Callsign Matas: being a soldier makes you feel tough not only in your body

According to him, military service after school does not need to press the pause button on the path of independent life that has already begun.

“It’s true, sometimes I think that if I had joined the army after school, I wonder if I would have decided to stay here and extend my career as a professional soldier,” Matas says.

The summons was not a surprise

Born and raised in Panevėžys, the young man who graduated from communication studies in Vilnius worked for a year and a half at a change communication agency, where he was involved in organizing events. Starting from the position of an intern, the young man quickly climbed the career ladder, but the summons received in May of this year temporarily stopped further professional plans.

I think that such an understanding would help more than one young person later in choosing the most suitable life path.

However, the call to the army itself did not surprise Matas too much – the young man knew that he would be able to see his name on the conscript list in the first year after his studies. However, both his mother and his fiancee were more worried and excited than he was about the tests he would face.

“Of course, at the beginning, I myself had doubts as to whether the life I had built until then would suffer, I wondered what was waiting for me in the army. However, I didn’t let my anxious thoughts run wild as I remembered what we talked about with my father – military service is a duty that must be performed, it is necessary in order to protect the country, family and everything you care about,” says Matas.

The support of friends and colleagues, the positive attitude of those around him towards the military service itself inspired courage and confidence in his own strength.

Reality is different from imagination or movies

The first days in the Margiris battalion brought even more positivity to Mata’s mind.

“Before I arrived, I expected shouts from the commanders, cheering, a cold shower, both in a direct and indirect sense. I expected living conditions similar to Soviet-style unrenovated university dormitories. When I arrived, I was surprised by the new infrastructure and organized environment. Although I received a raised voice in the army, I quickly realized that this is not done in order to humiliate someone – the commands are given loudly only so that everyone can hear everything clearly”, the soldier assures.

The application of military knowledge in practice was also quite different from previous imaginings.

“When playing computer games, the control of a weapon seems simple, and the careless firing of bullets in all directions seen in movies is not so frightening, but when you understand the reality of a possible war and the responsibility of a soldier, the attitude towards service and its meaning changes fundamentally. I understood the responsibility of a soldier who seeks to defend his country and its freedom, and it’s really not as easy as it might seem when “gaming” or watching movies,” says Matas.

The variety of tasks saves you from routine

Listening to him, the everyday life of a conscript can seem a bit monotonous. Departure – 6 hours. in the morning 6:10 – exercise, after that – it’s time to make the bed, tidy up, shave, prepare for the day’s work. A hearty breakfast, followed by a morning inspection of neat appearance, uniforms, properly cleaned shoes. After that, the agenda depends on the day of the week: Monday is often used to prepare for further weekly exercises or other tasks, from Tuesday to Thursday – exercises, combat shooting, other service tasks.

Before dinner – cleaning of weapons, handling of equipment. After dinner – free time, during which you can use the phone, contact relatives, train in the sports complex.

However, Matas assures that the daily routine is by no means boring: “The agenda is constantly changing, different tasks await, every day there is a lot of different action – that’s why it never gets boring.” During his five months of service, Matas reveals that he received several minor fines.

He believes that the daily routine is not boring at all.

“Usually misbehavior of conscripts is ‘punished’ with team assignments. I think this is how common team responsibility is formed – at the same time, it encourages you to stop committing crimes, because it’s really not fun when other people have to answer for your mistakes,” says the conscript.

Matas missed his family and friends the most at the beginning of the service – for the first three weeks, conscripts cannot meet their relatives. However, after taking the oath, the procedure changes. Now the young man returns home almost every weekend – except for those weekends when he has to be on duty.

Earned silver pennies

From his experiences in the service so far, the most memorable for Matus was the “Pentinų žygis” held in Pabrade.

“This is a traditional test of the cavalry of the United States Army, lasting more than 24 hours. In the summer heat, we crawled, ran, did a lot of push-ups, prepared M1 Abrams tanks and mortars for battle, performed team tasks that required strength, endurance and tactical skills, cooperating together with our allies from the United States,” says the soldier.

Although the march required a lot of physical strength, Matas is happy to have been able to familiarize himself with the weapons of the Allies and the tactics used by them, to communicate with the US soldiers: “I am really proud to have overcome this challenge that cost a lot of strength and perseverance and earned silver pentines.”

The experience gained will transfer to civilian life

Mandatory 9-month military service for Matus will end in 2025. in February However, the young man could name the experience he has already gained for a long time. Starting with military knowledge – Matas says he learned how to handle an infantryman’s weapon, perform the duties of a unit commander, and properly react to tactical situations in ambushes and defense.

“This knowledge will allow us to be better prepared to defend Lithuania, should it be necessary in the future. But even more things that I learned in the service, I will successfully apply in civilian life. During the months of service, I became more demanding of myself and others, more stubborn, and at the same time more confident in myself and my abilities.

I learned to manage my time better, to plan tasks, to complete them faster.

I understood the power of teamwork and its influence on the success of the task. I learned to manage my time better, to plan tasks, to complete them faster. After all, I’m in the best shape right now – I’ve never done as many push-ups as I can do right now. Overall, the experience of military service enriched me and allowed me to better understand what I want and what I don’t want from the rest of my life,” says Matas.

Service is the adventure of life

According to the conscript, there has always been and always will be the suffering of people who equate military service with forced labor.

“However, in fact, military service provides a lot of fun experiences and helps to find new friends. In addition, being a soldier makes you feel much stronger in the long run – not only physically, but also psychologically. You start to trust yourself more and you feel really cool,” says Matas.

Therefore, the soldier of the Margiris battalion wants future conscripts to look at the service as a life adventure that will provide valuable knowledge, make new friendships and leave unforgettable memories.

“Yes, sometimes it will be difficult, you will have to put in effort, overcome yourself, but this is exactly how a personality develops. Before the service, I would definitely suggest working out, preparing the body for physical tests.

But the most important thing to know in advance is that there are few places in life where you will experience what you can experience in military service: running in the woods, sleeping in the open, shooting with a gun, night marches, moving in military transport and all this is connected by the camaraderie that brothers in arms feel when they overcome difficulties together “, the conscript shares his advice.