Altogether 1360 women applied to voluntary military service

The closing date for submitting applications for the voluntary military service for women was 15 January 2026. Altogether 1360 women applied to the voluntary military service in total.

The voluntary military service for women has been part of Finland’s national defence over thirty years. The Finnish Defence Forces’ and Finnish Border Guard’ brigade-level units have now trained altogether 14,800 women to the reserve. 

– The voluntary military service for women is an important element of national defence. After service completion, competence will continue to develop further in refresher training exercises. The completed service will serve as a good basis for applying to crisis management tasks and a range of service tasks in the Finnish Defence Forces, says Army Chief of Staff Major General Jukka Jokinen. 

Selection events to be held in April

The Finnish Defence Forces’ Regional Offices will invite the women who applied to the voluntary military service to selection events that are to be held in April. The events will entail providing information on the service, discussing with the applicants, and checking their current state of health. During the selection event, applicants can voice wishes concerning, for instance, the service task.

The selection event will determine the precise date of service and service location.  After service start, the applicant’s service task and service duration will be determined at the given brigade-level unit. As each brigade-level unit has a limited number of tasks available per contingent, it is advisable that the applicant plan also for an alternative in case their primary wish cannot be turned into practice. It is worth familiarising in advance with the service tasks and locations online at Intti.fi.

For more information on voluntary military service for women, please see:  https://intti.fi/en/voluntary-military-service-for-women