K-Commando

K-Commando (Estonian: K-Komando) is a police tactical unit of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB), created in 1991 to perform tasks requiring special training.

K-Commando
K-Komando
K-Commando insignia
Country	Estonia
Agency	Police and Border Guard Board
Type	Police tactical unit
Operations jurisdiction	National
Headquarters	Tallinn
Structure
Operators	Classified
Commanders
Current commander	Marek Aas
Notable commanders	Lembit Kolk
Notables
Significant operation(s)	2011 Estonian Ministry of Defence attack Bronze Night riots (2007)

History

Formation

The unit was founded in 1991 under the name Police Reserve Special Unit by Henn Kask.

The unit got its current name in 1993 after the group's commanding officer at that time, Lembit Kolk (retired).

Training

K-Commando was originally trained by the FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Teams (FBI SWAT) in the United States, the German GSG 9 and the French's RAID, among others.

K-Commando is known for its fearsome reputation and high level of professionalism.

Recruitment involves rigorous testing and requires the approval of all current team members.

Only when a consensus has been reached will the candidate be accepted into the unit. As in other special police units, applicants must have a long service record.

Duties

K-Commando operates under the command of the Central Criminal Police of Estonia (Estonian: Keskkriminaalpolitsei).

K-Commando's areas of activity include the apprehension of armed and dangerous criminals, hostage crisis management, counter-terrorism and other tasks requiring special training.^{[citation needed]}

The number of members of the unit has never been made public by the police and the identity of the members is classified. There are no known casualties thus far.

K-Commando is part of ATLAS, the European Union's network of special intervention units.^[1]

Known operations

• Bronze Night riot control
• Exchange of fire at the 2011 Estonian Ministry of Defence attack, the only operation to date to result in the death of a perpetrator.
• Arrest of Asso Kommer on 26 November 1993, when a firefight took place in Tallinn, during which Kommer wounded a policeman. On the same day, Kommer was taken into custody.^[2]
• Arrest of Raimi Puusepp on 13 May 1997, in Rapla County. Puusepp killed his eight-year-old son during the attack.^[3]
• Arrest of the Voitka brothers on 29 February 2000 in Viljandi County.^[4]
• Estonian-Russian football match on 27 March 2002 in Tallinn.^[5]

Equipment

Model	Origin	Type	References
SIG Sauer P226	Germany	Semi-automatic pistol
Heckler & Koch MP5		Submachine gun	[6]
SIG 550	Switzerland	Assault rifle	[7]
Heckler & Koch G36	Germany		[8]
Steyr AUG	Austria		[9]
SIG Sauer MCX	United States