Ants Laaneots

Kindral (General) Ants Laaneots, (born 16 January 1948) in Kilingi-Nõmme in Pärnumaa, is the former 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 Kindral in 2011. He is currently the prime minister's advisor in matters of defence.

Biography
Ants Laaneots was born on 16 January 1948 in Kilingi-Nõmme, Estonia. In 1948 the NKVD arrested his father for being a forest brother. For that he was deported to Siberia between 1949–1958. His mother died there in 1952. In July 1966 he entered the Higher Military School in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and graduated in 1970 as an Army Tank Officer. From 1970 to 1978, he served as a platoon leader, company commander, and battalion commander of the 300th 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 96th Tank Regiment, two years as the Commander of the 180th Tank Regiment, and three years as the Deputy Commander-Chief of Staff of the 78th 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.



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. He stepped down as Commander-in-Chief on 5 December 2011 after his 5-year term ended.

As of December 12, 2011, he works as prime minister Andrus Ansip's advisor in matters of national defence.

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)

Estonian Army
(See Military of Estonia)
 * 1992 Kolonel (Colonel)
 * 1998 Kindralmajor (Major General)
 * 2008 Kindralleitnant (Lieutenant General)
 * 2011 Kindral (General)

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 grandson and a daughter.