Tarmo Kõuts (born 27 November 1953) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

n politician and former Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces. Kõuts graduated from Tallinn Maritime School in 1973 and from Kaliningrad Technical Institute in 1985. From 1973 to 1990 he worked in various positions in the

Estonian Shipping Company Eesti Merelaevandus or ESCO, also called Estonian Shipping Company is an Estonian shipping company that currently operates eight multipurpose dry cargo ship, dry cargo and container ships. Technical management of the ships is performed by First ...

. He served as the rector of

Estonian Maritime Academy Estonian Maritime Academy of Tallinn University of Technology (Estonian: ''TTÜ Eesti Mereakadeemia'', or EMERA) is a vocational university in Estonia. It is one of the schools of Tallinn University of Technology and it is the only educational in ...

from 1990 to 1993 and as the director-general of

Estonian Border Guard The Estonian Border Guard ( et, Eesti Piirivalve) was the national security agency responsible for the border security of Estonia. It was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. The Border Guard also assisted with Search and Rescue missions ...

from 1993 to 2000. In September 2000

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

Kõuts was appointed commander of the Estonian Defence Forces. Having been promoted to the rank of vice admiral in 2002, Kõuts retained the position until 2006, when he stepped down to move into politics. He joined the right-wing

Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica Isamaa is a Christian-democratic and national-conservative political party in Estonia. It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res Publi ...

and successfully ran for a seat in the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in the 2007 elections.

Effective dates of promotion

Estonian Army

:''See Military ranks of Estonia''

References

Tarmo Kõuts
Parliament of Estonia
Vice Admiral Tarmo Kõuts
Multinational Corps Northeast

External links

, - , - 1953 births Living people People from Saaremaa Parish Isamaa politicians Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Estonian admirals Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class 21st-century Estonian politicians {{Estonia-politician-stub