The Headquarters and Signal Battalion () is a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

sized signal unit of the

Estonian Land Forces The Estonian Land Forces (), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. The Estonian Land Forces is currently the ...

. It is a part of the

Cyber Command United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrat ...

and its primary task is to ensure communication between the different units of the

Estonian Defence Forces The Estonian Defence Forces () is the unified military force of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consists of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary Estonian Defence Leagu ...

Estonian Defence League The Estonian Defence League (, 'Defence League') is a voluntary paramilitary national defence organization of the Republic of Estonia, under management of the Ministry of Defence. Its aim is to guarantee the preservation of the independence and s ...

and to train reserve signal officers. The battalion must also ensure the strategic signalling and information technology support for the Defence Forces and realise development projects in the area of defence, information technology and electronic warfare. The battalion is currently based at

Ämari Air Base Ämari Air Base is a military airbase in Harjumaa, Estonia, located south of Lake Klooga and southwest of Tallinn. The base was opened in 1945. History Ämari Air Base was built between 1940–1952 under an agreement signed by the Estonia ...

and is commanded by Lieutenant colonel Veiko Raaper.

History

The predecessor of the battalion was established on 21 November 1918 at the beginning of the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the War of Freedom in Estonia, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the ...

. Even though the unit changed its name multiple times during the conflict, it still maintained its original mission to ensure communications between headquarters and fronts. After the war in 1924, various radio and telegraph units were merged into a battalion sized unit, the Signal Battalion (). By 1940, the battalion had become a modern signal corps with proper equipment and training.

Battle of Raua Street

When the Soviet Union occupied Estonia in June 1940, the Signal Battalion was ordered to relocate from its garrison to a building of a local

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

high school (school Number 21) and surrender its weaponry. When the communists also came for the signallers' personal items, they were kicked out of the building. By the time they came back with

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

soldiers, the signallers had already armed themselves and a shootout broke out between the opposing sides. The building was attacked by 6 armoured cars and heavy machine guns. By the end of the battle, the Estonians had suffered 1 killed and 3 wounded, and the Red Army had suffered at least 10 dead. It was the only armed act of resistance from the

against the occupying Soviets. After these events, the Signal Battalion was merged into the Red Army's

22nd Rifle Corps The 22nd Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army, formed thrice. It was initially formed from the Estonian Army after the Soviet occupation of that country in June 1940. The corps was destroyed during the Baltic Operation. After large-scale des ...

which was destroyed during the

Baltic Operation The Baltic strategic defensive operation () encompassed the operations of the Red Army from 22 June to 9 July 1941 conducted over the territories of the occupied Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in response to the offensive launched by the Wehrm ...

in 1941.

1993-present

On 29 October 1993, the battalion was re-established as the Single Signal Battalion () and the unit returned to its old garrison in

Ülemiste Ülemiste is a subdistrict () in the district of Lasnamäe, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland ...

, Tallinn which they had to leave from in 1940. In 2011, the battalion adopted its current name. In 2021, the battalion relocated to

Current structure

Headquarters and Signal Battalion: * Battalion Headquarters ** Signal School ** HQ Company ** Signal Company ** HQ Defence Service

References

External links