Defence Forces launch large-scale removals

Photo: Meelis Meilbaum / Virumaa Teataja

Reform means new workplace for some 300 servicemen and civilian staff mostly moving from Paldiski to Tapa.

The reorganisation underway since August provides the Defence Forces a facelift: the dilapidated facilities in Tallinn are left behind, with the main firepower to concentrate in Tapa, Jõhvi and Paldiski.

Three bases vacated, four barracks built, 1,440 new barrack places and over 300 servicemen/staff changing location – this, in a nutshell,  is what the changes will bring about while Defence Forces reform themselves by creating two infantry battalions – in near months.

No longer will the servicemen have any business in their well-worn habitations at Guard Battalion and Logistics Battalion. By end of the year, the logistics will relocate to Ämari Air-Base.

Guard Battalion, in its turn, will be smaller by the infantry company – the latter moving to Jõhvi. The remaining Guard Battalion units will relocate to the naval base in Kopli – to start preparing military police units as their single occupation. The battle school at Meegomäe will merge with the Kuperjanov Military Base in Võru.

According to Defence Forces Deputy Commander, Colonel Artur Tiganik, the reform now underway is the largest since 2009 when Estonia formed four defence districts.

«Back then we just bit off a chunk too large. Too many differing levels with insufficient money. Even the Finnish advisors said, back then, that «what are you doing, four is too much for you»,» he recalls. «In 2013, we arrived at basically having two districts or brigades.»

The essence of the entire removal carries the military aspect: Estonia will have two manned infantry brigades, in North-East and North-West Estonia, plus strong rear forces in the West. This chimes well with the NATO defence plans as the brigade-sized units fit better to cooperate with the allies.  

Taking the preliminary-positioning storages to Western-Estonia is safer than keeping these in Võru.

In essence, this will mean that in a crisis or war, Estonia must have two brigades of 6,000–8,000 men. These are the strike teams which need to be able to get mobilised, equipped and send 21,000 men into battle – in a couple of days.

At that,  the 1^st Infantry Brigade based on Tapa, Jõhvi and Paldiski units will form a mobilised strike team covering the entirety of Estonia, for which infantry fighting machines CV9035 and self-propelled guns will be purchased.

The Võru based 2^nd Infantry Brigade will also be mobile by nature. According to plan, it will be equipped with armoured personnel carriers and the howitzers left over from 1^st battalion.

«The initial steps have been taken. Should anybody say we will sink something with the reform, that’s absurd talk. The effectiveness of the system will be tested at the exercises «Hedgehog», next year. Then we will detect the bottlenecks,» said Col. Tiganik.

According to him, the main goal is to enhance the battle-readiness of the units, because – as shown in the experience in Ukraine – a contemporary crisis will grant not much time to prepare. The advantage of the new system is that the brigades are self-supporting and able to defend the country even if a link drops off in the command chain. To that end, the peace-time structure is as similar to the war-time one as possible.

The other main feature of the reform is the very convergence of units to make their upkeep cheaper. With the removal, the bases at Tapa, Jõhvi and Ämari will greatly increase in might. The new barracks planned for these will be completed by end of this year. That will also mark the end of the era where a large part of defence spending went into upgrading living conditions of the troops – in the future, money will only be spent on weapons or infrastructure needed for training.

«We are planning to locate all major manoeuvring capacity to Tapa. From there, it is very convenient to react; there we have railway connections and roads, training areas are close by,» described Col. Tiganik.

The US troops arriving in Estonia with infantry battle machines and tanks will also be providing training for Scoutsbattalion, in Tapa. As the infantry battle machines to be purchases will arrive in Estonia, in the years ahead, the Tapa base will be further expanded to include a polygon for shootings.

The third link of the reform will be closer cooperation with the Defence League. As defence districts were done away with, the broad-based national defence became the task for Defence League and, according to Col. Tiganik, the latter’s cooperation with local governments and police is already better than Defence Forces used to have.

Things are worse off with territorial defence, however, as the five battalions needed for that are still half-manned by the Defence League. To improve the situation, the Defence Forces will have five officers a year working in the Defence League; after the major exercises «Hedgehog», however, their numbers ought to increase significantly. The rotation in Defence League should become a part of a Defence League officer career model.

When it comes to the emptied-out bases, things are being decided. State Real Estate Ltd said that a detailed plan will be imposed for Guard Battalion and Logistics Centre, intended purpose of the land as national defence will be altered. A part of the Guard Battalion lot will go to the Information Board, the rest will be split between a kindergarten, park area and residential quarters.