SPECIAL FORCES TRAINS RESERVISTS
Lieutenant Colonel Margus Kuul Commander of the Estonian Special Operations Forces
F
or the Estonian Special Operations Forces it has been a year of many new initiatives and because of that we have become somewhat more open to the general public. The media coverage of international military operation in Mali and a feature story on Estonian Public Broadcasting programme about the ESTSOF are our most important appearances. The general public has also heard about the change of ESTSOF commander and the successful execution of three special forces selection events and one reservist training exercise. However, the plan to start training conscripts in the ESTSOF from 2021 attracted the most public attention. This is also proven by the applications received from several young volunteers looking to serve in the special forces as conscripts. Reservist special operators have found their place among the NATO allied militaries decades ago and, therefore, training conscripts was the logical next step for the ESTSOF. Preparations for this began almost five years ago. The ESTSOF needs a reserve to carry out its wartime tasks sustainably. This applies to the organization of both independent national special operations 45
