Major General  Neeme Väli

MG Neeme Väli was born on 1st June 1965 in Paide, Estonia.

He received a basic military training as a conscript in Soviet Army. In April 1990, before Estonia regained its independence in 1991 and the Soviet troops left the country in 1994, MG Väli was among the people who re-established the paramilitary national guard organization Kaitseliit(Defence League), starting his service as a company commander. When the Estonian armed forces were officially re-established in 1992, MG Väli joined the organization and was trained in Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Germany (light infantry). After being commissioned MG Väli was posted as Chief of Järva District Command in the Defence League and moved up through various appointments in the Defence League to the position of Chief of Staff of the HQ of the Defence League in 1996, working simultaneously as Acting Commander of the Estonian Defence League.

In 1997 MG Väli was appointed as an adviser to the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces. In 1998 heattended the Command and Staff College (Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr) in Germany. After the graduation and before his NATO assignment, he worked for a short time in J3 in the Estonian Defence Forces HQ. In 2000 MG Väli (LTC at that time) filled a position in RHQ AFNORTH J5/9 Division. After the tour in RHQ he was appointed to J5 in the Estonian Defence Forces HQ. After two and a half years he was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces HQ. In March 2007 he was appointed as COS of the Estonian Defence Forces HQ. With the appointment MG Väli also took the responsibilities of the operational commander of all Estonian troops deployed in operations. In March 2011 he was appointed as Estonian Military Representative to NATO and EU.

MG Neeme Väli was promoted to the rank of Major General in 2012.

MG Väli’s awards include the The 4th class Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Badge of the Merit of the Estonian Defence Forces, Distinguished Service Cross of the Estonian Defence Forces and Medal for Merit, Second Class, Latvian Armed Forces.

MG Väli is married to Mrs. Merike Väli. They have a son and a daughter. MG Väli`s hobby is hunting.