Today, December 15, the multinational military exercise Pikne and snap exercise Okas 24-2, conduced from December 2 to 15, 2024, were announced completed. The exercise, involving nearly 2,000 Estonian and Allied troops, was conducted in the northern and north-eastern Estonia, as well as on the Gulf of Finland.
“Exercise Pikne was one of the many exercises lead by the Estonian Division, during which we were able to practice elements of our actual war plan,” said Major General Indrek Sirel, commander of the Estonian division and head of exercise Pikne. “The exercise sent a clear signal that we are ready to defend our country, and to do it together with our allies,” Major General Sirel added.
The exercise was led by the Estonian Division, and involved units from the Estonian Defence Forces, Estonian Defence League, and Allied units from France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Latvia. During exercise Pikne, Allied cooperation was practiced on land, in the air and on sea.
During the first week of the exercise, the main activities were conducted mainly in the northern and north-eastern part of Estonia, as well on the Gulf of Finland. During the phase NATO practiced rapid deployment of its troops to a conflict zone, integrating them into a multinational battle group in Estonia, and cooperation in countering threats on land, in the air and on the sea. Second week of the exercise was focused on a Live Fire Exercise on Sirgala training area, involving units from France, the UK, Latvia and Estonian Defence League.
Additionally to exercise Pikne, a snap exercise Okas 24-2 was announced for reservists of Engineer Battalion (1st Infantry Brigade) from December 3-15, and Air Defence Battery (Estonian Division) from December 3-8. Air Defence troops trained procedures for air threats, while engineer units established positions for units conducting defensive operations.
Reserves from the Air Defence Battery were dismissed from the exercise on the morning of December 8. Reserve troops of the Engineer Battalion were involved in the form of a flexible snap exercise, and thus were temporarily released from duty on December 7 with the order of remaining in high readiness to return to service when ordered. Troops were tasked to return to duty as of December 13, after which they received additional training on tactics, experience from Ukraine and on other topics, as well celebrated the anniversary of the Engineer Battalion.
„Snap exercise was interesting and cool. It was fascinating to see how the members of the Defence Forces, who at the beginning were strangers to each other, quickly became comrades in arms, and the cooperation went smoothly. Everybody was very motivated and you could see that they came with the goal to give their hundred percent. For me, the snap exercise was characterised by a high level of organisation – everything was planned down to the last detail, everything ran smoothly from the first day to the end and there was a lot of activity,“ said ensign Kaspar Merisalu, a reservist with the Engineer Battalion.
„Snap exercise provides a very valuable and rare opportunity for both, reservists and active service members, to get feedback on their skills, for the work they´ve done and for the readiness to fulfil their vow as a member of the Defence Forces,“ said Lieutenant Colonel Priit Heinloo, the Commander of the Engineer Battalion. „In my opinion, B-Company, which came together unexpectedly last week, did a very good job in several aspects. Firstly, the willingness of reservists to keep their skills up, to be ready to go whenever they are needed, is impressive, and so is the support of reserve soldiers’ families and employers, and the appreciation of our defenders. The success of the snap exercise was also due to the good training that the reservists have received during their military service and the daily dedicated service of the active members, who keep themselves, their equipment on standby around the clock. Once again, the snap exercise proved that, if necessary, we are all ready to defend our home country within a few hours.“
According to Major General Indrek Sirel, the Commander of Estonian Division and Head of exercise Pikne, it was necessary to link exercise Pikne with the snap exercise Okas 24-2. “In the case of escalation of tensions in the region, the Allies are ready to immediately send their units to Estonia. While the Allies are already operating in areas close to the border, we are able to mobilize our own troops, and this is what this exercise clearly demonstrated.”
International military exercise Pikne („Lightning“) was part of NATO activity Brilliant Eagle, focusing on Allied rapid deployability and interoperability in the Baltic Sea region. During the exercise, supplementary Allied units were rapidly deployed to Estonia via land, sea and air to support and train together with the NATO multinational battlegroup and the Estonian Defence Forces in a simulated war situation. The exercise was led by the Estonian Division and nearly 2,000 participants from Estonia, Latvia, USA, France and United Kingdom took part of it.
