Sergeant Külle Lumi of the guard platoon. He appreciated last year’s exercises in Sweden.
Photographer: Jesper Tengroth/Försvarsmakten
Sergeant Külle Lumi is part of the guard platoon that guarded the NBG headquarters. He appreciated his time in the Nordic Battle Group:
“Especially the six weeks last year when we did exercises in Sweden,” he says. ”It gave me and the rest of the platoon a lot of useful experience, as well as Swedish friends for life.”
On Thursday, he and the rest of the Estonian contingent of Force Commander were thanked by Brigadier-General Stefan Andersson:
“It was a big surprise that the general took the time to come here - it shows great respect for our work,” says Külle Lumi a while after the rather informal ceremony ended.
And for the Force Commander, the trip to Estonia was self-evident:
“I decided to personally thank all the soldiers and at the moment I am travelling around to all the units in the different countries,” says Stefan Andersson. ”But I would also like to add that I am impressed both by the Estonian soldiers' skills and by Estonia's commitment to international crisis management. This is a small country with limited armed forces, yet it participates in both Afghanistan and in the Nordic Battle Group.”
The Estonian contribution to NBG includes, besides the guard platoon for intelligence personnel, personnel for transport coordination, military police and staff officers, giving a total of 50 people.