The draft statutes to the Estonian National Defense Academy that are about to exit the ministry aim to rename the institution and change the structure thereof pursuant to the proposals by the college's supervisory board.

Changes in the structure of the KVÜÕA are an unavoidable step, stemming from the development of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF), said Col. Enno Mõts, head of the institution. He added that the planned changes will ensure that the college will be able to provide the level of military education expected of it.

"Changes that have occurred step by step in the EDF and military education have reached the point where we had to change the KVÜÕA in order to effectively fulfil the needs of the EDF," Col. Mõts said, adding that, over the years, units have been changed in the EDF, new commands have been established, and new armored vehicles introduced.

In the coming years, the EDF will concentrate on establishing two new fully manned, armed and equipped rapid response infantry brigades, he added.

"As an educational institution, we have monitored these robust developments and, in order to support them, we have significantly increased various functions, which, however, are at times pulling the institution in divergent directions," the head of the institution explained. "In terms of chains of command, the current structure has increased both in their scope as well as depth, and the supervisory board of the KVÜÕA has proposed to change the structure, which was created 20 years ago, in order to effectively meet the new needs of the EDF."

With the restructuring, the Commander of Officers School and the Battle School are to establish two training corps, research will be conducted the Applied Research Department, and the functions of the Centre for Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine will be retained in their current capaicty, Col. Mõts said.

According to the notes accompanying the draft, the change will require a communication campaign aimed at introducing the new name to the public. Related costs will be covered by the redistribution of existing instruments; an increase in the institution's budget is not in the plans.