On Wednesday 27 September 2016 the Swedish Government reintroduced military conscription. The reintroduction of the compulsory military service will begin in 2018 and will apply for all 18-year-olds. It is expected that Sweden will call upon 4.000 people each year to fill the ranks in the Armed Forces.
Sweden abandoned the compulsory military service in 2010 and went to an all-volunteer army. This change however proved to be a wrong one as the influx of volunteers was to low and left the Swedish Armed Forces without the necessary manpower to remain fully staffed. At the same time the need for stronger Armed Forces became apparent as a more assertive Russia is flexing its muscles in the Baltic Region.
Sweden thus follows the trend that is currently going on in Eastern and Central Europe were most of the Armed Forces are making use of conscription or compulsory military service. There were reports earlier this month that even Germany will introduce compulsory military service in order to maintain the troop levels of its Armed Forces.
Conscription or compulsory military service seems well suited for the Nordic and Baltic States. Their small populations do not allow for large standing armies. The advantage of compulsory military service is that these countries can maintain their troop levels by rotating people in and out the Armed Forces for a small amount of time, normally 12 to 18 months.
The long term effect will be that Sweden can count, over time, of a group of reservists that can be called up in a short amount of time to help expand the Armed Forces in times of a crisis. At the same time this pool of reservists can be well suited to be used in times of war to replace casualties.
Compulsory military service will however force Sweden to rethink the structure of its Armed Forces. Conscripts can only be trained in basic functions due to the short time they stay in the Armed Forces. Volunteers who stay longer in the Armed Forces will thus be used to form a cadre of management where knowledge and experience can be accumulated or they can be further trained as specialists in several fields of expertise. Conscripts will thus serve on the lower levels of the Armed Forces and the biggest beneficiary of this system will be the Army as the Navy and Air Force will rely more on technically skilled specialists.
Sweden’s geography also is suited for employing compulsory military service. Most of the country is wooded territory and thus favours the deployment of light infantry backed up by artillery and mechanized forces. Since conscripts can only be kept for a small amount of time their main use will be to learn basic military skills that are needed to fulfil the role of light infantry.
Conclusion
The introduction compulsory military service, after an eight year suspension, was a necessary move in the view of world in transition where Russia is posing a bigger threat towards Sweden’s national security. Using compulsory military service was needed as volunteers are incapable to deliver the annual manpower the Armed Forces require. Sweden thus follows the trend of most of its neighbours in the Baltic Region where conscription is already used for several years.
Conscription offers many advantages both in term of current manpower as well as creating reservists that can be called upon in times of need. At the same time the Swedish Armed Forces will have to look on how to adapt itself to compulsory military service as this will require a completely different approach on how to use personnel compared to an all-volunteer army. Luckily for Sweden the gap between the last time compulsory military service was used is small and a fast transition is expected.
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