Andrus Merilo

Andrus Merilo
Andrus Merilo
Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 1 July 2024
President	Alar Karis
Preceded by	Martin Herem
Personal details
Born	2 June 1973 (age 52); Tallinn, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union
Military service
Allegiance	Estonia
Branch/service	Estonian Defence Forces
Years of service	1995–present
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Scouts Battalion; 1st Infantry Brigade;
Battles/wars	UNIFIL; KFOR; Iraq War; War in Afghanistan
Awards	See: Awards, decorations, and recognition

Born2 June 1973 (age 52)

Allegiance

Andrus Merilo (born 2 June 1973) is an Estonian General and current Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces since 2024.^[1]

In 2005 he was the commander of ESTPLA-10 in Iraq. In 2007 he was the commander of ESTCOY-4 in Afghanistan.

Merilo commanded the Scouts Battalion from 2013 to 2016. Since June 2021, he commanded the 1st Infantry Brigade.

Estonian Awards and decorations
	5th Class of the Order of the Cross of the Eagle (with swords)	6 February 2006
	Cross of Merit of the Ministry of Defence (III class)
	Distinguished Service Decoration of the EDF (for battle merit)	6 May 2005
	Cross for the Exemplary Service of the Estonian Defence Forces
	Gold Cross of the Officer of Land Forces
	Silver Cross of the Officer of Land Forces
	Estonian Defence Forces General Staff Cross of Merit
	MoD Medal of Participants in International Military Operations
	Estonian Defence Forces Long Service Medal
	Merit Medal of the Defence League Special Class	20 September 2023^[12]
	Memorial Medal "10 Years of the Re-Established Defence Forces"
	Distinguished Service Decoration of the Peace Operations Centre
Foreign Awards
	National Defence Medal (gold grade) with bar	28 May 2024 (France)^[13]
	1st Class Commander of the White Rose of Finland	27 May 2024 (Finland)^[14]
	NATO Medal for ISAF
	NATO Medal for KFOR
	United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Medal
	National Service Medal (Army)	(Norway)

Badges
	Badge of the Estonian Scouts Battalion
	Badge of the Estonian 1st Infantry Brigade
	The badge of the Finnish reserve officer course
	United States Army Command and General Staff College International Graduate Badge

Awards, decorations and recognition

Andrus Merilo


Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2024
President	Alar Karis
Preceded by	Martin Herem

Personal details
Born	(1973-06-02) 2 June 1973 (age 52) Tallinn, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union
Military service
Allegiance	Estonia
Branch/service	Estonian Defence Forces
Years of service	1995–present
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Scouts Battalion 1st Infantry Brigade
Battles/wars	UNIFIL KFOR Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Awards	See: Awards, decorations, and recognition