IAmA 21 year old Australian/Finnish guy who just finished 6 months of military service in Finland, AMA!

Do you plan to continue your military service in Australia or are you Finnish with all that?

Finnished

Did your training in Finland teach you interesting new tactics to use against the Emu's?

The emu's are a superior being and we stand no chance against them

Was it isolating to not be able to understand the majority of the general chatter between all the people you were with? Or was English the general spoken language?

I understand a good amount of Finnish since my mum spoke it to me as a child but I'm pretty average at speaking it so I couldn't really join Finnish conversations too well. The guys in my room would talk with me in English and they enjoyed trying to banter with me in Finnish.

Why?

Originally I said no when I was 18 since I didn't have and didn't think twice about it. Then when I turned 20 my mum mentioned it again and I realised I would regret not taking the opportunity. It was a pretty badass experience in the end and I am incredibly thankful that I did it.

Was the require service only 6 months long? Additionally, would you do it again?

The requirement is 6 months. There's a 9 month option if you were chosen to be a medic in my company or 12 months if you wanted to have a leadership role, an Alikersantti or a Kokkelas

are you a dual citizen? is this voluntary or compulsory?

I'm a dual citizen. There's a rule if you haven't lived in Finland for 7 years then you can ask to be exempt from service I believe. Otherwise every Finnish male has to do it.

Asking as a Finn who has finished his military service, what part of it surprised you the most?

It took me a while to realise that our Alikersantti's and Kokkelas' were conscripts as well, I thought they were doing this as a full time job. I didn't I didn't really do too much research before I came in

What did your friends and family think when you told them you were going to go to Finland to do your service?

Parents were all for it. Friends thought I was nuts

What was your first "oh shit" moment of your deployment?

Couldn't feel my hands in -1 and started freaking out. We had one night a month or two later on when it was -27 and that was an even bigger holy shit moment.

You mentioned the benefits of the experience. What do you think are the benefits and how would someone emulate them without serving in the army ?

Personally I loved the routine of and the disciplines it gives you. I liked the routine of waking up at 6, doing your bed and cleaning up the room every day. Simple stuff like that makes you feel like you've accomplished something for the day.

Also personally, just throwing myself into the situation of I'm in a country where I don't speak the language very well and I'm joining their army in the middle of winter and coming out of that is something I feel like I can be proud of. I think anyone can do something like that in their lives.

Jesus christ why not join in the spring?!

That's no fun, need the hardcore winter experience ;)

One of my favorite history books is A Frozen Hell, a history of the Winter War. I feel like I should actually ask a question, so, did they give you a good course in Finnish military history? You Finns are tough hombres and have a military legacy to be very proud of.

There was one day around the start of service where they took us to a building on the base and they talked us through our company history and about the war etc. It's cool to know the history behind the army and that we're apart of it now. And yes, Finland is hardcore. I have gained so much respect for this country and its people in the short time that I've been here now.

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Woah who's this?

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haha thanks mate!

As a New Zealander who's been living in Sweden for the last 10 months. I feel a weird hatred towards you. (But only brotherly, sounds like you had a great time!)

But anyway questions:
Did you spend much time in Helsinki? (If so, I have to spend a day there, what would you recommend to see?)
Did many people also speak Swedish?
Did you end up picking up the language better while serving?

Thanks for the AMA!

I spent my weekends in the city which has been fun. I'd recommend just walking around the city centre and checking out different neighbourhoods like Kallio if you're into nightlife.

Not many people spoke Swedish, mostly Finnish and English.

Yep, for sure. I had a decent understanding of the language coming in so I had a good idea of what people were saying in conversations. Being immersed in the language because everyones talking it around you definitely helps, my confidence in the language has definitely gone up but it's nowhere close to fluent.

How long were you there before "perkele" became part of your normal vocabulary?

For me it's 'voi vittu'. That was easily the most common thing said by the guys in my room

Now that you’ve experienced it would you support a similar mandatory service back in Australia?

Also did it ever feel like there was a real sense of threat from Russia?

Something similar could work, maybe not specifically army.

And no, the Finns don't seem to have any real sense of threat but I think that's because they're so prepared in the case of a threat.

Do you put on your own face paint or does someone do it for you?

Someone always did it for me, same for everyone else usually. I'd probably butcher it if I did it on myself

What did you do before having to do your service? and has this stint in the military changed you in any way?

I was just working in bars, finished a music business diploma and playing drums in a hardcore band before I came here. My stint here has pushed up my confidence for sure

Do you have any plans to join the Australian Defence Force?

It's always an option but I don't think it's something I could dedicate my life to. I think I've had all the army experience I need for my life now haha

As an American Veteran I'll ask the question. Did you become a Master Sweeper or a Master at Mopping?

I love a good sweep

What's the deal with Aussies coming to Finland to do military? I had one in my squad way back in 2011.

We're an adventurous bunch us Aussies. There was also a Mexican, Spanish, American, English, Greek and a few guys from different countries there.

Interesting. I'm Korean and had to serve in army for 21 months since military service is mandatory here.

I see you were a machine gunner. Which machine gun did you use? FYI, My company used M60 and M2.

EDIT: added M2.

PKM

Do they give ya an extra hard time just because you’re not fluent like them in the Finnish language?

There's some people who get a bit frustrated which is fair enough. But for the most part everyone liked the English speakers, they were all curious to why we signed up to do it.

Do you think Australia and specifically young Australians would benefit from a similar programme here?

Maybe not army specifically but I could see the benefits of having something similar. It's great here because every Finnish guy I talk to no matter what their age, they have some great stories about their army experience

It's probably just because I know it, but you look really damn Australian to me, replete with your expression in that first picture.

G'day from Sydney, what was the most challenging part of your military service? Are there any parts you regret?

Gday mate!

I guess the hardest part is the mental battle you go through with yourself sometimes when it gets hard. You come out of those experiences a bit more headstrong than before. I think I only regret not being 100% clear on my motivations coming in. I wanted to have the experience and challenge myself but I didn't have specific goals that I could aim to achieve while I was here (if that makes sense)

I'm a finn-american. Been living in Finland 3 years but never had a parent speak the language. Thanks for the ama, lots i learned! I am also doing the army and wanted to know who were the oldest guys? I will be going at the max age of 28!

I know there was one 28 year old guy, had one mate who was 26 years old. I know it can be a bit rough because you're going to be bossed around by a 19-20 year old guy for 6 months haha

What was the cold weather training like in the army?

I understand that the navy expects you to go into the water, in winter and without protection for a period of time rather longer than the average cold dip after a sauna.

We were doing our 8 weeks basic training during winter. So we were learning the simpler stuff then but it just happened to be bloody freezing

Hello, thank you for your time

Do you want to keep playing with guns?

Not really haha, I've had my fun already

Do you think mandatory service helps young people's self confidence and worth, mental health, and sense of purpose? Do you believe it would be a positive experience for most people, and why?

I've had a theory for a while that young people (22 myself) are swamped with opportunities without direction, which has given rise to a directionless generation... possibly solved by something like this?

There's some people who just really did not want to be there at all so I'm not sure how this experience has affected them. For someone like me who has a reason to come, it's a good experience. I guess people need the desire to do it for it to be a worthwhile experience.

Is there anything you gonna miss about living in Finland when you're back in Australia? Like real winter or some specific food?

I'll miss the people for sure, can't say I'm a big fan of the weather

Are you planning on doing a gap year now and serving your other (adopted) country for 12 months? If not, why?

Back to Sydney soon to start working again. There's no conscription in Australia, just 'proper' army which is a 4 year contract I believe.

Whats the general consensus amongst your fellow soldiers in regards to the current president of the united states?

Personally I think he is an absolutely despicable excuse of a human, seems to be similar thinking with most of the guys but there are still a few who support him.

What's the most beautiful scenery you saw in Finland?

As a fly fisherman, did you see anyone fishing for trout in rivers/ creeks?

Thanks for answering these Q's!

I went to Nuuksio National Park recently and the lakes there are beautiful! And no, I don't think I've seen anyone fishing

Now that your service is finished, do you feel it was a beneficial life experience?

I almost joined the British Army 6 years ago as I was unemployed (I'm Irish but have family who have served) but took a job instead. Always wonder if I missed out.

For sure, I'm definitely just an overall more confident person now. And I'll also just look back on this whole experience and say 'far out, that was nuts'

What are you allowed to say, when captured? How long are you supposed to hold?

Perkele

Obligatory:

What was the best/coolest/most fun experience you had? What was the worst?

Regards, 2/16 gona

Our tutkinto was insane, 75km walking I think in 36 hours with the odd 15 minute sleep. I had one hallucination kind of moment and was just completely shattered in the last 12 hours, every step was agony. One guy told me he fell asleep when they sat down for a break and then woke up when he was already walking, so he had stood up and started walking in his sleep.

Hi, Estonian guy here who finished his 8 months service(the shortest time you can serve) at the beginning of june. I was the pointman/sharpshooter of my squad

In the middle of May there was this big military training exercise here called Siil2018, did you hear anything about it? There were some conscripts from finland who came down here for the event.

Do you also have a PhD in cleaning now that you've finished your service?

What machine gun did you have? Did you get a lot of chances to shoot real ammo?

I heard about the training exercise, think I saw some photos through the armies facebook page or something. And yes, I'm a professional floor sweeper now. Had a PKM machine gun, Russian I'm fairly certain.

Any advice for someone whos starting in 2 weeks?

You'll remember this experience for the rest of your life so just give it your best effort. It's a once in a lifetime kind of thing

How quickly did you adapt to the cold? Are you considering joining the Australian military now? Some similarities between Australia and Finland?

I don't think anyone really adapts to it because even the Finns were losing their minds being out in -20 whatever it was. It just ends up becoming a "I've dealt with this before, I can deal with it again" kind of thing, certainly was for me after not being able to feel my hands or feet because it was so cold.

Not considering Australian military, I don't think I can dedicate my life to that.

And no, I can't really think of any obvious ones

Do you have an Australian accent or a Finnish one?

Aussie, there's been many instances of no one understanding what I'm saying at all cause my accent even though it's not very strong.

Interesting story! As a Dutch Australian that grew up in the Netherlands and is moving to Sydney to study in two weeks, what things were a lot more different in Europe compared to Sydney/Australia?

Personally I've got a lot of issues with Sydney at the moment. Everything is way more relaxed here when it comes to nightlife/alcohol/fun in general. Sydney seems to be turning into a work your arse off and go home kind of place. Also I'm considering moving back to Finland to do university, haven't considered it really in Australia

Are the rations good?

The food we got was usually pretty good, or good enough. Hated that the only option for breakfast was porridge usually

How can Finland have a military if it doesn't exist?

:O

What was your day like? Did you receive some kind of allowance? Were you allowed to go out?

We got something like 5 euros each day, pocket money really. We got to go out most weekend, sometimes we'd be on base a few weeks in a row.

Is that you Andy Bernard?

This the second time I've heard this haha

What made you decide to go from a warm place such as Australia to a freezing hell like Finland?

The best experiences come from doing stuff like this

Did you speak any Finnish before starting the service? How about now?

My Finnish was ok I guess when I came in, definitely better now but nowhere close to fluent

What was your kill / death ratio during your deployment?

It's not deployment just to clarify. We did training exercises though with gun and body sensors, so pretty much hardcore laser tag. I died or got shot way too often.