Estonian Special Operations Group (SOG) [1993-1999] //Second Edit

The Special Operations Group (SOG) was originally a special unit of the Estonian Defense League that operated in the intelligence department of the Defense League General Staff, later as part of the Defense Guard Battalion and under the direct authority of Defense Force Chief Johannes Kerd in the years 1994–1999. ⇩

Liquidation
SOG was liquidated after one of the unit's members, Sergeant Indrek Holm, took part in an armed robbery attempt in Jõelähtme municipality in 1999, using a service weapon belonging to SOG. Because of the incident, General Johannes Kert, the head of the defense forces at the time, submitted a resignation request to President Lennart Meri, but Meri did not accept it . In the opinion of the later commander of the Special Operations Command, Riho Uhtegi, the development of the special operations capability of the Defense Forces was stopped for several years due to this incident.
According to former members, one of the reasons for the decline was the lack of strict control over members of the special unit. In addition, they blamed the unit's decline on the Defence Forces General Staff, which allegedly did not take SOG seriously enough.
The special unit included its leader Junior Lieutenant Andres Ambros, Ragnar Reitsakas, Indrek Holm and others. Andres Ambros was the only member of the unit to show himself to the public.
According to former SOG members, the special unit did not have strict military discipline, but rather a friendly attitude. If Ambros said something, the matter was discussed among themselves and it was known that the matter was finally done. Ambrose was trained by the famous Jim Short. In addition to the money received from the defense forces, additional money was received by providing security services. Ambros got a job through the IBA and secured well-known figures such as Michael Jackson and Alla Pugacheva at their concerts, where he received decent service.
In 1995, SOG participated in an international competition for bodyguards in Germany, which was won.
The names and ages of most members of the special unit were classified, and of course the activities of the special unit were also classified. The president at the time, Lennart Meri, said that even he was not aware of the existence of such a special unit. The families of the unit members also did not know exactly what the men were doing.
The weaponry and equipment of the SOG was first class compared to the regular units of the Estonian Defense Forces at that time.