Gaižiūnai is a village in Jonava district municipality

Jonava district municipality

- Elderships :*Bukonys*Dumsiai*Jonava*Kulva*Rukla*Šilai*Upninkai*Užusaliai*Žeimiai- Structure :District structure:* 1 city – Jonava;* 3 towns – Panoteriai, Rukla and Žeimiai;* 277 villages.Biggest population :* Jonava – 34954* Rukla – 2376...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. It is situated on the Taurosta River, tributary of Neris

Neris

Neris is a river rising in Belarus, flowing through Vilnius and becoming a tributary of the Neman River at Kaunas...

, about 3 km (1.9 mi) southeast of Jonava

Jonava

Jonava is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of ca 35,000.It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas International Airport. The largest fertilizer factory in the Baltic states is...

 and 25 km (15.5 mi) northeast of Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

. The railroad from Šiauliai

Šiauliai

Šiauliai , is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.-Names:...

 forks into Kaunas and Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

 near the village. Gaižiūnai is also known as a military base

Jonava Airport

Jonava Airport also known as Rukla or Gaižiūnai Airfield was a military airfield in Lithuania located southeast of Jonava. It was part of Rukla–Gaižiūnai military facilities. The airport featured a linear ramp with 24 parking spaces. It is no longer used as an airfield and hosts various racing...

.

Military base

The old military training ground in Varėna

Varena

Varėna is a city in Dzūkija, Lithuania.-History:The town was founded in 1862 near the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway, south of Sena Varėna . At that time it was a small settlement, but following steady development it eventually became the center of the district in 1950. In the interbellum...

 could not be used by the Lithuanian Army as it was too close to the demarcation line with Poland and stirred Polish protests. Therefore in 1930 the army bought some 80 km² (30.9 sq mi) of land, mostly pine forest, bog, and sandy soil unsuitable for agriculture. The new training grounds included an airfield, railway connection, and numerous buildings for the soldiers. In 1939, according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty

Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty

The Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty was a bilateral treaty signed between the Soviet Union and Lithuania on October 10, 1939. According to provisions outlined in the treaty, Lithuania would acquire about one fifth of the Vilnius Region, including Lithuania's historical capital, Vilnius,...

, about 5,000 Russian soldiers

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 were stationed in the military base. After World War II, the Soviets expanded the base and built a military town in Rukla

Rukla

Rukla is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania. As of 2001 it had a population of 2376.-References:*This article was initially translated from the Lithuanian Wikipedia....

. When Lithuania regained its independence the bases were adopted for its needs.