Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces

Commander of the Defence Forces
Commander of the Defence Forces
Kaitseväe juhataja
	Standard of the Commander of the Defence Force
	Incumbent; Major General Andrus Merilo; since 1 July 2024
	Estonian Defence Forces
Type	Chief of defence
Member of	Headquarters of the Estonian Defence Forces
Reports to	Minister of Defence
Seat	Tallinn, Estonia
Nominator	Minister of Defence
Appointer	Government of Estonia
Term length	Five years (with option for another two years)
Formation	1918
First holder	General Johan Laidoner
Website	www.mil.ee

The Commander of the Defence Forces (Estonian: Kaitseväe juhataja) is the Chief of the Estonian Defence Forces and the national defence organisations.

List of officeholders

No.	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Ref.
1	Laidoner, JohanGeneral Johan Laidoner (1884–1953) ^[a]	23 December 1918 1 December 1924 12 March 1934	26 March 1920 8 January 1925 22 June 1940	1 year, 94 days 38 days 6 years, 102 days Total: 7 years, 234 days	Army
2	Jonson, GustavMajor General Gustav Jonson (1880–1942) ^[b]	22 June 1940	3 September 1940	73 days	Army Cavalry
Vacant Soviet and German occupations
3	Maide, JaanMajor General Jaan Maide (1896–1945) ^[c]	18 September 1944	24 October 1944	36 days	Army
Vacant Soviet occupation
4	Einseln, AleksanderGeneral Aleksander Einseln (1931–2017) ^[d]	1 May 1993	4 December 1995	2 years, 217 days	Army	^[1]^[2]
5	Kert, JohannesLieutenant General Johannes Kert (1959–2021) ^[e]	23 January 1996	30 June 2000	4 years, 159 days	Defence League	^[4]
–	Ermus, AarneLieutenant colonel Aarne Ermus (born 1966) Acting	30 June 2000	21 September 2000	83 days	Army	^[5]
6	Kõuts, TarmoVice Admiral Tarmo Kõuts (born 1953) ^[f]	21 September 2000	14 November 2006	6 years, 54 days	Border Guard
7	Laaneots, AntsGeneral Ants Laaneots (born 1948)	5 December 2006	5 December 2011	5 years, 0 days	Army
8	Terras, RihoGeneral Riho Terras (born 1967)	5 December 2011	5 December 2018	7 years, 0 days	Army	^[6]
9	Herem, MartinGeneral Martin Herem (born 1973)	5 December 2018	30 June 2024	5 years, 208 days	Army	^[7]
10	Merilo, AndrusMajor General Andrus Merilo (born 1973)	1 July 2024	Incumbent	151 days	Army

Notes

^ First term served during Estonian War of Independence. Made commander-in-chief twice under martial law. Eventually removed from position on 22 June 1940, after Soviet Union occupied Estonia.
^ Served as commander-in-chief following the forced resignation of Johan Laidoner following the Soviet Union's demand that the Red Army establish military bases and station 25,000 troops on Estonian soil for the duration of the war. Executed by Soviet authorities in 1942.
^ Served as commander-in-chief in the period between the German occupation and second Soviet occupation. Captured by the Soviets on 24 October 1944.
^ Resigned on 4 December 1995 due to a disagreement with the Minister of Defence.
^ Was requested to make a resignation by the head of state, head of government and the Minister of Defence, but refused.^[3] Impeached by the President of the Republic on 30 June 2000.^[4]
^ Requested to be resigned to enter politics.