Named Komendanturos (Commandant’s Office), according to the country’s defense ministry, which is spearheading the project, the body’s purpose is to attract hunters and those trained in firearms, along with people with previous military experience.

It is also looking to sign up medics and ‘anyone else’ willing to defend their towns and villages with or without a weapon.

Arunas Balciunas, the Lithuanian army’s director of military conscription, told news portal lrytas.lt: “Training will be organized according to the competence of citizens, whether they have served in the military or not.”

With 27 Komendanturos planned across the country, assigned military officers will help guide civil defense efforts, organize territorial defense, and coordinate actions between the different branches, including with the National Volunteer Defense Forces, medics, and firefighters.

They will also be responsible for setting up roadblocks, enforcing curfews, and guarding strategic locations.

Since registration opened on May 1, over 1,600 people signed up in the first two days.

The government hopes that around 10,000 people will eventually join before the first round of admissions closes at the end of August.