Stepping Up to Defend in Times of Crisis
ESTONIA — Four women trudged across a road in an uncharacteristically hot Estonian summer drenched in sweat, carrying their personal equipment and weapons during the Admiral Pitka Recon Challenge. They had slept only three hours during the military competition, having spent the last four days avoiding detection by opposing forces.
One of 30 participating teams from 15 different countries, the only all-women team managed to finish the competition, placing 17th. Nine teams retired before the finish.
These four women are from the Naiskodukaitse, or the Women’s Voluntary Defence Organisation, a subunit of the Defense League. One of them, waitress Ruth Maadla, 30, will return to Norway after the competition to her daily job.
Most members of the league hold other full-time jobs, outside of their weekend training and activities. These women answer to the Estonian Ministry of Defence only when they put on the uniform — otherwise, they are normal civilians living ordinary lives.
Consisting of 2,500 members, the women’s league is the largest women’s organisation in Estonia. Members hail from all 15 counties of Estonia and each county district is headed by a commander, like the military.
Women are joining the league in response to global events that remind Estonians of their nation’s vulnerability. “It’s like these things make everyone alert. They go like ‘Oh, I need to help my country’,” said women’s league vice-chairwoman Helen Allas.
Events that trigger a spike in recruitment numbers happen close to home, like the 2014 Russian annexation of the Crimea, or the London terror attacks that happened this year.
Ms Elisa Jakson, 33, a league public relations development specialist, remembers that many joined after the 2007 Tallinn riots, when a protest led by ethnic Russians against the movement of a World War II monument in Estonia’s capital turned violent.
Members of the Defence League came out to help amidst the chaos, recalled Ms Jakson, who could hear the riot from her apartment then. “They weren’t wearing the uniforms because they didn’t want to be recognised as military,” she said. “But they did their job.”
The increase of women involved in voluntary defence is not limited to the paramilitary — in 2017 the Estonian Defence Forces opened all units to females who volunteered for conscription.
The 26,000-strong Estonian Defence League, which includes the women’s league, was established to augment the main Defence Forces in times of national emergency. The league is larger than Estonia’s active army, which numbers about 6,000 and is largely made up of conscripts who serve eight or 11 months. Only one-third of men are conscripted, although all healthy Estonian males are liable for military service.
The women’s corps are trained in basic soldiering and orienteering, weapon handling and first aid, as well as combat support activities like field cooking. The organisation is not limited to military operations, with an increasing emphasis on civil defence in recent years. Ms Allas said: “We want to prepare them for any crisis situation.”
Members usually get activated for civil emergencies like forest fires and floods, as well as to search the wilderness for missing persons. They often work alongside police and emergency services.
Playing a big role in educating the public about civil emergencies, members are actively involved in their local community. Public education and outreach events often focus on home dangers and civil preparedness, like packing a ration box to prepare for potential home evacuations.
League members come from various backgrounds and join for a variety of reasons, said Ms Jakson. “I joined because I heard cool stories about adventures and hikes and I wanted to do it as well,” she said.
Another member, university librarian Raili Zuba, 32, joined because she wanted to experience military life, hold guns and go out in the field. She said: “The whole defense thing seemed quite fun for me, that’s why I joined.”
Other common reasons include sport and community. Ms Jakson adds that patriotism is one of the main factors driving people to join the organisation but also said that people have differing levels of patriotism.
Ms Jakson joined the league because of her personal experience. She recounts a time in kindergarten when she refused to dance and wave a red scarf to a Russian song during the time of Soviet occupation. She was sent out of class, after which she went home. “The teachers had a hard time trying to find me,” she joked.
This nationalistic spirit was something that ran in her family. As a child, her parents brought her to be part of the Baltic Way — a demonstration involving two million people joining hands from Estonia to Lithuania — to protest for independence from the Soviet Union.
“There was this underlying patriotism in the family,” she said.
Members belong to one of eight military or non-military branches of the organisation, performing roles from combat support to public relations/education and managing cultural activities for members.
Ms Kadi Kuusmann, leader of the cultural group of the Tartu district, says that such non-military activities help build friendships and community, which are integral to the existence and function of the organisation. “It helps relax everyone,” she said.
The paramilitary nature of the league means that there is a clear structure for command and control. This means activated members can assist the relevant authorities or forces in an orderly and organised manner.
“We are very organised, and in a village, everyone knows all the other members in the area.” said Ms Ave Proos, another member of the women’s league.
The fact that members are spread throughout Estonia also makes it easy to get help in emergencies both civil and military. Ms Proos added: “There’s this support team all over Estonia.”
Children of members often join the Home Daughters or Young Eagles, the youth subunits of the Defence League for girls and boys respectively. Kristo Valge, 16, joined the Young Eagles because of influence from his mother, who is a league member.
“It seemed natural for me to join,” he said. “I’m really excited for military service.”
The youth wings are a fertile ground for youths to prepare for service in the Defence Forces or the Defence League, even though moving on is not compulsory. Ms Proos, who is also chairwoman of the Home Daughters said: “It’s a free choice they have, but it’s a good base.”
Many of the members continue to stay because of the community that the league provides them. “The members grow closer. They come together because it’s friendship,” said Ms Allas. “It’s not just the commitment to the organisation, but also for themselves.”
Ms Kuusmann, 30, said that the women’s league helped her find her place when she moved from Tallinn to Tartu, the second largest city in Estonia. “I didn’t have many friends over here in Tartu and I felt lonely,” she added. “It was a place that I could find a family, and new friends.”
An important part of the defense of Estonia, the league serves to foster a nationalistic spirit, which stems from a sense of vulnerability as a small nation next to larger neighbours. When asked about the future of defence and whether this spirit would disappear, league members disagreed.
“Global events make us think about defence and us as Estonians realise we want to be more prepared for them,” Ms Jakson said. Ms Proos agreed: “These feelings are not going anywhere. It’s everything because it’s our history.”
