The largest reservists’ exercise ever to take place in Estonia – called Ussisõnad or Parceltongue in English – started on 28 August and will last until October; the exercise involves 10,000 reservists.
From 28 August through 8 October, the Estonian Defence Forces and the Defence League will be organising the exercise during which nearly 10,000 reservists assigned to the territorial defence structure will be given further training.
Ussisõnad is the largest training exercise focused on the training of reservists Estonia has organised so far.
The Estonian defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, said that it was necessary to ensure that the territorial defence units are prepared to act to “preserve freedom” in Estonia, regardless of the threat.
The reservists are trained by experienced instructors from the territorial defence districts of the Defence League, as well as from the Defence Forces, the Estonian Military Academy and the Special Operations Command.