King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on Tuesday looked at the Joint Action 14 exercise of the Nordic Battle Group (NBG) at Hagshult, Sweden and conversed with Lt. Riho Juurik, head of the Estonian contingent's movement control team, among others.
King of Sweden talks to Estonian logistics officer at NBG exercise
12th November 2014, 16:07
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«The king walked up to us, shook hands with us and asked about our tasks,» Juurik said according to military spokespeople in Tallinn. The king asked how Estonians were doing in the drills and how the Estonian officer sees cooperation with Swedes. «We've handled two incoming flights and two outgoing flights on the average every day and for us carrying out operations together with the Swedish Air Force is a good experience. That's what I told the king,» Juurik said.
The king of Sweden served in his country's armed forces for two years and completed his examination as a deck officer in 1968.
The 50-strong team taking part in the exercise from Estonia is made up of personnel from the defense forces headquarters, Kaitseliit (Defense League), the logistics command, the military police and the Pioneer Battalion.
Estonia participates in the Nordic Battle Group with civil-military cooperation teams, military police, explosive ordnance disposal units and military geographers. The Estonian contingent includes also a logistics support unit.
The Nordic Battle Group will be on standby in the first half of next year. Estonia participated in the Nordic Battle Group together with Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden in 2008 and 2011. In 2015 also Latvia and Lithuania will take part in NBG for the first time.