Hello and welcome to Stories from the 28th Division Archives. I am Dr. Walter Zapotoczny. While working as the 28th Division Command Historian, I discovered stories in the archives that were not in the history books. In this episode, we are going to look at the 1-109th Field Artillery in Lithuania in 2022.

Roughly 250 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 109th Field Artillery Regiment, 55th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade were deployed to Lithuania in May 2022 to support Defender Europe 22 and NATO exercise Flaming Thunder. During their deployment, the 1-109th utilized Army Prepositioned Stock and conducted live artillery exercises to enhance collaboration with NATO partners, particularly Lithuania, the state partner of Pennsylvania.

The primary aim of Flaming Thunder was to improve artillery skills and evaluate units' effectiveness in live fire exercises, fostering closer cooperation among NATO allies as part of Defender Europe 22, an annual multinational exercise aimed at enhancing readiness and interoperability.

Within the multinational Joint Air Ground Integration Cell, eight soldiers from the 1-109th served as Liaison Officers, collaborating closely with Lithuanian and German forces to coordinate fire missions. In total, they conducted 36 fire missions, firing approximately 400 rounds.

Defender Europe 22 involved over 3,400 U.S. and 5,100 multinational service members from 11 allied and partner nations, conducting operations across nine countries. The mission of the

1-109th in Lithuania encompassed movement to Europe, handling Prepositioned Stock, providing fire support to multinational partners, returning Prepositioned Stock, and safe return to the U.S.

The Pennsylvania National Guard was one of six state National Guards participating in Defender Europe 22, alongside Maryland, West Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, and Colorado. Participating nations included Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

If you like these stories, visit our website for more stories that were not in the history books and please consider becoming a veteran or associate member of the 28th Division Association. Your tax-deductible membership will help us support the men and women of the division and help us to tell their stories.

So, until next time, Roll On.