On the proposal of the Commander of Estonian Defence Forces, LTG Martin Herem, 1636 reservists from mainly engineer units are called to the readiness exercise for the period of November 17th to 25th.
Reservists of the units called for OKAS/QUILL are immediately required to appear at designated assembly points.
The main purpose of exercise OKAS/QUILL is to test the national defence chain of command, from the Estonian Government decision down to the particular units’ combat readiness in the rapid response structure.
In the course of this exercise co-operation with the Police and Border Guard Board is also practiced. Among mobilization and formation procedures as well as additional training the reserve engineers will also construct temporary border fences in the border areas that have previously been used by organized crime to facilitate illegal migration.
OKAS/QUILL-2021 is conducted in full compliance with OSCE confidence and security building measures. The troops and equipment for this exercise OKAS/QUILL are below the notification and observation threshold of OSCE’s Vienna Document. However, Estonia has informed / is informing Allies, NATO, EU, OSCE and all countries in the Baltic Sea region of the exercise.