Estonians fighting in Afstan

Nice to see some recognition (in the Washington Times) of another small country doing its bit, and more:

Estonian troops boost NATO forces
Deployment 10 percent of full military

MASOOD, Afghanistan

The bursts of automatic weapons fire caught them in an open field. There was no cover. They hugged the earth, shot back at Taliban gunmen they could see and slowly extricated themselves as a second squad of infantrymen farther back in an orchard laid down covering fire with rifles and shoulder-fired rockets.

"They started shooting as we were leaving the area we wanted to check out," said 1st Lt. Alar Karileet. "It was well planned. The Taliban were in three positions of four to five men each, one of them in a village compound. I don't know how many we killed, but artillery we asked for made a direct hit on one position, and no one shot at us from there again."

The troops were from Estonia, one of NATO's newest and smallest members. The Estonians' numbers in the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are few, with just 289 men and women in Afghanistan. Yet in proportion to the size of Estonia's National Defense Force, the Afghan deployment represents nearly 10 percent of the nation's full-time military.

The 20-minute firefight occurred slightly more than a half mile from Patrol Base Masood, a small compound of dust and earthen barriers in Helmand province.

"In general, the Estonian people support our being here," said Maj. Janno Mark, commander of the contingent. "The people in Estonia understand we're a member of NATO. We can't just consume security; we have to contribute to it...

Its population is about 1.4 million. Its professional military numbers about 3,300. About 30,000 other Estonians serve at any given time in its territorial force -- a sort of National Guard -- or its 10,000-person reserve...

According to ISAF statistics, other non-U.S. contingents in southern Afghanistan as of September included 8,371 Britons, 1,978 Dutch, 853 Romanians, 116 Belgians, 664 Danes, 250 Bulgarians, 238 Slovaks, 248 French and 3,550 Canadians [emphasis added!?!]. U.S. troops in the south numbered 17,490...

Via Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs. And from thisMarch:

Estonians in combat at Helmand (with Brits)