Today, cadets from the Estonian Military Academy made their final preparations for the exercise Spring Storm at the Nursipalu training area, focusing on live-fire urban combat and clearing buildings of adversaries.
“The ability to hit your target and operate as a unified team is crucial for defeating the enemy,” said Captain Reigo Kullamaa, an infantry group instructor at the Estonian Military Academy. He added that there has been noticeable progress in the cadets’ urban warfare skills, indicating a continuous advancement in professionalism.
On the first day of training, first-year cadets concentrated on executing a frontal assault in an urban area. To simulate real-world conditions, an urban training area with two buildings was constructed on the training ground. In addition to standard combat equipment, cadets utilized specialized breaching tools such as explosives to create authentic scenarios when entering buildings. The exercises will continue tomorrow, serving as the final preparation before the battles at Spring Storm.
Corporal Tauno Saareleht, a first-year cadet of the Basic Officer Training Course, expressed the excitement shared by his fellow course mates about participating in exercise Spring Storm. They anticipate engaging challenges and look forward to staying active throughout the exercise. “What I’m looking forward to most from Spring Storm is the action and avoiding boredom,” said Corporal Saareleht.
This year, the cadets’ training programme is closely integrated with exercise Spring Storm 2024. During the exercise, future leaders of the Estonian Defence Forces will have the opportunity to practice as an infantry company. Among other benefits, this approach enables cadets to better apply what they have previously learned, strengthening, among other things, a sense of unity and teamwork skills.
The involvement of cadets from the Estonian Military Academy in Exercise Spring Storm provides other training units with challenges that closely resemble real-world scenarios. Additionally, it allows cadets to develop tactical skills and acquire practical leadership experience.
The Estonian Military Academy serves as Estonia’s sole national military higher education institution, training officers and non-commissioned officers for both the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League. Moreover, it offers follow-up training and conducts research and development related to national defence.
Spring Storm 2024 is part of the NATO exercise series Steadfast Defender 2024, representing a significant component of this extensive NATO exercise. Steadfast Defender 2024 is the largest NATO exercise in decades, with nearly 90,000 participants from all 32 member states participating over a six-month period from January to July 2024. The broader framework for the exercise has been set by confirmed NATO regional defence plans.
