Pabradė Training Area () is a major

military facility A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

of 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 ...

located near

Pabradė Pabradė (; ; ''Podbrodz'') is a city in eastern Lithuania, in Švenčionys district municipality, on the Žeimena river, 38 km south-west of Švenčionys. Pabradė is a busy place as the Vilnius–Daugavpils railway is close to the city. ...

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 established in 1904. It has an area of and can be used for training at a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

level. Since 2014, the official name of the facility is General

Silvestras Žukauskas Silvestras Žukauskas (, ; 31 December 1860 – 26 November 1937) was a Lithuanian General. He first served in the Imperial Russian Army, where he distinguished himself during World War I, rising to the rank of major general and ending the war a ...

Training Area, but colloquially it remains known as Pabradė Training Area. Within the Pabradė Training Area is the US

military camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...

Camp Herkus where US forces were deployed on 30 August 2021, its main purpose is to house US Army Soldiers in

. As of now, Camp Herkus is a temporary base for US soldiers to reside in while military officials consider a more permanent base close to

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

. Camp Herkus contains ~500 members of the 1st Infantry Division along with several dozen M1 Abrams tanks,

Bradley Fighting Vehicles The Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) is an American tracked armored fighting vehicle of the United States developed by FMC Corporation and now manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, formerly United Defense. It is named for U.S. General Oma ...

, and other support equipment. Camp Herkus exists to train US troops in

following Belarusian

military exercises A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of warfare or test tactics and strat ...

near the border with Lithuania. In March 2025, four United States soldiers and one M88A2 Hercules were reported missing during an exercise. After several days of complex search and recovery operation, the armoured vehicle weighting over 60

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

and four deceased soldiers were pulled out of a deep

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

on 1 April 2025.

Gallery

References

{{Military-stub Military of Lithuania Military installations established in 1904 1904 establishments in Lithuania

Gallery

See also

References