In order to implement the national operational plan and develop the goals defined for national security, all of us have to be prepared yesterday, today and tomorrow, Col. Aivars Krjukovs, the new Commander of Latvian National Guard, said in an interview to TV3 programme “900 seconds”.
According to him, in order to maintain this level of readiness by the best standards, defence officials must constantly train and learn both individually and collectively with the public and partners, including in public places. We have to be comprehensively prepared for the task, added Krjukovs.
The new Commander of the National Guard emphasised the need to involve people who are not national guardsmen in ensuring national defence. This can be achieved through interaction. For example, there should be a clear 72-hour plan to work for organizations in a situation of crisis or war in the country.
Krjukovs admitted that many things, such as unrecognised drones flying around at the airport, are happening for the first time, and that may also be the moment to start figuring out how to proceed. “Every new situation is a lesson. If we are ready for it, then we have an algorithm, we work on it and implement actions, we never talk about it, because we have reacted. If we have had shortcomings in the past, then this is the moment – we sit down, understand what to do, and quickly implement new instructions, new procedures, the circulation of inside information so that this situation does not happen again in the future,” said Krjukovs.
He stressed Latvia needs to be constantly innovative and proactive in order to adopt all novelties in time and to adapt to them accordingly.
As previously reported, on Tuesday after the ceremony of the replacement of the commander of the National Guard, Krjukovs told journalists that his priority will be the implementation of the national defence operational plan, the further development of the tasks defined by the National Defence Concept and the National Armed Forces (NBS) Development Plan.
“Third, which is very important, is the cohesion with the whole country, because we all need to understand what everyone is doing and how we can help each other,” stressed the colonel.
When asked how to achieve an increase in the number of national guardsmen from 10 000 to 12 000, the colonel replied that his priorities were related to each other in this regard. According to him, each person acts as a messenger and tells others about how it is possible to contribute to the state and participate in this support, including by growing the number of staff.
Continuing on the staff increase issue, Krjukovs told LETA that the option to shorten and specialize training programs is already being worked on. “The goal is to look at specialized training processes so that we can use all the resources that are given to each from both civil education and practical life experience,” emphasized the Colonel.
Formation of new units is not planned, but it is necessary to complete the previously defined objectives, such as reinforcing the ability of the National Guard to take on troops from the national defence service.
The colonel stressed that national guardsmen are professionally supplied with equipment every day. “Everyone should be equal, so there is no division,” added the military official.
The previously Commander of the National Guard – General Kaspars Pudāns – was promoted to Commander of Latvian National Armed Forces. His term will commence on the 27th of January.
January marked the end of the term for the previous NBS Commander Leonīds Kalniņš.