Combat Ready team member ‘R’- the engineer of human minds
March 27, 2023
Working as a Combat Ready Leadership Instructor
June 3, 2023Who is Combat Ready team member Renee Aluste?
I was a normal kid, with a tough mother and two older brothers, in a family with blaming culture. Every time my mother couldn’t make it clear to me why it was important to be home at 7pm, I couldn’t discipline myself to be home on time. Maybe the bus was late and it was everyone else’s fault that I was late. I got feedback from my mother from time to time, first collecting feedback tools myself (i.e. weeping while harvesting the tree branches used for punishment).
Most of my childhood I lived in the countryside or suburbs. It was always exciting there. I have never stood still in one place.
Renee at the age of 2, Pärnu. September 1990. Author: Tiina Aluste-Bärlin
I have a lot of letters of recognition and diplomas from my childhood. I even won a drawing and ideas competition organised by the Pärnu Museum in 2002. I also have a letter to my Estonian teacher on my wall, taking ownership for being lazy and undisciplined (see picture 2, 2007).
As a young person, I was active, spontaneous and risk-taking. This led me to many adventures and, above all, lessons. Constant practice and taking ownership.
From left: Winner of the ‘New Year’s Eve Costume 2040’ drawing competition, 2002; 1st place in a quiz, 1999; Excellence Award, 1999; letter to the teacher, 2007; 1st grade diploma graded 4-5 out of 5 and commendation for sports achievements and helpful spirit.
Renee at the age of 8. Feeding my cat. Pärnumaa, Sindi, Kännu street 7. 1997. Author: Tiina Aluste-Bärlin.
I joined Combat Ready in March 2023. I took the initiative beforehand and approached with a flank manoeuvre, which eventually led to a successful collaboration. Our journey has brought us back together with Remo after all these years.
In 2010, we served and studied together at the Junior NCO course at the Engineer Battalion in Tapa. That’s where we first met instructor Aaro, who taught us how to make bombs. Remo introduced me to such a fascinating thing as the 14 days of hell – ‘The hardest job interview of your life!’ – Estonian Special Operations Group (EOG). I liked the idea. After passing the tests we were accepted. We passed the Hungarian Defence Forces International Special Operations Qualification Course in 2011.
Remo (left) and Renee (right) in the planning phase. HDF International SF Qualification Course. 2011.Communicate and win!
I went through a series of private life failures and it started to affect my professional life and our partnership with Remo ended. I moved on to the navy, to the LKM-6 naval defence team. We spent four months sailing the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
I passed the senior NCO course VABAK-39, where I met Instructor Aleksandr. An excellent fighter. He has a tremendous experience in leading people. All through his own mistakes.
When I was at school, I also applied to join the Scouts Battalion’s sniper group. I was the only one in my course who passed that final exam.
In 2015, I had the opportunity to become a scout and I completed some training in this field. I had to go through the EOG selection again. I was part of a team of four, which later fell apart due to poor relationships.
My failures led me back to the Scouts Battalion, where I was no longer really expected. I was dismissed from the sniper group and offered a position as a squad leader in an infantry mission unit (United Nations Peacekeeping in Lebanon in 2016). My team consisted of eight fighters under my command. I severed my relationship with them on the first day of the mission because I couldn’t behave. I tried to correct the mistake later, but the relations were not fully restored. While in Lebanon, I set myself the goal of completing the Beirut Marathon – done.
In 2017 I had the opportunity to move from the Scouts Battalion to the Defence League. This job sounded exciting to me – and it is!
In addition, I went to school and trained as an arborist – I’m a tree surgeon. I also set up my own company, Treedoc OÜ.
At the end of 2021 I had the opportunity to go to Ranger School. I took a step back in my mind and looked at my next year, oriented myself and made a plan. I made a conscious decision and took on this responsibility. After all, I had been trained, along with Remo, by the Hungarian SOF Rangers.
I will describe more about this journey in my book, but the final result is here: Ranger School class 07-22 graduate (Ranger qualified personnel).
Ranger School graduation. July 2022, class 07-22. Author: private collection
After returning home, I was nominated for the title of NCO of the Year. To my surprise, I was awarded. 
Defence Forces ceremonial concert, November 16, 2022. Author: Estonian Defence Forces. Source: pildid.mil.ee
In my journey I have broken up two families. I’ve come into contact with characters from the underworld. Survived a brain tumour and sudden death. My failures have brought me to the brink of questioning my own existence. In 2017 I was ‘humbled by life’, as Remo put it.
As I am interested in psychology, I realised that I could not go on like this. I have used the leadership decision making model to move forward, but the leadership culture was lacking and therefore I was not able to notice the feedback in everyday life. I reorganised and started again from the beginning.
My knowledge and skills have finally become structured in a way that can be taught to all open-minded people. I am able to give examples from my everyday life and how you can deal with these situations and later prevent them. I think that my ability to respect, listen to, influence and thereby lead is what makes me a very good Combat Ready instructor.
Renee Aluste,
Combat Ready instructor
