The Norwegian government announced on Tuesday that it would increase the number of conscripts from about 9,000 today to 13,500 annually by upgrading infrastructure and creating new positions in the defence forces, according to Euractiv.
Norwegian Defence Minister Bjørn Arild Gram unveiled an increase in the Norwegian Armed Forces on Tuesday, 2 April.
Now that the Norwegian Armed Forces are set to grow, the government will increase the intake by 50% in the coming years. The number will increase by 4,500.
Norway has a partial conscription system, and selected citizens aged between 19 and 47 undergo a vocational aptitude test to determine their suitability and receive basic military training, which may be followed by reserve service for a total of about 19 months.
Although this number has increased in recent years, about 9,000 people are selected for their first military service each year, which is about 15 per cent of those drafted. However, the Norwegian government now wants to reach a target of 25 per cent of conscripts by 2036, with 13,500 conscripts expected to serve.
We need to take better care of the people we already have, and we need new ones. People are the most important resource of the Norwegian Armed Forces. We must have enough people with the right expertise at the right time.
According to Norwegian Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, up to 400 new positions will be created to effectively manage the expected increase in the number of recruits. The Defence Forces Recruit Training Centre in Terningmoen will be upgraded and expanded to train about 1,800 recruits four times a year, up from about 300 today, according to the Norwegian Ministry of Defence.
The announcement came two weeks after the Danish government called for the extension of conscription to women and an increase in the length of service from four to 11 months, despite concerns that the country’s defence forces lack the personnel to effectively train recruits.
