Erfurt (dpa/th) – The information technology battalion 383 stationed in Erfurt has been honored with the flag ribbon of the Free State of Thuringia. Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) presented the award on Saturday during a military ceremony on Erfurt’s Petersberg. In Germany, flag ribbons are the highest civilian award that a military association can be honored with.

According to the Bundeswehr, 750 soldiers belong to the information technology battalion 383. The unit, which has been in existence for 20 years, provides, among other things, mobile digital technology for the entire armed forces. According to the State Chancellery, the award of the flag ribbon also recognizes the merits of the battalion during the corona pandemic.

More than 400 soldiers from the battalion helped during the crisis in 27 different authorities, cities and communities – primarily in Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. In the Free State, more than 200 soldiers from the battalion provided administrative assistance in Erfurt, Hildburghausen, Jena, Pößneck, Schleiz and Weimar, among other places.