The rapidly deployable Panzergrenadier Brigade 37 “Freistaat Sachsen” also emphasizes its readiness this year during the Grand Eagle exercise to protect Lithuania together with NATO partners. It will deploy around 1,800 soldiers and more than 750 vehicles to the NATO eastern flank. “We want to demonstrate that within a few days we are able to deploy troops with combat vehicles from Germany by air and land to the NATO eastern flank,” said Colonel Hagen Ruppelt, the brigade’s commander from Frankenberg in Saxony.
The alert, the deployment, and the combat service are practiced up to the return of all units to their home bases. The core of the exercise force consists of the soldiers of Panzergrenadier Battalion 391 from Bad Salzungen. They are supported by logistics troops from Bad Frankenhausen, engineers from Gera, artillerymen from Weiden in der Oberpfalz, as well as staff and leadership from Frankenberg/Saxony.
Saxon Mechanized Infantry as Multinational Brigade Lithuania
Further forces, including Hardheim’s Armored Battalion 363 of Armored Brigade 12, medical service, the Feldjäger, the electronic warfare troops, and the psychological warfare unit, support the Army Brigade. The planned climax is a live-fire engagement at the Pabrade Training Area in Lithuania, where the engagement of combined arms is trained to repel a simulated attacker.
Colonel Ruppelt adds: “If you want to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at a high-quality level, you also need a fully staffed orchestra with all instruments and capable musicians. We must practice the interplay of all capabilities under realistic conditions. That is what we are here for!” Since January 2025, Panzergrenadier Brigade 37 “Freistaat Sachsen” has been on a NATO mission: as part of the 10th Panzer Division, it serves as Multinational Brigade Lithuania, the brigade with the highest availability and readiness of the German Army.
