Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review

Civil-military relations in Lithuania have serious deficiencies, which have appeared because of the emulation of a recommended Western model of civilian control. After regaining Independence, Lithuania had the difficult task of creating its armed forces and system of national defence following the Western model. At the same time we had to implement two political programs: to create functioning armed forces and a institutional-legal system of democratic civil-military control. However, this control is not only proper laws and functioning institutions. Equally, an important role must be given to intellectual reflection, which enables the posing of questions such as: what is war; how is the character of war changing; how does this affect Lithuanian defence policies and the perception of threats? Raising such questions inside the armed forces and in wider political and civil society is an essential condition for having effective and flexible civilian control over the military.

The article presents an analysis of volunteer soldiers as a link between the Lithuanian military and society, their attitudes towards military service and their motivation to serve in the Lithuanian army. The authors looked at soldiers’ dedication to defend their Homeland and motives for serving in the Lithuanian army, presenting an assessment of the situation in the ranks and their overall satisfaction with military service. Volunteer soldiers’ expectations are also discussed, as well as their motives to remain in service, plus there are also recommendations for attracting new soldier recruits. The article concludes with the statement that Lithuanian volunteer soldiers are an important unifying link between the Lithuanian army and society, and can significantly contribute to the formation of the image of the soldier’s profession in society. Besides the social status that comes with military service and the satisfaction of financial needs, volunteer soldiers are exclusively characterised by strong patriotic feelings which determine their motivation to serve and defend their Homeland. The article’s findings rest on data from the complex sociological research study “Motivation to serve in the Ministry of Defence Volunteer Forces of the Lithuanian Military” which was conducted in April–November, 2014 by the Strategic Research Centre at the Institute of Military Science of the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania.