Estonia's 1st Infantry Brigade rehearses cooperation with police, rescuers

TALLINN - A planning exercise of the headquarters and units of the 1st Infantry Brigade, Furious Juniper, ended on Friday, marking the first time that staff from the Police and Border Guard took part in a similar exercise.

"In a crisis situation cooperation between different parties is inevitable and necessary. Every training exercise where such cooperation is rehearsed ensures we are better prepared when acting in a crisis situation should really become necessary," Andreas Kliimant, head of the border and migration service at the East prefecture of the Police and Border Guard Board, said.

Furious Juniper is a map exercise that kicks off the new training cycle of the 1st Infantry Brigade. Representatives from the Rescue Board and the Police and Border Guard Board were involved in the planning exercise for the first time to better chart the places where joint action by the agencies could be necessary in their common area of responsibility in the event of a crisis or a conflict.

The 1st Infantry Brigade includes the majority of the units trained during the compulsory conscript service period. The Scouts Battalion, an infantry battalion with rapid response capability nade up wholly of professional personnel, is also a part of the 1st Infantry Brigade. The 1st Infantry Brigade also includes Kalev Infantry Battalion, Viru Infantry Battalion, the Artillery Battalion, the Air Defense Battalion, the Combat Engineer Battalion, the Combat Service Support Battalion, the Anti-Tank Company, the Command and Signal Company and the Reconnaissance Company as well as the allied battle group stationed at Tapa and battel groups of the North and Northeast national defense districts of the Kaitseliit (Defense League) volunteer corps.