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Altogether 808 to muster out into the reserve

Army
Publication date 14.3.2018 8.11
News item
Varusmies talvisessa maisemassa. Puvun hihassa suomenlippu, nuoli jossa siivet sekä punainen risti valkoisen pallon sisällä.

On Wednesday 14 March 2018, altogether 808 conscripts as well as women who have completed voluntary military service will muster out into the reserve from the Finnish Army’s brigade-level units. Those mustering out now have served for 255 days and undertaken training in rank and file tasks that require special skills.

The highest number of conscripts, 200 in total, will be mustering out from the Guard Jaeger Regiment, while the number of conscripts mustering out from the Pori Brigade, Armoured Brigade, Karelia Brigade, and Kainuu Brigade will be approximately a hundred conscripts in each, respectively.

The types of rank and file tasks that require special skills include, for instance, those of the military police, communications conscript, driver conscript as well as military musician.

Conscript service allowed putting one’s resilience to the test

One of the conscripts mustering out from the Utti Jaeger Regiment is Medic Aatos Siro of Kotka serving in the Support Company.

– Prior to the conscript service I was hoping to get to be trained either as a military police or a medic. When the training options were discussed in the classes of the Support Company, I realized that the medical training provided would be my thing, says Aatos Siro, who is this coming autumn about to begin his studies in the University of Applied Sciences to graduate eventually as a paramedic.

– While undertaking this conscript service we’ve been allowed to put to the test both our physical and mental resilience. My experience is that I have gained more self-discipline as a result. In addition, I’ve now got more courage and am far more resilient compared to before, which is bound to pay off later in life as well, Medic Siro continues.

A soldier's suit sleeve with a Finnish flag, an arrow with wings and a red cross inside a white ball.

Apart from carrying out his duties as a medic, Aatos Siro also served as a social media agent for the younger conscript age group. This involved providing answers to the questions posed by the ones who started their conscript service as part of the January contingent and thereby providing each and every one with indispensable information concerning the conscript service. Within the Finnish Defence Forces, the social media agents operate in the Facebook groups formed for the benefit of the incoming contingents.

– This task as a social media agent has turned out to be extremely purposeful. In fact, before I began my conscript service I had a number of questions in mind, and in that sense it’s been great that I’ve been able to help out the recruits while they enter into service. At first, the discussions obviously took place online, and once the recruits entered into service, we continued chatting face to face while in the unit, Siro explains.

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