Call-ups will begin – look up instructions for being prepared
In accordance with the Act on liability for military service, the Finnish Defence Forces’ Regional Offices will organise the call-ups running from 17.8. to 15.12.2020. Due to the coronavirus Covid-19 situation, some changes will be implemented in the overall call-up arrangements.
Organised at 245 locations, altogether 444 call-up events this year will convene circa 35,000 men in total who are liable for attending call-ups. The call-ups will concern all men born in 2002 who turn 18 this year, as well as those who have been earlier ordered to be re-examined in this year’s call-up, and those under 30 who have not attended previous call-ups and who have not been specifically examined.
The call-up events organised this autumn will follow the recommendations by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare on performing hand hygiene and cough/sneeze etiquette and on sustaining safety distances for the purpose of safeguarding all persons liable for attending call-ups.
In the call-up events, detailed instructions will be given on hygiene protocol and on safety distances at the call-up locations. While planning for the call-ups, we also prepare for following rapid changes resulting in possible assembly restrictions. At a given call-up location, both the number of persons liable for attending call-ups and the venue facilities available vary depending on the municipality. As applicable, we are prepared to shorten the duration of the call-up event programme, to make the seating arrangements spacious on site, and to have the persons liable for attending call-ups arrive sequenced on site according to a progressive timetable.
It is possible to arrange for the sequenced arrival on site also on the morning of the call-ups at the given call-up location, in which case no separate announcement on this procedure will be sent beforehand to the home address of those concerned prior to the call-ups. All these measures are precautions for guaranteeing that the number of persons in a detachment remains minimal and that the contact time with others of a person liable for attending call-ups becomes minimised.
We ask the persons liable for military service to consider the following precautions relating to the call-ups:
- If you seem to be clearly ill, contact your Regional Office promptly and agree on completing the liability for attending call-ups.
- Wash your hands carefully as you arrive in the call-up event and maintain personal hand hygiene throughout the event.
- Sustain safety distance to others present in the call-up event.
We ask the persons attending the call-ups to follow and observe for their part the recommendations by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare concerning the use of face masks. In case the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare recommends using face masks, we ask the persons liable for attending call-ups also to bring their own masks if they want to. And, in case the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare recommends using face masks, the Finnish Defence Forces will aim to distribute masks to those present as well and to insruct face mask use in the call-up event.
Call-ups define the fitness for military service of a person liable for military service
The call-up event aims to define the fitness for military service of persons liable for military service and, based on this, to decide on their military service. The call-up event also serves in distributing information on the liability for national defence and in advancing overall public health. Thereby the call-ups mark the first personal encounter between the Finnish Defence Forces and a person liable for military service. In the call-up event, all persons liable for military service may voice their wishes concerning the service, and, for instance, state which service location they would like best.
Information on the call-up events will be available in the call-up notices accessible online at intti.fi/kutsunnat. A person liable for military service must personally attend the call-up event, unless the Regional Office has specifically exempted the person from the liability for attending. Those assigned to service will start their military service in the January or July contingent of 2021, 2022, or 2023, in other words during the three years following the call-ups.
Please remember to bring to the call-up event your identification as well as the necessary medical and studying certificates. And, before the call-up event, think about which service task would suit you best. By voicing your service task wishes in the call-up event, you will advance your chances of landing with a service task of your liking.
Course of call-up events
The call-up information briefing provides you information on the Finnish Defence Forces and the approaching military service. The purpose of the call-up information briefing is, among others, to give the conscripts-to-be information on the three services, the service branches, the phases of the military service, and the versatile service tasks available. Moreover, the persons liable for military service will obtain information on their set rights and obligations.
The medical examination checks your state of health, as applicable, and your fitness for military service.
The call-up board listens to you in person, and allows you to voice your wishes concerning the service. Following this interview, the call-up board will decide on the time and location of your military service, or make another call-up decision. However, the duration of the military service, as well as the given service task for which a person liable for military service is trained, will be decided in the brigade-level units only after the service start.
A majority of the call-up events will have an outreach youth counselor present, who will give you aid in matters relating to, for instance, studying, and with whom you may discuss all other issues relevant in your life situation at the moment.
Applying for special forces
- Applying for special forces requires using the Finnish Defence Forces’ E-Service to apply. This means that the call-ups will not assign anyone to service in special forces, but rather those applying for special forces will be assigned in the call-ups to a spare service location in case the special forces application results in one not becoming selected.
- The applying procedure follows the force-specific schedules set by the special operations forces.
- You must attend the call-ups also when you intend to apply for special forces.
- Applying instructions and additional information: intti.fi/erikoisjoukot and intti.fi/erityistehtavat
