An Cosantóir

Our Finnish Colleagues | 17 By Wesley Bourke Photos by Cpl Colum Lawlor F or decades now Irish and Finnish troops have worked together in different degrees of closeness, ranging from serving as separate contingents on the same mission to forming combined units. Like Ireland, Finland is neutral and is not a member of NATO. Finland has a formidable military capability, with equipment including roughly 150 main battle tanks (including the Leopard 2A4), nearly 1,500 APCs/AFVs, and 128 fighter aircraft (including F-18 Hornets), and spending on average 1.5% of its GDP on defence. With a long continuous history of invasions and conquest by its neighbours this posture is hardly surprising. The Finnish Defence Forces (comprising army, air force, and navy) is a cadre force with a core of 8,700 professional officers, NCOs and specialists, augmented by conscripts and reservists. At any one time its strength is around 16,500 with standard readiness strength of 34,700 personnel (27,300 army, 3,000 navy, and 4,400 air force). With a military doctrine based on the concept of total defence the Finnish Defence Forces estimate that they would mobilise over 500,000 personnel in the event of war. The Finnish Defence Forces also has a similar history to our own when it comes to overseas missions, having seen service, or is still serving, in the Congo, Lebanon, Liberia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, EUFOR Operation Atalanta, EUFOR Chad/CAR, EUTM Somalia, the EU Nordic Battlegroup, and ISAF, among others. In addition to the current UNIFIL mission, Irish and Finnish military personnel have operated as part of the same unit in Kosovo, Chad, and the Arctic Circle. Currently in South Lebanon 180 Finnish personnel are operating with Irish/Finn Batt, where they make up A Coy and provide personnel for Battalion HQ. ���Our system is somewhat different to yours,��� explained Sgt Ismo Kokora.��� I am a full-time professional. Back home I am in the Air Force and I work in air surveillance and air traffic control. Of the 180 personnel of A Coy about 50 are professionals, the rest are reservists - you become a reservist after you do your one-year mandatory conscription. Our system allows us to mobilise quickly if needed.��� Overseas service is voluntary and is open to cadre and reservist personnel alike. Nearly all the Finns speak fluent English so sparking up a friendly conversation is not a problem. Talking to them you will quickly find that many of them have served on the same missions as our own personnel. Staff Sgt Jussi Niemi is a reservist and a metal worker by trade. ���I have served both in Kosovo and Chad,��� he told me. ���As a reservist you have the best of both worlds. In Finland when we are called up for routine training or exercises our regular jobs are safe, and if we want to serve overseas we can volunteer.��� The Irish and Finnish members of Irish/Finn Batt carry out their duties exactly the same, with the only noticeable difference being the uniforms and equipment. The Finnish troops are armed with the Finnish Sako 7.62 RK 95 TP and its variants, and their transport is provided by the Daimler Mercedes-Benz G300 and Mercedes-Benz Gel��ndewagen 270 GDI armoured jeeps, with the Sisu E13TP and E11T making up their 8x8 and 6x6 fleets respectfully. A familiar sight to the ���old sweats��� among the Irish personnel in Camp 2-45 is the Patria Pasi (previously known as the Sisu Pasi) APC. The Finnish Defence Forces operate several variants of these vehicles, from the earlier 425 XA-180 series to the 148 XA-200 series. Some of their vehicles are equipped with a TOW turret and most are armed with the 12.7mm NSV HMG. www.military.ie the defence forces magazine

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