Even if you leave out the cost, were do you get the 500.000 of men needed to defend a country the same size as Germany? Its not like someone else will do it for us.

That's only because when the Soviets tried to give them to you, you threw them out.:D

Mikhayl,

you guys still have the foreign legion in effect? I've heard that a lot of East-Europeans have applied there since the breakup of the Soviets. I guess that's one way to go, tough place though from what I hear.

I actually had a lot of fun while serving. I was drafted, and spent 10 months in the service, 8 months as a gunner on a patrol craft. :arrgh!:
Although my country was at war at the time, I didn't see much action, except being bombarded by rocket launchers on several occasions while at port.

Most of the time we chased Italian fishing boats entering our teritorial waters. :D

Well, make the best of it then. If you go in with a crap attitude, boot camp will just make it worse.

What's a "Scouts Battalion" though I think I know.

the estonian defence forces is divided into four parts, the land forces (Maavägi) Airforce (Õhuvägi) and naval forces (Merevägi). Maavägi is divided into batalions and the Scouts batalion is our only professional unit, as in all the people in the Scouts batalion have allready done their national service and are voulenteers.

Just remember that you are joining the military. The military is not joining you.

The military has its own "unique" way of doing things. Don't expect the military to be logical nor to conform to you.

Just go with the flow and you will have a lifetime of funny stories to tell your kids.

Try to fight the system and you will find life "unpleasant"

Hello again fellas, thought I'd drop by to say hello. my third week of basic soldiering training is about to begin and finaly managed to make soem free time.

So far things are going sort of ok, exept for the fact that im on painkillers due to my left knee, will get it looked at more thuroughly on monday. Anyhow I got what i wanted and am in the recon company, second squad(not sure if thats the right word, in estonian its called a rühm which is split into four sections(jagu) wich all divide into two half sections(pooljagu) containing 4 men). The downside of being in the second squad is that we have an unusualy high dickhead content with people who bitch and moan and do not put in any effort, hell last night one of them even sumgled in some vodka, but i cant even beat the snot out of him to put him in his place.
That asside its actualy great fun here, lots of physical training, learning of regulations and firearm classes for now. Can field strip and assemble my AK4 in under 3 minutes allready, most of that is down to the fact that the first time we cleaned our rifles was done in gas masks because some *******s couldnt keep heir mouths shut.
Next time I drop by I'll make a small note before posting so I would'nt forget stuff.

Sink them all.
Pvt. Tammisto

Good to hear you're doing ok, your system isn't probably that different from ours. Also your winter probably won't be that cold so I'm sure you'll do just fine.

Just heal that knee up, no point in getting hurt long term.

Good Luck! Everyones' experience here will be varied from yours. Attitude is what makes it or breaks it. Some love it and make a career out of the military. Opportunities will present themselves especially if you did well on your ASVAB and if you do well on your BEST test at the end of basic training. With corporations revoking retirement packages in the civilian sector every day. The military presents a good choice. You could pull 50 to 75 percent of your base pay for the rest of your life if go for the long haul and retire out of the military. Also there are continued education opportunities in the military, whereby you can get a degree while you are on active duty.

hello again you bunch of civilian maggots :P

So far its been fun here in the army, did our first semi long march in kit yesterday. By in kit i mean in full uniform with flak jackets, heavy combat harness and our AK4's, 22kg in all, ohyeah, my full kit weights about 60k in all, thats what i'll be carrying on my so called soldiers march in 7 weeks for two days while having to complete various challenges. 10 miles through rough ground, swamps, up and down hills, through and along rivers and runing along a tarmac road for two kilometers. Neart the end we crawled through a drain runijg bellow a road that stank worse than Valek who hasnt had a shower for a few weeks and when we got back to battalion we took a walk through a lake on territory before runing (in my case limping because i ****ed up my left knee somewhat a few weeks ago) back to our barracs to get as much water out of our kit as possible in 2 minutes, then puting on flipflops and getting topless to do weapon maintenance, followed by getting our gear ready to dry and THEN a hot shower because our maintenance lis goes gun->gear->self.

Ohyah, im in the recon company, the one with the highest physical and mental demands. To smoke we have to do pushups, occasionaly in kit, so expect me to be ripped by the time im done.

I wish you'd gone in with your old haircut :p

Good to hear Estonia is in safe hands

Sounds like everything is working out for you:up:

Keep up the good work, it all gets easier once you're out of bootcamp.

I can not say for sure if you will have fun but I can say the army will try your will. My brother-in-law went into the army straight out of high school. Did he enjoy it? Not really, it was not his cup of tea. Was he better off after boot camp? Yes, in many ways. He was better off for it in the long run. Good luck to you and your start in the army. You never know, this could be the career for you. :up:

Here's a tip from an old grunt. In practice carry an extra 5 pounds in your ruck and remove it before your soldiers march. It will help alot.