Pennsylvania National Guard serving with Lithuanians in Afghanistan
May 19, 2011
Members of the Pennsylvania National Guard are serving in Afghanistan alongside Lithuanians, and helping to train Afghan policemen as part of the Police Mentoring Liaison Team (POMLT). This program is part of the larger Pennsylvania-Lithuania state partnership program. As part of Lithuania's commitment to NATO, they are required to send troops to Afghanistan. They then asked the U.S. Department of Defense if Pennsylvania National Guard troops could go with them to train the Afghan's in police work. The full team has over twenty Lithuanian military, six PA Army National Guard and six PA Air National Guard. In addition, the officer in charge is also a Lithuanian Major. The attached pictures are of the PA Air National Guard team in Afghanistan. Most of the PA National Guard are "police" in their civilian life, but are soldiers/airmen in wartime. This is the second team the U.S. has sent to Afghanistan as part of this program.