Email from September 23rd Click here to view the Alert on the MDAA website Follow and Support MDAA   MDAA Alert: 2025 EFDL Missile Defender of the Year 2025 EFDL Missile Defender of the Year. Pictured: Tom Goffus, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations; Riki Ellison, MDAA Founder and Chairman; Col Antanas Matutis, Commander of the Lithuanian Air Force; Missile Defender of the Year Awardees; Toomas Lents (accepting award on behalf of Peeter Päär). Photo Credit: Lithuanian Air Force Air Defence Battalion. Dear Members and Friends, On September 23, 2025—the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Lithuanian Air Force’s Air Defense Battalion and the 90th anniversary of the creation of the air defense branch within the Lithuanian Armed Forces—MDAA held the inaugural Eastern Flank Deterrence Line (EFDL) Missile Defender of the Year event in Kaunas, Lithuania with the Lithuanian Air Force. The first MDAA Missile Defender of the Year (DOY) Award ceremony was held in January 2011 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first operational Patriot missile intercept on January 18, 1991. Since then, MDAA has held 83 total Defender of the Year Award ceremonies and honored 1,028 Awardees from 25 different nations, including Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Events have been hosted by nine countries: Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and now Lithuania. Any Data, Any Nation, Any Sensor, Any Shooter on the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line. It starts here with winners and champions and it builds exponentially to become an invincible winning team. We are honored to present our 2025 EFDL Missile Defenders of the Year. Wing Sergeant Thomas Meyer Norway - Platoon Sergeant, Fires Platoon, BTY 52M, AMD BN Ørland at 132nd Air Wing Captain Artis Treulands Latvia - Air Force Air Defence Battalion SHORAD Battery Commander Captain Manuel Rosillo Rangel Spain - Staff and Services Battery Commander & Logistic & Personnel Chief of the Spanish NATO NASAMS Ground-Based Air Defense Task Force Captain Thomas Palaty Canada - Troop Commander of the RBS-70 Senior Sergeant Virginijus Rimkus Lithuania - Deputy Commander of the Communications Platoon in the Headquarters and Support Battery Major Peeter Päär Estonia - Chief of Staff of the Estonian Division, 1st Infantry Brigade Air Defense Battalion Received on his behalf by Toomas Lents [Not pictured] Winners Associate with Winners to Win! Riki Ellison Chairman and Founder Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance   Click Here to Join MDAA _____________________________________________________________________ MDAA is a non-profit, non-partisan tax-exempt 501(c) (4) organization. Our mission is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile defense systems to defend the United States and its allies against missile threats. We are a membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any specific system, technology, architecture or entity. Founded in 2002, MDAA is the only organization in existence whose primary mission is to recruit, organize, and mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. Visit our website www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org for more information.   Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance 515 King Street, Suite 330 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: (703) 299-0060 Email: [email protected]   Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance | 515 King Street Suite 330 | Alexandria, VA 22314 US Unsubscribe | Constant Contact Data Notice