He was previously the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces and a veteran officer in the Soviet Army.

From 1978 to 1981, Laaneots studied in the Malinovsky Military Academy of Armored Forces (Военная академия бронетанковых войск им.

Р. Я. Малиновского) in Moscow for an armored brigade commander's course, and to qualify on the newly introduced T-80 Tank.

Before his resignation from the Soviet Army in September 1991, he served as the Chief of Regional Department of Defence, Tartu in Estonia.

After Estonia regained its independence in 1991, Laaneots served two times as the Chief of the General Staff – from 1991 to 1994, and from 1997 to 1999.

As of 12 December 2011, he worked as prime minister Andrus Ansip's advisor in matters of national defence.

[7] In 2016, after NATO soldiers in Estonia were targeted with racist insults by locals, Laaneots stated that Russians directed the vitriol in order to compromise the relationship between Estonia and the U.S.[8] His main research interests include modern conflicts, conflicts involving small states/nations, development of national defence.

In addition to the Estonian language, General Laaneots is fluent in English, Russian, Belarusian, and Finnish.