Tarmo Kõuts

Tarmo Kõuts (born 27 November 1953) is an Estonian politician and former Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces.

Tarmo Kõuts
Tarmo Kõuts
Born	(1953-11-27) 27 November 1953 Sandla, Pihtla Parish, Estonia
Allegiance	Estonia
Service/branch	Estonian Defence Forces
Years of service	2000–2006
Rank	Vice admiral
Commands held	Commander of the Defence Forces Director General of the Estonian Border Guard Rector of the Estonian Maritime Academy
Awards	2nd Class of the Order of the Cross of the Eagle 2nd Class of the Order of the National Coat of Arms Knight Grand Cross of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Cross of the Norwegian Order of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Viesturs Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland Commander's Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry State of Maryland Distinguished Service Cross

Kõuts graduated from Tallinn Maritime School in 1973 and from Kaliningrad Technical Institute in 1985. From 1973 to 1990 he worked in various positions in the Estonian Shipping Company. He served as the rector of Estonian Maritime Academy from 1990 to 1993 and as the director-general of Estonian Border Guard from 1993 to 2000.

In September 2000 Rear Admiral Kõuts was appointed commander of the Estonian Defence Forces. Having been promoted to the rank of vice admiral in 2002, Kõuts retained the position until 2006, when he stepped down to move into politics. He joined the right-wing Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica and successfully ran for a seat in the parliament in the 2007 elections.