1st Infantry Brigade

The purpose of the Kalev Infantry Battalion is to train reserve manoeuvre and support units with combat power.

Like the other structural units, conscript training in the Viru Infantry Battalion lasts for eight or eleven months. The main task of the unit is to train the infantry and antitank units’ enlisted command personnel of the wartime formations of the Defence Forces. The Viru Infantry Battalion has two main areas of training:

• infantry training, which includes all technical specialisations in the infantry (gunners, medical orderlies, anti-tank missilemen, light mortar crew members, etc.);
• anti-tank training, which provides training to the crew members of mid- and long-range antitank guided missile systems.

Air defence operations mean the deterring and destruction of the opponent’s air assault devices (planes, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles). Air Defence functions are fulfilled in the Defence Forces by means of on-ground weapon systems including missiles and guns. An overview of the activity in the airspace is relayed through radars and other equipment. The Air Defence Battalion conducts air defence training for conscripts – from the ranks of which air defence reserve units are formed for the Defence Forces – as well as for reservists, to refresh their specialised skills. Also, specialised basic and supplementary training is provided to active servicemen.

The task of the Combat Engineer Battalion in the Estonian Defence Forces is to block, slow down, complicate or stop the movement or manoeuvres of the opponent’s units and combat vehicles. The engineer units also need to ensure the mobility of their own units to facilitate the manoeuvres by means of creating access paths through obstacles and minefields and improving road conditions. Engineers build foxholes, trenches and lodging bunkers to improve the living conditions of single soldiers and units.

The main task of the Combat Service Support Battalion is to prepare wartime troops from the ranks of conscripts to ensure the combat ability of the 1st Infantry Brigade. In peacetime it provides year-round support to the 1st Infantry Brigade Headquarters, its seven battalions and three single companies. If necessary, the civilian sector is aided with technology, equipment and training.
Tasks of the Combat Service Support Battalion:

• management, planning and development in their area of responsibility;
• organising the training of the personnel of its subordinate units;
• preparing reserve units through the training of conscripts;
• daily supply and servicing of the units in all areas of rear support services;
• supplying international military operations in cooperation with the Support Command of the Defence Forces;
• ensuring medical servicing of the 1st Infantry Brigade.

The Headquarters and Signal Company is a tactical unit within the 1st Infantry Brigade with the task of ensuring the uninterrupted operation and servicing of the Brigade’s command sites and the Brigade staff’s command support, physical security, basic rear support and communications with other command units. The Headquarters and Signal Company is a single company, with its commander reporting directly to the Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade.

The task of the Anti-Tank Company is to support the sub-units of the 1st Infantry Brigade in combat hot-spots and independent combat against the opponent’s armoured equipment. The Anti-Tank Company is a single company, with its commander reporting directly to the Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade. The main peacetime task of the Anti-Tank Company is the training of non-comissioned officersl and specialists for anti-tank units.

The Support and Signal Company is a tactical unit within the 1st Infantry Brigade with the task of ensuring the uninterrupted operation and servicing of the Brigade’s command sites and the Brigade staff’s command support, physical security, basic rear support and communications with other command units. The Support and Signal Company is a single company, with its commander reporting directly to the Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade.