The sun peeks out between the trees as the Prime Minister is escorted to a reconnaissance platoon in the forest at Västernorrland Regiment on Frösön. Equipped with a thermal sight, he discovers two soldiers hiding in a camouflaged tent a bit into the forest.
You were well hidden, Kristersson shouts.
The I 21 Regiment was re-established in 2022 and has its base in Sollefteå, but also a so-called training detachment in Östersund. Here, 122 conscripts are being trained this year, and 70 others next year who will become platoon commanders, explains Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Ljungberg, head of the Ranger Corps.
This year, we are training a rifle platoon, a staff and supply unit, a reconnaissance platoon, and an anti-tank missile platoon, says Ljungberg.
Cleaning Machine Gun
Kristersson also meets soldiers and conscripts who are performing weapon maintenance at the regiment. 24-year-old machine gunner Melker Zickerman Bexell helps clean a disassembled machine gun.
It's a bit complicated, but it gets extremely dirty.
When the training is complete this year, he will take a job at the Defense Forces in Stockholm. He is not a conscript but applied as a volunteer.
About 8,000 conscripts will be trained in Sweden this year, with the goal of reaching 10,000 by 2030 according to the defense decision of 2024. But Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson believes that much more will be required.
Then it must grow at a pace where you have officers who can train and facilities that can accommodate them, and above all, that there are meaningful tasks for the conscripts.
Doubling of Conscripts
Exactly how many will be "drafted" annually in the future is difficult to give a clear answer to, according to Kristersson.
I dare not give a figure, but I think it's at least double what we have today.
24-year-old Melker Zickerman Bexell perceives that most people think conscription is very fun, even if they may not have thought so from the start.
Many I know have changed their opinion since. It's clear that there are many who want to get it over with, but I don't think anyone looks back and regrets doing it.
Ulf Kristersson says that most of those who are formally conscripted today are in practice volunteers.
But it's clear that the draft exists for a reason, and that's because sometimes there are things that are bigger than your own will, says Ulf Kristersson.
Sweden has had conscription since 1901, when the system replaced the old allotment system. After World War II, around 50,000 were drafted annually, a figure that rose to around 60,000 in the early 1970s.
In 2010, conscription was put on hold, but was reactivated in 2017.
The number of conscripts has been steadily increasing since then, and is expected to be around 8,000 in 2025.
According to the total defense decision from October 2024, the number of conscripts will increase to 10,000 by 2030 and then rise to around 12,000 conscripts during the period 2032-2035.
Sources: The Swedish Agency for Conscript and Recruitment Services, The Defense Forces
