Conscripts swearing their military oath at the Senate Square on February 22 2014. Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today
About 12,500 conscripts pull on their army suits today, when they start the military service in the Finnish defence forces.
10,000 of the conscripts start their service in the ground forces and about 250 start their military career in the border patrol.
The remaining positions are divided between the navy and air forces. In addition, about 250 women join the military as volunteers.
Centralised units
During the military reforms, some of the garrisons have been shut down, which means that there are less military units available for the service.
However, larger units have been formed, centralised and more personnel have been hired to meet the current demands.
Despite the reforms, the amount of conscripts is about the same as in previous years.
Finnish military in a nutshell
- The civic duty defined in section 2 of the Conscription Act, starts at the beginning of the year in which a young man reaches his eighteenth birthday and continues until the end of the year in which he turns sixty. A man liable for military service is either in service, in the reserve or in the auxiliary reserve.
- In general, military service is carried out at the age of 19-20. In special cases, men enter service between the ages of 18 and 29.
- Military service lasts 165, 255 or 347 days.
Source: The Finnish defence forces
