A small queue forms outside the guardhouse at Amf 1 in Haninge, south of Stockholm. Some get a hug from their parents. Others look freshly shaven. For those who step through the gate, ten months in green clothes and a life completely different from high school await.
A professional impression, that they are well taken care of. They will still be here and live for ten months, Oliver Pehrson answers the question of what is important when receiving conscripts.
He is an ensign and will be taking on the role of platoon commander for the first time.
It's going to be crazy fun, he continues.
Lack of space
The unit will have the highest increase in the number of conscripts this year, 148 more than last year’s 410. There is a lot of construction going on in the area.
There is a lack of space. It is the infrastructure that sets the limits. That is what we are noticing, otherwise we have got a lot of new staff, so it should be fine, says Pehrson.
The new recruits make a quiet and attentive impression as they are weighed, measured, given their first equipment and a crash course in guard duty and maneuvers. Over the coming months, they will be moulded and trained to become amphibious soldiers.
Gustav Buredal from Boo in Nacka has prepared as best he can by following the training schedule that was distributed in advance.
It's strength training, fitness and mobility and stuff like that.
For him, it has always been a given to do the dirty work, but he feels that the recent years' build-up has "boosted" his motivation.
It will be tough and difficult at the time, but you will look back on it and feel like you have taken a lot with you.
“Do something bigger”
At the training area just outside, another group of conscripts in spruce-covered helmets are sweating during their first week in the field. They look somewhat hollow-eyed and worn, but on the other hand were awakened in their tents by gunfire early in the morning.
They enlisted earlier this summer and the field week has meant that the conscription period feels more serious, admits Signe Mueller, 19.
"You thought it was hard to be in the barracks – until you got out into the field. Now you want to go back to the barracks," she says with a broad smile.
The Swedish rearmament has also contributed to her.
It's fun to be involved in doing something bigger, when the Armed Forces are going to be expanded, even more people need to help, it's clear that even more people want to do it, she says.
Facts: The number of conscripts is increasing the most here
This year, 9,000 conscripts will be drafted, of which approximately 5,000 will be drafted in August. This is the highest number since 2006, but far below the levels of the 1990s. The goal is for the number to continue to rise to 12,000 annually by 2035.
The largest increase this year in absolute numbers is Amf 1 in Haninge (558 enlistments, 36 percent more), the Naval Base in Karlskrona (508, 37), P 7 Revingehed (397, 44). In percentage terms, the increase is largest at A 9 in Kristinehamn (199, 50) and K 4 Arvidsjaur (230, 48).
Source: Swedish Armed Forces
The attitude of 18-year-olds towards doing the dirty work has become more positive in recent years.
In the draft documents that the entire cohort of just over 100,000 people fill out every year, the average response to the nine-point question "I am positively disposed to completing basic education with military service" has increased steadily from 3.64 in 2022 to 3.72 in 2025. This year, "with military service" had been deleted because you can now also do basic education with civilian service, and the average response then rose to 3.89.
It is above all the proportion that puts 1 that has clearly decreased from 41.4 to 35.9 percent, while the proportion that puts 9 was unchanged.
Source: Swedish National Board of Education
