Conscripts of contingent 2/26 start their military service on Monday, 6 July 2026. The brigade-level units of the Defence Forces and the Border Guard will receive about 12 500 new recruits.
About 9,700 of the recruits will serve in the Army, 1,700 in the Navy and 800 in the Air Force brigade-level units. The rest will serve in the Border Guard units.
Updates in the conscript training
The conscript training is being reviewed and updated to meet the present-day requirements. During the first half of 2026, the Defence Command Training Division and the three services have been working together to improve the conscript training programme, considering the lessons learned from recent conflicts, so that it would better meet the requirements of the changing operating environment.
The new “Conscript training 2026” programme will be piloted in summer 2026 and adopted more extensively in 2027. The Defence Forces Assistant Chief of Staff, Training, Brigadier General Manu Tuominen, who will himself transfer to the reserve in July, says that the new programme makes training more focused.
– The new “Conscript training 2026” programme is built upon the best practises of the previous programme, with updates to contents and methods of implementation. Our goal is to make sure that our conscripts and future reservists will have the best possible skills to act in the changed operating environment.
Brigadier General Tuominen talks about the major changes made in the training:
– The new conscript training programme stresses the importance of combat training and takes Finland’ accession to NATO, the lessons learned from Ukraine and Finland’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention into account, among other things. Drone training, for example, will be more extensive than before. Taking cover from drones will also be a significant part of combat training, General Tuominen says.
– Improving our training so that it meets the requirements of battlefield is as important as defence materiel procurements. New systems are effective only if their users receive appropriate training.
Despite the changes, everybody starts from the same line; they come to service to learn.
– Conscript service today is very different from what it was a few decades - or just years - ago. However, you are not expected to have any of those skills upon arrival. You are only expected to find the garrison and step through the gate; you will receive the necessary skills and knowledge during your service. There is a suitable task for everyone, a part to play in a larger unit, Brigadier General Tuominen assures.
– I wish each and every new recruit warmly welcome to service. From there, let’s just take one step at a time. I also wish the best of success to my successor, Brigadier General Sami-Antti Takamaa. It is good to continue from here, he says.
This contingent will abide by recently updated General Service Regulations. The updates made in the Regulations also reflect the changes in the operating environment. Equality and non-discrimination are emphasised, and even more effort will be put into rooting out inappropriate behaviour. The Defence Forces will not tolerate any forms of harassment, bullying, discrimination or hazing. Special attention is being paid to appropriate behaviour and safe service environment in the monitoring of 2026 contingents.
Extensive improvements in the conscription system
The whole conscription system is being reviewed to better meet the needs of our society and young people today.
Amendments made to the Conscription Act and the Act on Voluntary Military Service for Women clarify the status of the residents of Åland and those who have confirmed their gender by the Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Thanks to the amendments, it is possible for male residents of Åland to apply for voluntary military service. As to those who have confirmed their gender, legislation is now clearer in that liability for military service will from now on be determined on the basis of the confirmed gender and completed service.
In autumn 2026, the Defence Forces will pilot an Info Day for students in upper secondary education, with the aim of providing them with facts about general conscription and voluntary military service for women. In addition, preliminary medicals will become a part of student health services, and they will concern the entire age group. The objective is to standardise preliminary medicals, to extend them to include a larger group of young people, to identify young people’s needs for support better than before and to diminish the number of interrupted services.
