The General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania (''Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija'') is a state-sponsored institution of higher learning based in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. It was founded in 1994 by the Lithuanian

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

, and is overseen by the

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

. It is named in honor of General Jonas Žemaitis, commander of the armed anti-Soviet resistance in Lithuania.

History

The academy continues the traditions of War School of Kaunas, established on 9 March 1919. On 16 December 1992, by order of the government, the National Defense School was established under the

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Li ...

. On 18 January 1994, the school was reorganized into the Lithuanian Military Academy. On 20 October 1998, the academy was named after partisan general Jonas Žemaitis. Since September 2000, women have been admitted to the academy as cadets and now comprise over 15 percent of all cadets.

Commandants

Commandants of the academy were: * COL Algimantas Vaitkaitis (acting) (21 February 1992 – 28 August 1992) * COL Jonas Andriškevičius (24 August 1992 – 25 October 1993) * BG Zenonas Kulys (October 26, 2000 – February 21, 2000) * COl Algis Vaičeliūnas (February 22, 2000 – September 17, 2003) * COL Algimantas Vyšniauskas (acting) (18 September 2003 – 31 July 2005) * COL Arūnas Balčiūnas (August 1, 2005 – August 31, 2008) * BG Edvardas Mažeikis (September 1, 2008 – September 9, 2010) * COL Gintaras Bagdonas (May 10, 2010 – June 5, 2012) * COL Eugenijus Vosylius (June 6, 2012 – July 1, 2015) * COL Raimundas Matulis (August 3, 2015 – April 19, 2017) * BG Algis Vaičeliūnas (April 19, 2017 – November 22, 2018) * COL Darius Vaicikauskas (acting) (November 22, 2018) * COL Juozas Kačergius (January 25, 2019 – 2 September 2022) * BG Almantas Leika (2 September 2022 – November 25, 2024) * COL Ričardas Dumbliauskas (November 25, 2024 – present)

Academics

The academy delivers internationally recognized bachelor's, master's and doctoral education to members of the Lithuanian defense and national security community, and offers multiple professional military education, language, and national security training courses. The academy has over 50 researchers and enrolls over 100 cadets and 60 other degree students annually.

Student life

Men's choir

The Academy Men's Choir "Kariūnas" (lith. Cadet) was established in 1995 and is the only military choir in Lithuania.

Facilities

The academy campus covers a territory of 5 ha in the Vilnius neighborhood of

Antakalnis Antakalnis (''literally'' ) is an elderships of Lithuania, eldership in Vilnius, Lithuania. Antakalnis is one of the oldest, and largest historical suburbs of Vilnius. It is in the Eastern section of Vilnius, along the left bank of the Neris, ...

International cooperation

The academy participates in the European Initiative for the Exchange of Young Officers (sometimes referred to as "Military Erasmus" or EMILYO), a network of 65 military higher education institutions, and implements international semesters for officer-cadets with participants from Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, USA and other countries. The academy is also a partner institution of the International Society of Military Sciences (ISMS), and is a member of International Society of Military Academies (ISOMA)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania Military in Vilnius Universities and colleges in Vilnius Military academies Military education and training in Lithuania Educational institutions established in 1994 1994 establishments in Lithuania