In early winter Army training exercises to validate the capability of 15,000 persons liable for military service to defend Finland

In early winter, Army training exercises will have thousands of conscripts, who are about to muster into the reserve in December, train together with reservists and allies across Finland. The exercises aim to validate the joint wartime capability of persons liable for military service trained for their tasks.

The training exercises to be held at the turn of November-December mark conclusion of training and validate the competence of conscripts about to muster into the reserve, as well as sustain competence of reservists and service personnel attending refresher training exercises. The exercises ensure integration of lessons identified and learned concerning the war in Ukraine in training settings.

The exercises will be participated by conscripts, reservists, and service personnel from all Army brigade-level units as well as from other services and the Finnish Border Guard. Alongside persons liable for military service, soldiers from Allied nations will train defending Finland in a number of exercises. The exercises will also strengthen the reserve’s capability for combined joint operating and build-up of fighting force together with Allies.

The exercise entity during early winter will also involve air operation and other exercise activity of the Utti Jaeger Regiment across Finland.

Development of local forces to involve receiving combat mission tasks

In Southern Finland, more than 6,500 soldiers will be training in the Guard Jaeger Regiment -led exercise Lively Sentry 25 during 27.11.—4.12. In the exercise, up to c. 850 service personnel, altogether 4,000 conscripts and 1,700 reservists will develop their capability for joint operating in the area of Uusimaa, Kymenlaakso, and Päijät-Häme. The training exercise will be participated by Army soldiers from the Guard Jaeger Regiment, Pori Brigade, Armoured Brigade, Karelia Brigade, and the Army Academy. To be participated by more than 900 vehicles, the exercise will include execution of brigade-level units’ joint operation involving a mechanised battlegroup’s attack in a built-up area supported by urban jaegers. The training objective of the brigade-level units’ combined-arms training is to validate the Army readiness and capability to defeat an attack.

Meanwhile, on the training exercise grounds of Vuosanka, the multinational LIVEX Northern Axe 25 will be held during 29.11—5.12.2025. The training audience of c. 3,000 personnel will comprise 1,900 conscripts, 370 service personnel, 630 reservists, and 70 soldiers from the UK. In the training exercise, also reservists of a Regional Company will have a major role. The use of local forces in demanding combat tasks has been trained in a number of local defence exercises for years, and now the Regional Company will participate for the first time in the brigade’s LIVEX on a combat mission task.  In addition to the reservists of the Regional Company, also all other exercise-participating persons liable for military service as well as allies validate the competence for demanding combat involving elements of defence, delay, attack, and night-vision.

Allies’ and combined-arms’ operating under early winter conditions at Rovajärvi