Military Service in Finland

How does mandatory military service work in Finland? How long does it last? What happens after your service ends?

In this episode, we put our boots on and draft into the Finnish military.  Having served for two years myself, I'll also share my personal experiences from my time in the military.

Instagram: miikka_martikainen

Transcript

Speaker 0:06

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Finncastic Podcast. And on today's episode, we're talking about the mandatory military service. How the military service and whole whole uh Finnish defense forces system works in Finland. And uh I also wanna tell some examples and experiences, uh, my own experiences, what I had during my time. I served between 2012 and 2014, and some smart person might now start counting that. How in the earth Miikka served two years if only one year is mandatory? Well, I stayed there one extra year after that as an instructor, as a professional soldier. So, uh, anyways, uh, how the thing works. Uh, so first things first, uh I want to say in the beginning that even though we're talking about the mandatory military service, uh, there is some other options as well. For example, uh the civilian service, and I believe that's pretty much the only option. You either go to go to army or uh navy or air force or whatever, you either uh serve in the military or you go to civilian service. I'm not sure is there the uh third option still, how valid is that and how much that happened, but uh if I've understood correctly, there's the uh jail option as well. But, anyways, uh luckily most most of the people, most most men, uh they choose uh the military service. Because at least back in my day, back in my day when I served in 2000, when I started serving in 2012, back in my day it was a kind of thing of a pride that if you're a man, you go to military service. At least where I come from. I'm a I'm a I'm a I'm a real country boy, you know. I I come from the from the backwoods. If man does not go to military service, uh he's not a man. That's uh what I've I've been hearing since the day I was born. So I obviously I I I choose the military service because I wanted to be a man. But yeah, I think nowadays uh the people has come uh you know become a little bit more sophisticated and uh more civilized and all of that stuff, but still most men choose the military service, and it's very good. If you look at the maps, you know, look at the Google map. Look how much we share border with Russia, and we all know what these guys do. And this is not I I don't wanna I don't wanna you know dedicate this uh podcast to uh talk shit about our uh eastern neighbor, but we know these guys uh from the history, and we know what these guys do uh from the from the from the 40s, what they did to Finland, or tried to do to Finland, and we we know what these guys have done to Ukraine, etc. etc. So yeah, that's the best life insurance you can have. If you have like only five to six million people in your country, you have a big, quite big country to defend. Like, how else are you gonna do that? We I mean well, obviously, in a perfect world, we wouldn't be needing any armies and military service, and we would all be singing kumbaya around uh the campfire, but unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way. So, yeah, mandatory military service, the best possible insurance a country like Finland can have, and that's why Finland has it. However you pronounce it, that's why we have it. But yeah, how the thing works. Uh, there's uh basically three kinds of uh lengths of military service. You either serve uh around six months or nine months or one year, and enlisted soldiers, uh enlisted personal, they usually serve uh 165 days, aka half a year. Uh those who get the NCO or officer training, uh they will serve uh 347 days, aka one year. So uh those are most of the options. There's some uh branches and some uh training, uh uh certain specialist roles that uh requires that nine months training, even though you are not NCO or officer. For example, uh back in my day at least medic uh training lasted nine months, even though uh you might still be enlisted personal uh without any kind of uh NCO responsibilities or officer responsibilities. So that how how that's how long it takes. And uh uh it all starts from the conscription call-up. Uh basically that's a uh phenomenon where uh you are uh going to some kind of a meeting with uh some army personal while you are not yet in the army, and uh they will decide uh in what branch and in what unit you will serve. And after that decision, it usually might even take like one year or two years after that decision, uh, then you will start your military service. You move your ass to that specific unit uh to the day in the date and the time that you are instructed to go. And uh yeah, everyone starts with a six-week basic training uh period. Uh during those six weeks, basically every concept uh conscript learns the you know the basic basics uh being how to be a soldier, how to operate in uh in a in a unit and in the in the uh army or uh military environment, how to handle weapons and you know all that all the basic stuff uh about uh what what what the whole thing is about. Uh after that, uh Finnish Defense Forces uh decides what role uh you'll train uh for the rest of your service. And it's based on your abilities, your preferences, and and what military might need. And also that decision reflects how long you will be spending there during your uh military service, as I said in the beginning. Uh uh it's either six months, nine months, or twelve months. Uh myself, uh I uh I was instructed or forced, I don't want to use the word, but you're kind of forced uh to join. Uh that was not a bad thing because I obviously I wanted to be there as long as possible. So uh I was uh instructed to join to uh singles branch NCO training. So after that training, uh I was uh uh I will be promoted as it as NCO and I will have my own squad to lead. And also uh since I joined to that training, uh I knew that my military service will be at least 347 days long. And by the way, uh I think I am some kind of a exception what comes to a uh these trainings and specializations, these uh these training programs one person can have uh during their military uh training, their mandatory military uh service because uh usually people uh you know they specialize to only one area, you know, as uh you you become a medic, you become a military police, you become a singles person or or something like that. But uh I have two specializations, and I don't think there's many of uh many of uh people like me in in in Finland. I might be wrong, but at least I don't know anyone. Because that was a strange thing what happened because uh right after I was promoted as corporal, and yeah, in to the Finnish person, corporal means different thing that uh uh to American or English speaking person, but as Ali Ker Santi, as corporal, after I was promoted, and uh right after I I started working as a or serving as a a uh corporal in that singles branch and got my own uh team of uh squad of enlisted personals you know to look after. Uh we got a uh information that hey military police uh squad uh they need a or military police branch, they need a new NCO because of reasons. So what happened next? Uh I I started uh right after I've got promoted uh as NCO, I basically started my basic training again uh in uh with the military police enlisted personnels because uh I decided to join the that branch after that. So uh yeah, I trained there for a while with those guys, and right after I was promoted as sergeant, and uh suddenly I was a military police sergeant, and uh I had my own squad to lead. At the same time, I was also promoted as uh platoon wise leader. So that's how things go. Uh right after my military training was ending, uh I got some information that I could uh stick there for a little bit longer. So uh yeah, I decided to stay there one year uh after my military training. Obviously, back then I was thinking that I should I would be there for the rest of my life. So after my mandatory military service, I uh I uh stayed in the army and I mean in the air force uh for one year as instructor, like a like a professional soldier. So that how the how the two years of my life went. But yeah, a couple of things about the daily life uh in the military service, how how how the basic you know everyday life goes there when you are uh serving there as a conscript, and it doesn't matter what branch and what unit, wherever you're serving, the thing goes with the same kind of a structure. You wake up in the 6 a.m. Uh if you're in the barracks and if you're not in a war training, usually in those uh you know uh war simulators, I don't know if the correct English term for that was, but yeah, when you're in the forest and uh you know playing war there, uh usually you don't have like so structured kind of approach, but but anyways, uh the basic days how they go uh when you are in the barracks, uh you wake up at 6 a.m. You go to breakfast, you have some trainings, uh and uh the and then some you know cleaning duties and all of that kind of stuff after the trainings, and usually the day ends something like 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. You know, the basic, you know, the trainings ends then because uh usually the instructors, you know, the professional soldiers also you know calls it in for the day and leaves home. But obviously, uh then the conscripts, uh, the NCOs who are still serving their military service, they look after the enlisted personal. And sometimes uh you have uh free evenings. Uh basically, mostly most evenings when you are in barracks, you have some free time. You can either go to gym, you know, I don't know, go go play some video games, watch movies, that kind of stuff. And uh pretty often you can spend your weekends at home so you don't need to stay there like I did, even though I would have a weekend vacation, I chose to stay in the barracks because I I love that stuff. To be honest, I I waited pretty much my whole childhood uh that I can join. I think it's uh because I have raised uh in uh in a military family, so I heard all the all the nice stories about it. So uh yeah, I definitely wanted to join and I definitely wanted to stay there as long as possible, and uh basically I would have wanted to be there for the rest of my life, but uh well life works mysterious ways, and uh instead of serving in the military for the rest of my life, I well do social media and uh drink coffee and uh talk shit uh for the rest of my life, probably. But yeah, life works mysterious ways, as uh I said, but anyways, uh I encourage I don't know if that's pronounced correctly, but I can I I I I will encourage everyone to join who can. Because uh men and women, I mean, yeah, both, both, both, because uh it's uh obviously it's not mandatory for women, uh women can volunteer and voluntarily join there as well. I saw and I think and I see military service as some kind of a well it's it's like you can basically get out from the normal life and have a one year you know break from everything and you can only focus you you need no you you can you need to only focus to that for one year. How many times in your life you have opportunity and opportunities like that that for one year you don't need to think uh jack shit what's going on in the world and you can just stay there and uh spend your time with your friends, uh I mean yeah, the other soldiers that become your friends and just uh live that weird and uh mystic and uh also so freaking cool life. So most definitely I will recommend uh military service to everyone who can uh join. And for for reachers uh who are my biggest audience on social media as well, you know, non-Finnish personal. Uh I got some bad news. Uh mandatory military service, uh the military service is only for Finnish citizens. So yeah, you cannot just uh come to Finland and uh join the military. However, however, uh for region citizens who become Finnish citizens, they they may also become liable for military service depending on their age and circumstances. So uh there is a possibility that if you if you I mean if if you move to Finland, uh if you immigrate to Finland, uh the man you might be uh required to complete the mandatory military service as well. But it depends how old you are, and etc. etc. Uh I have I don't have so much experience from that myself. But anyways, uh non-citizens cannot enlist in the Finnish Defense Forces as conscripts. So if you don't have Finnish citizenship, you cannot serve in the Finnish Defence Forces or complete the uh government uh owned uh mandatory military service. But what happens after the military service? So uh the funny thing is that when you have sworn your uh soldiers' oath, which is basically quite uh big phenomenon, it's it and it's also quite a big thing from the legal perspective as well. When you have sworn your soldiers' oath, uh you basically are sworn to the to defend Finland uh to the day you turn 65 years old. From the you know uh from the military perspective to defend Finland. So after your military uh mandatory military service, uh you will be moved uh to reserve. And Finland has a huge reserve. Uh we have active personnel who are now in the in the military, we have professionals, and we have a huge reserve. Like something like 900,000 or something like that, men and women who are basically ready to go when needed. I I myself included. So uh that's what happens after after the army, uh, after the military service. You are basically never a civilian again. You don't have a right for that. You belong to Finnish Defense Forces uh till today you turn 65. And when I say it like that, it might sound a little bit uh weird and uh anxious and all that kind of stuff, but that is the best possible insurance country like Finland can have. There is a if Finland wouldn't need mandatory military service, we would not have mandatory military service. But if you look at our geopolitical uh you know situations where we are located, and who are who is our eastern neighbor, for example, I mean if you have only five million people in your country, you need to have some kind of uh insurance that you have a lot of you know enough manpower when needed. So uh yeah, that's uh that's a good thing uh that we have it. And before this uh podcast episode turns into a uh patriotic uh pamphlet, I want to tell you the first memory uh that comes to my mind when I think about uh my mandatory military service, you know, something, some living memory from the past. And uh this is the thing that I always tell to people when they ask, like, hey, how was the how was the military service? How how was it like? And obviously, there is like a hundreds and thousands different memories and stories, and many of them are something that I can even talk about. But this was so absurd that and this uh thing what I experienced uh it kind of needed a lot of CISO, and I I that that's also something I can I can tell because it's there's not any kind of uh huge secret in that, but yeah, we were in some kind of a uh wartime training, and uh we have marched with the guys in uh minus 20, minus 30 Celsius degrees midwinter night. We have to had marched something like 40 kilometers with our full backpacks with what weights something like 20-30 kilos if I remember correctly. And uh yeah, it was 3 a.m. in the morning. Uh I was a I was a corporal, aka NCO, aka squad leader. I wasn't sergeant yet, uh, back then if I remember correctly. So I was leading our my little squad there in uh in a in a middle of uh dark Finnish forest. And after that, 40 kilometers march uh in uh in uh minus 20 Celsius degrees, minus 20 to 30 Celsius degrees. I have a instruction instruction from uh from some officer that hey you guys need to uh make a makeshift DIY camp here and spend the night here. And the funny thing is that we need not have any tents. Squad did not have it have any tents. So what do you do? You're in a freaking uh middle of forest without basically any gear, you know, any proper camping gear, and you need to spend your night there, you need to sleep so that guys can even have a little bit of sleep so that they can operate the next morning, the next day. So what we did, we uh dig a hole to that snow, and uh all of us uh jumped into our sleeping bags, and we all all of us jumped into the same hole, and uh we threw a some kind of raincoat on that hole, so you know our uh bodies, I don't know if our bodies you know uh gave any warmth to that hole since we all were in our sleeping bags and we tried to sleep there the night. But that wasn't all. Uh imagine, you know, as a civilian, imagine to go sleeping in the snow without any cover, without any proper cover in minus 20 to minus 30 Celsius degrees. Uh that's some kind of thing that might not come to your mind in the first place. Can you even survive from that? Well, anyways, uh I slept something like two hours and then I woke up when some officer is screaming that corporal martiganen, corporal martiganen. And corporal again is the same as Alikersanti for Finnish listeners because corporal also it might sound strange to a Finnish person because there is also a military rank corporali, which is lower than Alikersanti. So, yeah, in English, corporal is the same as Alikersanti. Anyways, yeah, some officer is uh shouting there, then and then I need to wake up. So I I crawl out from my sleeping bag and go there to report in that hey, hey, sir, sir, whatever his name was and whatever his rank was, obviously rank was uh higher than myself because uh I needed to obey this person. And uh the guy says to me that hey, since you sleeping beauties have slept so nicely and warmth and warm there the whole night, I think it's time to cool you guys down a little bit. So uh there's a lake and ice hole, hole in the ice in that lake nearby your uh hole where you have slept the whole night. So uh order your guys to wake the fuck up immediately and jump into that ice hole in minus 20 to minus 30 Celsius degrees mid-middle of winter. So uh imagine imagine my face when I hear that. I'm already freezing, almost froze to death. And the first thing I hear in the morning is that I need to jump into a freaking frozen lake without any sauna, without anything after that. So uh I still don't know how I managed to uh make my guys, make my squad obey me when I when I came back to tell them that wake up guys, we need to jump to a frozen lake when they are all like you know, they all have their faces blue already because they are already almost frozen in that goddamn snow. So I think that was a nice learning curve. How to motivate your team to do something like that. I can't remember how I did it. Probably I I led by example, which is how I do in real life as well, in corporate life and in everywhere. But the thing I remember is that everyone, every single man from my squad, they jumped in to that frozen lake, and I was the first one to jump in. So uh if you join to military service, if you go to mandatory military service, be prepared. You might find yourself in these kind of weird situations. So uh it wasn't fun back then, it was not definitely was not fun, but oh the memory what uh what I made that day. Obviously, there's uh tons of other memories, as uh I said previously. And uh looking back and uh back then also, I I I uh I I definitely think back then that this is the best time of my life, even though there is those kind of shitty things you need to do, but uh you just cannot uh explain it to a person who has not served in the military, that what kind of experience it is and how much uh it gives you to your future as well. I mean when I find myself in some kind of shitty situation, uh either in my free time or or in the corporate world or something like that, I always compare that to military service, and I think that well, I've gone through worse. This is a piece of cake. Yeah, so you kind of get you you definitely uh uh uh uplift your SISU in in uh when when you complete uh military service. So I think that's all uh for today. How the mandatory military service works in Finland, and uh about my own experiences from that time. Strongly recommend that to everyone. Best time of my life, and probably the best time of your life as well, if you join. Anyways, hey, thanks for listening, and uh I'll see you in the next time in the Fantastic Podcast. Bye bye, or more like Sergeant Martikainen out.