Ants Laaneots
Born January 16, 1948 (1948-01-16) (age 61)
Kindralleitnant (Lieutenant General) Ants Laaneots Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Defence Forces
Nickname	Tanki Ants
Allegiance	Soviet Union  Estonia
Service/branch	Soviet Ground Forces Estonian Defence Forces
Years of service	1966–present
Rank	Kindralleitnant (Lieutenant General)
Commands held	Commander-in-Chief
Battles/wars	1987–1989 Ethiopian Civil War
Awards	2nd class Order of the Cross of the Eagle Defence Forces Service Medal Ministry of Interior Service Medal Defence League Service Medal Estonian Border Guard Service Cross Estonian Rescue Board Service Medal 10 Years of restored Defence Force Memorial Medal

Kindralleitnant (Lieutenant General) Ants Laaneots, (born 16 January 1948) in Kilingi-Nõmme in Pärnumaa, is the current Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Defence Forces. General Laaneots previously served as the Commandant of the Estonian National Defence College from 2001 to 2006. He was appointed the Commander-in-Chief on 5 December 2006, and was promoted to Kindralleitnant in 2008.

Contents 1 Biography[1] 2 After 1991 3 Military career 3.1 Soviet Army 3.2 Estonian Army 4 Personal 5 Gallery 6 References

[edit] Biography^[1]

Ants Laaneots was born on 16 January 1948 in Kilingi-Nõmme, Estonia. In July 1966 he entered the Higher Military School in Kharkov, Ukraine, and graduated from it in 1970 as an Army Tank Officer. From 1970 to 1978, he served as a platoon leader, company commander, and battalion commander of the 300^th Tank Regiment for the Soviet Army in Ukraine. From 1978 to 1981, Laaneots studied in the Malinovsky Military Academy of Armored Forces (Военная академия бронетанковых войск им. Р. Я. Малиновского) in Moscow. From 1981 to 1987, he was posted to the Soviet-Chinese border in Eastern Kazakhstan. During this assignment he served as the Executive Officer of the 96^th Tank Regiment, two years as the Commander of the 180^th Tank Regiment, and three years as the Deputy Commander-Chief of Staff of the 78^th Armoured Division. From 1987 to 1989, he deployed to Ethiopia where he spent one year as the military advisor to the commander of an infantry division, and a year and a half as the military advisor to the commanding general of an army corps participating in combat activities. Before his resignation from the Soviet Army in September 1991, he served as the Chief of Regional Department of Defence, Tartu in Estonia.

[edit] After 1991

After Estonia regained its independence in 1991, Ants Laaneots served two times as the Chief of the General Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces – from 1991 to 1994, and from 1997 to 1999. From 1994 to 1996 he was in reserve and in 1997 Laaneots was appointed to the position of Inspector General of the Defence Forces. During his second tenure, in 1998, he graduated from the NATO Defence College in Rome, Italy.

In 1998, he was promoted to Kindralmajor (Major General). In 2000, after a year at the course in the Finnish National Defence College, he was appointed the head of the Baltic Defence Research Centre located in Estonia. From September 2001 through to December 2006, he was Commandant of the Estonian National Defence College. Ants Laaneots was appointed the Commander-in-Chief on 5 December 2006.

[edit] Military career

[edit] Soviet Army

(See Military ranks of the Soviet Union)

• 1970 Lieutenant (лейтена́нт)
• 1973 Senior Lieutenant (ста́рший лейтена́нт)
• 1975 Captain (капита́н)
• 1979 Major (майо́р)
• 1982 Podpolkovnik (подполко́вник) – (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1987 Polkovnik (полко́вник) – (Colonel)

[edit] Estonian Army

(See Military of Estonia#Insignia)

• 1992 Kolonel (Colonel)
• 1998 Kindralmajor (Major General)
• 2008 Kindralleitnant (Lieutenant General)^[2]

[edit] Personal

His main research interests include modern conflicts, conflicts involving small states/nations, development of national defence. Since 1999, he has 48 publications, among others 1 monograph, 3 academic papers published in international journals and 15 other academic papers.

In addition to the Estonian language, General Laaneots is fluent in English and Russian. He is an active member of the Estonian National Defence League and the Rotary Club. He is married to Natalia and has a grown son and a daughter.

[edit] Gallery

Photos of "Tanki Ants". General Laaneots is shown wearing "Kindralmajor" (Major General) insignia – the photographs were taken prior to his promotion to "Kindralleitnant" (Lieutenant General) in 2008.

[edit] References

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009)