leopard main battle tanks conducted a live fire practice with the aim to test their precision strike capability. Secondly, Rising Stallion offered the Battlegroup’s 12th rotation the opportunity to train alongside the Lithuanian Air Force. The eFP paramedics conducted the evacuation of casualties with the assistance of a Lithuanian Mi-8 helicopter. 

Throughout the exercise, the German CBRN specialists had numerous occasions to apply their skills as the majority of companies participating in Rising Stallion were the subject of a simulated chemical attack. "Of course, we all hope we’ll never have to use our decontamination equipment in a real scenario," said Lieutenant Steven. "Here, at Rising Stallion, we show to all exercise participants that if it comes to the worst, they can rely on us."

Rising Stallion offered the opportunity to hone a number of critical capabilities, e.g. alert readiness and fire power precision / Photo by eFP BR LTU

Upon completion of the two-week training effort, Lieutenant Colonel Maulbecker spoke highly of the soldiers’ performance. "I saw motivation and determination," he emphasized. Currently involved in Lithuania’s biggest military exercise, Iron Wolf, the commander of the eFP Battlegroup expressed the certainty that his multinational battalion will continue to successfully fulfil the host nation’s and NATO’s requirements considering deterrence and defence tasks. 

We will once again demonstrate our operational readiness, Maulbecker stated.