2024-07-22 05:49:10
This military conscription testing center, together with two others in Gothenburg and Malmö, will screen 110,000 people this year. teenagers, about a quarter of them will be called for physical and mental exams, and then a third of the fittest will be drafted into the military for nine to fifteen months, whether they want it or not.
It is a model aimed at rebuilding the Swedish military, which was emptied after the end of the Cold War. The country’s leaders have been forced to turn around their security policies after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region a decade ago, signaling a renewed threat in the east.
The system is drawing attention from major European capitals, including Berlin, London and Amsterdam, where officials are scrambling to find ways to bolster their depleted forces.
Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonsson has emphasized the value of conscription in several recent speeches.
“Conscripting is a key condition for the continued growth of the armed forces,” he said during a recent parliamentary session in Stockholm. “The needs of our military organization cannot be met by hired personnel alone.”
The number of conscripts drafted into the Swedish army has doubled this year to around 8,000. from 4 thousand In 2017, when gender-neutral conscription was re-introduced after a seven-year hiatus. The government has said that it wants to increase this number to 10 thousand in the near future. per year, and the design of the system seems to allow this number to be expanded further if necessary.
There are 14,850 permanent soldiers in the Swedish army.
You are now in the military
This change sent shivers down the spine of a society that had not gone to war for more than 200 years. Coupled with Sweden’s recent accession to NATO, the start of military service has forced teenagers who didn’t necessarily imagine their career plans to include refueling fighter jets or working in a submarine galley to seriously refocus.
On the last day of the week, a steady stream of nervous-looking 18-year-olds approached the steps of Tegeluddsvagen 29A, some alone, some accompanied by equally nervous-looking parents.
Nils David Palmaeus, who had arrived that morning from a town east of Stockholm, said he wanted to serve as a conscript in Sweden’s arctic north.
“It would be a challenge and a new experience,” he said. “I’ve lived in the south all my life, so I want to see what life is like in the mountains.”
Isabella van Leeuwen, who aspires to become a flight attendant, said she was less enthusiastic.
“I have to start working and applying for apprenticeships,” she said. “I don’t want to be in the army for a year or more.”
Young people from other European countries may soon follow in the footsteps of these Swedish teenagers.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius visited Tegeluddsvägen 29 a few weeks ago and left saying he had learned a lesson for his home country.
“We need young and well-motivated men and women to defend our countries should they be needed,” he told reporters in Stockholm. “I’ve heard a lot about Sweden’s approach and I appreciate it – your approach includes a strong reserve force, and we saw in Ukraine that this is important.”
June 12 Mr. Pistorius proposed a voluntary-oriented selective military service as a “first step.”
According to B. Pistorius’s plan, which is now being examined by lawmakers and the minister’s coalition partners, planners predict that there will be 400,000 of all 18-year-old males annually. – you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire. About 40 thousand of them will be selected to undergo a medical examination, and 10 thousand will be allowed to participate in basic training.
Dutch officials have also been sent to Tegeluddsvagen Street, and several former top UK officials, including the former head of the foreign intelligence agency MI6, have highlighted what they see as the advantages of the Swedish system.
You have received a letter
Sweden’s conscription system begins with a questionnaire sent to all 18-year-olds (male and female) asking about health, education, personality, criminal record and attitude towards service.
If the military likes the answers and there are no health problems, the teenager is invited for testing. Those who refuse to answer the questions face fines or imprisonment.
At the same time, everyone is bombarded with an information campaign that emphasizes the benefits of military service for personal development and the country’s strategy for the defense of society as a whole, called “total defense.”
“Sweden’s universal defense is to protect our democracy, our interests and our right to live the way we want,” reads one official brochure. “As a conscript, you make an invaluable contribution to Sweden, because you contribute to ensuring this freedom.”
Everyone invited to test in Tegeluddsvagen 29A begins with an hour-long mental aptitude test at a computer terminal. Without any phones.
Those who fail the mental test go home. Those who pass face an endurance test with a simulator and a strength test with a so-called “Isokai” simulator – a kind of “barbell”.
The vomit buckets on the windowsills of the physical testing room and the bed for fainting people may be unnerving, but the slogans on the walls of the corridor should strengthen the resolve:
“Could you become the next head of the military?” one of them reads.
“Discover your strengths,” reads another.
After all that, the candidates have an in-depth interview with a psychologist and hearing and vision tests. Then the testing ends and the potential draftee goes home to wait for the recruiters to decide whether to assign him to the one-third who will serve or the two-thirds who will be discharged.
Drafting officers sometimes consider whether or not a young man wants to serve, but there is never a guarantee.
Draft organizers have many positions to fill with the right candidates: they need hardy team players who can train as infantry in the Arctic, athletes who can work as divers in the Baltic Sea, flexible technicians who can repair all types of engines, and cool-headed navigators. , which would ensure that the Navy’s ships arrive where they are supposed to.
Those who are recognized as having leadership potential serve 15 months under the leadership of other conscripts. Regular conscripts serve only nine months.
At the site of the recruitment center, Palmaeus, a teenager, told Politico that the hardest part of the test day was that it was very long and exhausted him.
He said he believes military service provides an opportunity to contribute to something important.
“We need military power, especially these days,” he stressed.
Parenthetical phrase “Politician” inf.
2024-07-22 05:49:10