Lithuanian military and law enforcement personnel observe efforts to recover a U.S. Army M88A2 Hercules armored vehicle near Pabrade, Lithuania, March 26, 2025. (U.S. Army Europe and Africa)
STUTTGART, Germany — U.S. Navy divers are pushing through thick layers of mud in a flooded Lithuanian bog, where efforts are ongoing to excavate a submerged armored vehicle and locate four missing American soldiers, Army officials said Sunday.
U.S. military resources have poured into Lithuania, where the harsh terrain has complicated efforts to recover an M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle stuck under some 15 feet of water and sludge, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a statement.
The vehicle “has continued to sink into the bog,” USAREUR-AF said.
Navy personnel began dive operations last night and are continuing to swim and dig toward the vehicle, the Army said.
Meanwhile, the Army’s 21st Theater Sustainment Command out of Kaiserslautern, Germany, is bringing in a specialized ramping system to help stabilize the area and enable the use of more heavy equipment.
“So not only are we dealing with the terrain, a lot of mud that is over top of the vehicle, but also the fact that it’s 70 tons that we’re trying to recover out of a swamp or bog,” Brig. Gen. John Lloyd, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division, said in a statement.
Army soldiers are being joined by hundreds of other Lithuanian and Polish personnel, who also have brought in gear and manpower to assist in the effort ever since the M88A2 went off course in the early morning hours Tuesday on a Lithuanian training base.
All four of the missing soldiers are from the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Armored Brigade.
The accident happened on a base near the city of Pabrade, which has been a training hub for U.S. forces for many years. The Army has not declared the soldiers dead, with officials saying they are still considered missing.
The rescue and recovery operation has involved a wide array of specialized gear, including high-powered dredging systems and water pumps.
Engineers at the site are working to create berms to establish a contained area from which water can be pumped and mud dredged, providing emergency personnel on site access to the vehicle, according to the Army.
“We cannot thank our Allies enough for everything they’ve done for us to help find our soldiers,” Col. Jim Armstrong, commander of 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, said in a statement Sunday. “They see our Soldiers as their own Soldiers, and we are absolutely in this together.”
Families of the affected soldiers continue to be updated on the status of recovery efforts, the 3rd Infantry Division said.
