Military ranks of Estonia

Last updated October 30, 2023

Present Estonian system of rank insignia is a direct descendant of various systems used in the past in the Estonian Defence Forces. Some of the grades trace their name back to the period of World Wars, for instance, the rank of aspirant literally means an officer in training in military academies or voluntaries, serving as temporary officers.

Most of the Estonian Army ranks were established during the Estonian War of Independence and in the 1920s. These include the rank of kapral, which is a derivate of Italian caporale – much like the English equivalent of corporal. After the Soviet occupation ended in 1991, a new rank was established, creating for the first time a brigadier general rank in the armed forces of Estonia. In Estonia, rank insignia is worn on the chest. Estonian Junior NCOs are considered as a rank of a conscript NCO or NCO in reserve. In full-time service, junior sergeants and petty officers 3rd class are filling in various soldier positions, and naval ratings and are not taken as NCOs.

Estonian Land Forces ranks and insignia

NATO code	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1
Estonian Land Forces ^[1] v t e
Estonian Land Forces ^[1] v t e	Kindral	Kindralleitnant	Kindralmajor	Brigaadikindral	Kolonel	Kolonelleitnant	Major	Kapten	Leitnant	Nooremleitnant	Lipnik
Estonian: Lühend	kin	kin-ltn	kin-mjr	brig-kin	kol	kol-ltn	mjr	kpt	ltn	n-ltn	lpn
English: Ranks	General	Lieutenant General	Major General	Brigadier General	Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Major	Captain	First Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant	Ensign

NATO code	OR-9		OR-8	OR-7	OR-6	OR-5	OR-4		OR-2	OR-1
Estonian Land Forces ^[1] v t e
Estonian Land Forces ^[1] v t e	Ülemveebel	Staabiveebel	Vanemveebel	Veebel	Nooremveebel	Vanemseersant	Seersant	Nooremseersant	Kapral	Reamees
Estonian: Lühend	ü-vbl	st-vbl	v-vbl	vbl	n-vbl	v-srs	srs	n-srs	kpr	rms
English: Ranks	Command Sergeant Major ^[2]	Sergeant Major	Master Sergeant	Sergeant First Class	Staff Sergeant	Sergeant (Senior)	Sergeant	Sergeant (Junior)	Corporal	Private

Officer candidates

Õlakud
Auaste	3. õppeaasta kadett-veebel	2. õppeaasta kadett-veebel	3. õppeaasta kadett-seersant	2. õppeaasta kadett-seersant	1. õppeaasta kadett-seersant	3. õppeaasta kadett	2. õppeaasta kadett	1. õppeaasta kadett	1. semestri noorkadett
Rank	3rd year Cadet Sergeant	2nd year Cadet Sergeant	3rd year Cadet Junior Sergeant	2nd year Cadet Junior Sergeant	1st year Cadet Junior Sergeant	3rd year Cadet	2nd year Cadet	1st year Cadet	1st semester Junior Cadet
NATO	No equivalent	No equivalent	No equivalent	No equivalent	No equivalent	No equivalent	No equivalent	No equivalent	No equivalent

Aspirants

Õlakud
Auaste	Ajateenijate reservrühmaülema kursuse lõpetanu	Ajateenijate reservrühmaülema kursusel õppija
Rank	Reserve platoon leader course Graduate	Reserve platoon leader course Student
NATO	No equivalent	No equivalent

Estonian Navy ranks and insignia

NATO code	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1
Estonian Navy ^[3] v t e
Estonian Navy ^[3] v t e	Admiral	Viitseadmiral	Kontradmiral	Kommodoor	Mereväekapten	Kaptenleitnant	Kaptenmajor	Vanemleitnant	Leitnant	Nooremleitnant	Lipnik
Estonian: Lühend	adm	v-adm	k-adm	komd	m-kpt	kpt-ltn	kpt-mjr	v-ltn	ltn	n-ltn	lpn
English: Ranks	Admiral	Vice Admiral	Rear Admiral	Commodore	Captain	Commander	Lieutenant Commander	Lieutenant Senior Grade	Lieutenant	Lieutenant Junior Grade	Ensign

NATO code	OR-9		OR-8	OR-7	OR-6	OR-5	OR-4		OR-2	OR-1
Estonian Navy ^[3] v t e
Estonian Navy ^[3] v t e	Ülemveebel	Staabiveebel	Vanemveebel	Veebel	Nooremveebel	Vanemmaat	Maat	Nooremmaat	Vanemmadrus	Madrus
Estonian: Lühend	ü-vbl	st-vbl	v-vbl	vbl	n-vbl	v-maat	maat	n-maat	v-mdr	mdr
English: Ranks	Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy	Master Chief Petty Officer	Senior Chief Petty Officer	Chief Petty Officer 1st class	Chief Petty Officer 2nd class	Petty Officer 1st class	Petty Officer 2nd class	Petty Officer 3rd class	Leading Seaman	Seaman

Estonian Air Force ranks and insignia

NATO code	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1
Estonian Air Force ^[4] v t e
Estonian Air Force ^[4] v t e	Kindral	Kindralleitnant	Kindralmajor	Brigaadikindral	Kolonel	Kolonelleitnant	Major	Kapten	Leitnant	Nooremleitnant	Lipnik
Estonian: Lühend	kin	kin-ltn	kin-mjr	brig-kin	kol	kol-ltn	mjr	kpt	ltn	n-ltn	lpn
English: Ranks	General	Lieutenant General	Major General	Brigadier General	Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Major	Captain	First Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant	Ensign

NATO code	OR-9		OR-8	OR-7	OR-6	OR-5	OR-4		OR-2	OR-1
Estonian Air Force ^[4] v t e
Estonian Air Force ^[4] v t e	Ülemveebel	Staabiveebel	Vanemveebel	Veebel	Nooremveebel	Vanemseersant	Seersant	Nooremseersant	Kapral	Reamees
Estonian: Lühend	ü-vbl	st-vbl	v-vbl	vbl	n-vbl	v-srs	srs	n-srs	kpr	rms
English: Ranks	Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force	Chief Master Sergeant	Senior Master Sergeant	Master Sergeant	Technical Sergeant	Staff Sergeant	Sergeant	Sergeant (Junior)	Senior Airman	Airman

Historical Estonian Defence League staff positions and insignia

The separate rank system for the Estonian Defence League was officially abolished in 2013, and it now uses ranks and insignia identical to the Land Forces.^[5]

	Higher and staff positions			Senior field positions				Junior field positions
NATO Code	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1C	OF-1B	OF-1A	OR-8	OR-6	OR-4	OR-3

Estonian : Ametikohad	Kaitseliidu ülem	Kaitseliidu Peastaabi ülem	Kaitseliidu maleva pealik	Maleva vaneminstruktor	Malevkonna pealik	Kompanii pealik	Rühma pealik	Rühmapealik eriüksustes	Rühmapealiku abi	Jaopealik	Jaopealiku abi
English: Positions	Commander	Chief of Staff	Chief of Malev	Senior instructor	Chief of Malevkond	Chief of Company	Platoon commander	Platoon commander in special forces	Assistant platoon commander	Section commander	Assistant section commander

Related Research Articles

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Commissioned officers' rank comparison chart of all land forces of NATO member states.

This page lists the enlisted ranks and insignia of NATO member armies. For the comparison chart of the commissioned officers, see Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers.

The following are the ranks and insignia of NATO Air Forces Enlisted personnel for each member nation.

Each officer rank in the navy of a NATO country may be compared with the ranks used by any military service in other NATO countries, under a standardized NATO rank scale. This is useful, for instance, in establishing seniority amongst officers serving alongside each other within multinational command structures.

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Rank comparison chart of all air forces of European states.

Rank comparison chart of all navies of European states.

Rank comparison chart of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and enlisted personnel for all armies and land forces of European states.

Rank comparison chart of air forces non-commissioned officers and other personnel of European states.

Rank comparison chart of all navies of European states. Some European countries do not have naval forces, either because they are landlocked Austria, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Luxembourg, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Slovakia, San Marino and the Vatican, or naval duties provided by another state such as Monaco, .

Rank comparison chart of all air forces of Post-Soviet states.

Rank comparison chart of all armies and land forces of the European Union member states.

Rank comparison chart of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and enlisted personnel for all armies and land forces of the European Union member states.

Rank comparison chart of all navies of the European Union member states.

Rank comparison chart of all navies of the European Union member states. Some EU member states do not have naval forces, either because they are landlocked Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg and Slovakia.

Rank comparison chart of all air forces of the European Union member states.

Rank comparison chart of air forces non-commissioned officers and other personnel of the European Union member states.

References

1 2 "Sümboolika: Maaväe Auastmed". mil.ee (in Estonian). Estonian Defence Forces. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
↑ "Sõnaveeb".
1 2 "Sümboolika: Mereväe Auastmed". mil.ee (in Estonian). Estonian Defence Forces. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
1 2 "Sümboolika: Õhuväe Auastmed". mil.ee (in Estonian). Estonian Defence Forces. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
↑ "Kaitseliidu eraldusmärgid" (in Estonian). Riigi Teataja.

External links

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[Estonia_Army-1] 1 2 "Sümboolika: Maaväe Auastmed". mil.ee (in Estonian). Estonian Defence Forces. Retrieved 26 May 2021.

[2] "Sõnaveeb".

[Estonia_Navy-3] 1 2 "Sümboolika: Mereväe Auastmed". mil.ee (in Estonian). Estonian Defence Forces. Retrieved 26 May 2021.

[Estonia_AirForce-4] 1 2 "Sümboolika: Õhuväe Auastmed". mil.ee (in Estonian). Estonian Defence Forces. Retrieved 26 May 2021.

[5] "Kaitseliidu eraldusmärgid" (in Estonian). Riigi Teataja.

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