You’re in the Army Now

Finland is one of the last western countries that has a conscript army and today about 15 000 young men have started their compulsory 6, 9 or 12 month service. A voluntary service exists for women. There is a growing public discussion going on how the current military service model discriminates against men.

Many agree that “we were in a hurry to wait” describes very well their time at at the place “where men are made (from boys).” Many life-long friendships are formed during the service and it is the last chance to see all walks of life from your age group – which can also be scary. It can be pretty difficult to do things like applying for university or running your own company while doing your service.

Finland has one of the biggest military forces in Europe despite the small population of 5 million. On the other hand Finland is not a member of NATO like almost all other of similar countries. Things would be different if Finland would be in central Europe but Finland happens to have a very long border with Russia. Today our eastern neighbour is not a concrete military threat but looking at the history it is pretty clear that we need to be prepared if things change.

The vast majority of men do the military service but there are also alternatives like civilian service, prison and no service due to existing or non-existing physical or mental problems. Finns are rarely fanatic about anything but there are still many who see definitely no real alternative to military service.