The Estonian government on 22 September ordered 2,861 of the country’s reservists for the defence readiness exercise, Quill 2022; the exercise comes in the wake of Russia’s decision to mobilise 300,000 troops for war in Ukraine.
The 2,861 reservists of the 11 Infantry Battalion, the 16 Air Defence Battalion, and the 42 Northeastern Territorial Defence District will be called.
“People in reserve whose units are called to the defence readiness exercise are required to report immediately to the designated assembly point,” the Estonian defence ministry said in a statement.
“The purpose of the readiness exercise is to practice the functioning of the reserve army. There is no direct security threat to Estonia. The exercise is conducted yearly with the government decision and with no previous notice to the participants. The Estonian reserve-based defence model requires for reservists to be ready to always react and participate in exercises.”
The ministry added that the main purpose of the exercise was to test the national chain of command – from the government decision down to the combat readiness of specific units in the rapid response structure. The exercise will take place from 22 to 28 September.
The Estonian Defence Forces have 7,200 active personnel and 30,000 reservists. In total, the Estonian Defence Forces comprises of about 230,000 service members who are enrolled in the mobilisation register.
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