Finnish Defence Forces
The Finnish Defence Forces (Finnish: Puolustusvoimat) consist of 34,700 people in uniform (27,300 army, 3,000 navy, and 4,400 air force). Finland's defence budget equals about 2% of the GDP. An universal male conscription is in place, under which all men above 18 years of age serve from 6 to 12 months, although service for Jehovah's Witnesses is not mandatory and inhabitants of Åland have a different system in place. Also a 13-month-long civilian service is possible. As of 1995, women were permitted to serve on a voluntary basis. The defence is based on a large trained reserve. Finland can mobilize 490,000 trained military personnel in a crisis situation. The Finnish Defence Forces are under the command of the Chief of Defence, who is directly subordinate to the President of the Republic in matters related to the military command. At the moment (October 2004) Chief of Defence is Admiral Juhani Kaskeala. Military doctrine: Self-defensive; independent defence of all of domestic territory; NATO Partnership for Peace affiliate; committed to pan-European (incl. Russia) treaty of trust-enhancing cooperation, such as providing access for international observers during major exercises.
Military branches
The Frontier Guard (Rajavartiolaitos) is under the Ministry of the Interior but can be incorporated into the Defence Forces when required by defence readiness. Military RanksCarl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim is the only person to have held the ranks of sotamarsalkka/fältmarskalk (Field Marshal) and later Suomen Marsalkka/Marskalk av Finland ("Marshal of Finland").
Old ranks that are not used anymore include: Ylivääpeli/Överfälväbel (a rank between Chief Warrant Officer and Warrant Officer), Kornetti (Second Lieutenant in the cavalry), Ratsumestari (a cavalry Captain), Prikaatinkenraali (old form for Prikaatikenraali) and Lentomestari. HistoryThe armed forces of the independent Finland were formed on January 25, 1918 when the White Guard were declared to be the official troops of the government. After the Finnish Civil War the armed forces were organised according to the German system. In February 1919 the White Guard separated from the armed forces and became an independent organisation. After the Winter War and the Continuation War (two of the three wars Finland fought in the World War II) the strength of the Finnish Army was limited to 34,400 men, the Navy to 4,500 men and a maximum displacement of 10,000 tonnes for ships. The Air Force was limited to 3,000 men and 60 planes. Also certain weapons such as guided missiles, submarines, proximity mines, torpedo boats, bombers with internal bomb racks and any weapons of German origin were forbidden. Later "defensive" missiles were allowed. All of the restrictions were unilaterally lifted by president Mauno Koivisto when the Soviet Union collapsed. UN peacekeeping operationsFinland has taken part in UN peacekeeping operations since 1956, resulting in total of 43,000 Finnish peacekeepers during that time. In 2003 over a thousand Finnish peacekeepers were involded in UN operations. According to the Finnish law the maximum simultaneous strength of the peacekeeping forces is 2000 soldiers. Since 1996 the Pori brigade has trained a special jaeger battalion, the Finnish Rapid Deployment Force (FRDF), which can take part in crisis management operations at short notice. Finnish participation in UN peacekeeping operations as of June 2004:
Source: http://tietokannat.mil.fi/rauhanturvaajat/ops.php3 See also : Finland, Finnish Jaeger troops, White Guards External links
Categories: Military of Finland |
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