K-Commando

K-Commando (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. It is similar in function to the SWAT teams in the U.S.

K-Commando
K-Komando
K-Commando insignia
Active	1991–present
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)

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.

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

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. The number of members is undisclosed, and there are no known casualties thus far. The unit operates under the command of the Central Criminal Police of Estonia (Estonian: Keskkriminaalpolitsei).

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).

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.

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 Brothers Voitka on 29 February 2000 in Viljandi County.^[4]
• Estonian-Russian football match on 27 March 2002 in Tallinn.^[5]

Equipment

• SIG Sauer P226
• Heckler & Koch MP5 - 9mm^[6]
• SIG 550 - 5.56×45mm NATO^[7]
• Heckler & Koch G36 - 5.56×45mm NATO^[8]
• Steyr AUG - 5.56×45mm NATO^[9]
• SIG Sauer MCX - 5.56×45mm NATO

References

1. "FOTOD: K-Komando harjutas koostööd välisriikide eriüksustega".
2. https://kuku.postimees.ee/podcast/k-komando-30 (32:30-36:50)
3. https://kuku.postimees.ee/podcast/k-komando-30 (14:30-18:00)
4. https://kuku.postimees.ee/podcast/k-komando-30 (19:20-25:35)
5. https://kuku.postimees.ee/podcast/k-komando-30 (26:00-28:50)
6. http://img.bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/files/BEMIL068/upload/2007/02/Estonian%20K-Komando%20during%20the%20demonstration%20in%202006_4.JPG ^{[bare URL image file]}
7. http://img.bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/files/BEMIL068/upload/2007/02/Estonian%20K-Komando%20during%20the%20demonstration%20in%202006_1.JPG ^{[bare URL image file]}
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2017-03-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. http://img.bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/files/BEMIL068/upload/2007/02/Estonian%20K-Komando%20during%20the%20demonstration%20in%202006_5.JPG ^{[bare URL image file]}