The commander of the Battle School, Major Madis Nõmme, gave the Defence Minister an overview of the courses available at the school and introduced the Meegomäe base. Reinsalu said the Battle School was an integral part of national defence, training higher-ranking NCOs that make up the backbone of the Defence Forces as well as reserve officers in charge of reserve forces. “Unfortunately the current Battle School buildings are obsolete and repairing them and providing for their separate maintenance is not a financially reasonable option,” said Reinsalu. “For that reason, funding will be provided to build, at Taara base, a completely new dormitory and school building for the Battle School by 2014 that will meet all relevant requirements.”
The Taara base on the outskirts of Võru is the home base for the Kuperjanov infantry battalion, where two modern barracks, academic building, staff building, infirmary and warehouses have been built in the last ten years. The historical Taara barracks have been renovated.
Defence Minister Reinsalu also visited the Kuperjanov battalion, which is Estonia’s largest infantry training centre and which administers basic training to 700 conscripts each year. “The Ministry of Defence has invested over 22 million euros into Taara base in the last ten years, making the Kuperjanov battalion’s infrastructure the Defence Forces’ most modern. Our goal in coming years is to ensure bases at just as good a level for all other Defence Forces units,” said Reinsalu.
While in the south of Estonia, Reinsalu also opened the Tsiatsungõlmaa shooting range, which will be mainly used by Kuperjanov battalion conscripts, Battle School students and local members of the Defence League. The new range is the most modern in the Baltics and its automatic target system will significantly increase the quality of conscript training.
More information:
Artur Jugaste
MoD Press Officer
Tel 585 40 355
[email protected]
