ABSTRACT: The aim of this article is to consider a naval officer as a leading personality from a strategic point of view in respect of the challenges and opportunities of professional development, by characterizing the needs and changes of the naval officers’ profession and discussing the transition period for the training of Lithuanian naval officers. The main methods applied to the research are scientific literature analysis, document analysis, interpretation, and synthesis. The basic methodological principles of the research are as follows: humanism, personalism, and cognitive psychology. The type of the research is a descriptive study. The changes, such as the absence of a clear border between the front line of action and the back area, expression of war as a changing and, at the same time, constant process, as well as changes in the social environment of the officer’s profession, when the challenges are not always purely physically military in nature but also diplomatic and psychological, require a high level of military training of naval officers. Taking into account the transition period for the training of Lithuanian naval officers at non-foreign military academies, their professional training should be strengthened by collaboration with the Alliance’s partners, by updating existing training programs and coordinating them with Western military academies, which have a long tradition of training naval officers depending on the relevant geopolitical challenges and potential threats, as well as technological and social changes.

KEYWORDS: Maritime Education and Training (MET), MET System in Lithuania, Naval Officer, Leading Personality, Strategic Approach, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Naval Flotilla, Lithuanian Military Academy

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