SPECIAL FORCES TRAINS RESERVISTS Lieutenant Colonel Margus Kuul

SPECIAL FORCES TRAINS RESERVISTS

Lieutenant Colonel Margus Kuul Commander of the Estonian Special Operations Forces

For 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

as well as joint operations in the context of NATO. Moreover, the reserve is intended to serve as a recruitment field for the ESTSOF already during peacetime – these reservists have been carefully selected and tested in the course of training exercises and conscript service.

They are also familiar with the ESTSOF procedures and the overall operating atmosphere – such familiarity and trust could be one of the reasons that a prospective service member chooses the ESTSOF.

A 21st century special operator, whether a reservist or a service member, is and will be a highly trained specialist with a well-formulated task. The reservists who have served in the ESTSOF become experts in operating as small mobile teams behind enemy lines, using various methods to influence the enemy.

One of these methods is to use mine ambushes. Even as the enemy’s ability changes, we must modernize our way of thinking and, therefore, be ready for new challenges. Furthermore, cooperation is also possible with other force multipliers, such as joint terminal attack controllers, through which very small unit can have access to the entire arsenal of NATO allies, even from thousands of kilometres away.

Given the Estonian circumstances, it is important to use the reserves as efficiently as possible so as not to ‘forget’ anyone – this is the reason why, since 2018, the ESTSOF began inviting former conscripts of Narva-Jõesuu Border Guard Training Centre, who had received unique guerrilla training, to reservist training exercises. These reservists will also be invited by the ESTSOF in the coming years to refresh their skills.

Therefore, together with former and future conscripts, the ESTSOF will also ensure an increase in its reserve in the long term. In the future, anyone who joined the reserve from the ESTSOF during the last more than 10 years, may find themselves in the list of participants of the reservist training.

Given the increasing need for more flexible use of reservists, it is not excluded that Estonia will see the development of a number of reservists, whose service is even more flexible than today, and in addition to regular training exercises, a special forces team of reservists may be invited to serve for a limited period of time to represent Estonia’s interests on an international military mission instead. Of course, it is important that the creation of flexibility also be supported by an up-to-date legal system.

The Estonian Special Operations Forces highly values its reservists and continues to contribute to developing the reserve.

INTEGRATING FORCES

Colonel Mart Vendla Commander of NATO Force Integration Unit

The NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) was established as part of the NATO force structure in response to the events in 2014, when the armed forces of the Russian Federation annexed the Crimean Peninsula and invaded parts of Eastern Ukraine.

The member states of NATO’s Eastern flank felt threatened and requested an increase in NATO’s visibility in the region which was discussed during the NATO Summit in Wales. The Summit led to a redefinition of NATO’s regional operational requirements and capabilities. As a result, the NATO Command and Force Structure were reconfigured to provide more of a regional focus to their advanced planning activities, a capability which had been previously eroded.

The establishment of NFIUs was part of a broader package of measures that re-defined NATO’s readiness to better respond to the threats. The package contained a number of means and activities, including improved situational awareness (enhancing NATO’s intelligence posture), and pre-positioning of NATO troops in threatened territories on the ground (Enhanced Forward Presence or eFP – army battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland), at sea (Standing