Johannes Kert

Johannes Kert (3 December 1959 – 4 March 2021) was an Estonian politician and military officer. He served as the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces from 1996 until 2000. He retired from the military in 2008. Since 2014, Kert had been a member of the Estonian Reform Party.

Early life and education Kert was born in 1959 in Pechory, in the Russian SFSR. He graduated from Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald Võru 1st Secondary School in 1978 and in 1981 from the Faculty of Physical Education of Tartu State University. He was conscripted as a lieutenant in the Soviet Army, where he was stationed in the Lithuanian SSR. Kert graduated from the Corps Commanders' Course at the Kharkiv Higher Tank School in 1988 and the Strategic Planning Course for Senior Civil Servants at the George C. Marshall Center for European Security Studies in Germany in 1994. He had studied at the Estonian National Defense Senior Command Special Course at the Finnish National Defense College in 1998–1999 and at the United States Army War College in Pennsylvania in 1999–2000.

Military service Johannes Kert served in the Soviet Army as a platoon commander and acting platoon commander from 1983 to 1985. He was a member of the Estonian Defence League since 1990. He was the Commander of the Tartu Division of the Defence League in 1991, Commander of the Operational Group of the Defence League from 1991 to 1992, Commander of the Kuperjanov Infantry Battalion in 1992. Kert was Commander of the Defence League from 1993 to 1996. He was Commander of the Defence Forces from 1996 to 2000, then Advisor to the Commander of the Defence Forces and Commander of the Land from 2000 to 2002. He was the Estonian Military Representative to NATO and the European Union from 2002 to 2008.

Later life He retired from active duty on January 31, 2008. Since 1 February 2008, he has been an advisor to the Ministry of Defence. He advised the Ministry mainly on cyber defence. He was one of the founders of the NGO Free Ukraine and an alumnus of the Korporatsioon Sakala. He has been a member of the Reform Party since October 2014. He ran in the 2015 Estonian parliamentary election in electoral district no. 8 and was elected with a district mandate (752 votes). He was a member of the Member of the 13th and 14th Riigikogu from March 30, 2015 to his death on 4 March 2021 in Tallinn. He was buried in the Defence Forces Cemetery of Tallinn.

In August 2023, a memorial to Kert was unveiled in Võru.

Effective dates of promotion Soviet Army See Military ranks of the Soviet Union

Estonian Land Forces See Military ranks of Estonia

Awards, decorations, and recognition

Decorations and badges