As most of you know, I have spent the last year doing military service. I have thought about writing a post about it for a long time, and I finally got around to do it. As a complete and detailed description would be several hundred pages, this is just a “short” summary (three pages) to give you the idea.
All Norwegian citizens have a duty to serve the country for 18 months, of which 12 months are usually spent in the Army, Navy, Airforce or “Garden”, the kings guard. After completion of this year, you may get called in for repetition exercises in the Home Guard until you are 45 or something like that. During your year you have a lot of options, and privates fill many positions, such as guards, military police, border patrol, cooks, electricians, foot soldiers, intelligence working, weapons assistants and drivers or medics, such as I did. But as the armed forces only need approximately one in six, there is a selection process. This starts with an online questionnaire that everyone has to answer. Based on this, you might get called in for an interview, various tests and a medical examination. If you pass these and the military wants you, you’re in. I went to this during my last year of HS, but for various reasons, my service was postponed to September last year.
So, at September 23rd, I came to KNM Harald Haarfagre, the Navy/Air Force recruit school for two months of basic training. We started in a big auditorium, and after some greeting and introductionary speeches, we were told to look around us as we would spend the next two months with the closest ones. At this point everybody started looking at the people beside them and thought “OMG, I hope you’re not a complete retard”. Anyways, after this there was a big round of further registration, medical examinations, waiting and other things until we got our gear. In the end we got to the barrack which would be our home. I came in 5.5, the 5th company, troop 5, along with 45 others, of which 6 were girls. In my room there were nine other guys, complete strangers that I would live with around the clock for eight weeks.
The key to a military life is routine. Every day is organized in the same way, so you get into it really quick, and even the lamest tasks become exactly that, a routine. Our day would start at 5:45 with breakfast and cleaning, and at 7:30 there would be an inspection of the room. And this is not like when your mom checked your room as a kid. All the clothes had to be the width of the collar of our dress uniform, approx. 7,5cm, the sheets on the bed perfect, and not a single hair or clot of dust anywhere in the room. We had to be newly shaven, the boots polished and the uniforms perfect. Failing in this would result in a re-inspection after lunch. After this we had lessons in everything from physical education, tactics, first aid, shooting and urban warfare to ethics and law. During this we had to show perfect military discipline and etiquette. Being recruits we had to salute to everyone and ask permission to speak to officers, even the most junior ones. The first two weeks we were not allowed to wear civilian clothes or go outside the base, even though we had the weekends free. It was a big change from civilian life, but most people adapted quite quickly.
After six weeks of learning to be soldiers, we would put what we had learned to the test in a field week. We were bussed to the forest, divided in squads and performed various missions for five days. We went on reconnaissance patrols, performed ambushes, guarded objects, manned road blocks and much more. The whole thing ended in the company going on a rescue mission where we got the bad guys, saved the hostages and retreated in under fire while transporting wounded and maintaining a perimeter. The whole week was very cool, and one of the highlights of the year. When we got back to base and had finished cleaning up, everybody was exhausted. With 6hrs of sleep during the last 57 hrs, I went to bed early. During the field week, we were also told our new postings. I got a spot as a medic in the coast guard. So after a week of a standard safety course for sailors, it was goodbye Madla, hello Sessvollmoen.
I came to Sessvollmoen with approx. 55 others from both the Navy and Air Force. Here we were enrolled in FSAN, the Armed Forces Medical Services, and begun an eight week intensive course. The days soon took on a similar pattern as on Madla.
We got up at six, then had breakfast and cleaned until 7:30. After inspection, the day began. We usually had a couple of hours theory in a big auditorium. There we learned about anatomy, physiology, injuries, medications, rules and regulations, and much more. After this we had a demo of practical skills regarding what he had learned. The last part was usually an exercise where we had a case with “the injury of the day”. The afternoons and evenings were spent practicing what we had learned and preparing for the next day. We also had physical education a few times a week, and this often was in the form of “combat conditioning” a high intensity work out, where we ran with gas masks, carried our partners around and stuff. Very tiring… After three weeks of learning to stop massive bleedings, fix broken bones and cracked skulls, treat burns or hypothermia, seal punctured lungs and insert needles (++) we finished part one of the course with a couple of exams.
After a Christmas break, we returned for part two of our course, the Medic module. Here we learned more about illnesses and patient treatment. We learned how to clean wounds and keep things sterile, patient examination, medications, and signs, symptoms and treatments of illnesses (everything from flu to meningitis (hjernehinnebetennelse)). This part was ended with another field week. Here we set up and ran a field hospital for five days. We operated in nine hour shifts, around the clock, and got various patients. This was also extremely fun and challenging, but tiring as well. When we got back to the barrack, we were told that we weren’t done yet, and had to run and change and pack. We were going on a “beret-run”, a challenge to get our berets back, which had been taken from us when we got to Sessvollmoen. The run consisted of us running around in the forrest in the middle of the night carrying a stretcher. The stretcher was loaded with heavy water tanks, and we had to carry this up and down snowy paths. Every now and then we would arrive at a post, where we had to perform various tasks, such as to take an ice bath, carry our “wounded” friends up a steep, snow covered hill or other things. It was utterly exhausting. The following day we got our berets back, and now we had actually earned it. Wuhuu!
The next week was spent with exams and final things, after which we all got the patches and official “medic” title, yay! My next posting was the Coast Guard vessel Senja, but first I went to Thailand for a couple of weeks, haha.
The CG is basically the guards of the sea. The ships are out patrolling the 110.000km coast line and close to 2.000.000km^2 of sea that Norway controls (that’s huge btw) The usual assignments are rescue missions and the inspection of fishing vessels, but the CG also assists Norwegian police and customs upon request. As a medic, my job aboard was to take care of the 50-60 other crew members, as well as patients from other ships. We were usually two medics onboard, and a normal day consisted of hospital routines, taking care of patients (usually just a flu, minor cuts and bruises ++) and giving first aid lectures to the crew. As this didn’t take the whole day, we also spent a lot of time with the deck hands, doing maintenance such as painting, cleaning and removing rust. A couple of days a week there was also exercises, where the whole ship participated. This could be a fire in the engine room, a collision ++. During these exercises, we run around the ship retrieving patients, bringing them back to our base and treating them. With sometimes five or six patients, this could be quite hectic, but fun. Another part of the work was standing watch. While at sea, this is bridge watch, during which you are either a look out or at the helm, steering the ship.
Senja is of one of three ships in the Nordkapp-class, the biggest ships in the Norwegian Coast Guard. She is 105m and 3200 tonnes, so she is a rather big lady. Being built in the early 1980s, she is also one of the eldest in the whole Navy, and newer CG ships are usually smaller, lighter (no armored steel) and more comfortable. But even though Senja is not new and fancy, we had a good time. Facilities included a gym, sauna, library, salons with dvds and video games, and probably the best food in the armed forces. A luxury some might think, but the CG life was at times, challenging. A normal day was 08:00-20:00, seven days a week. If the schedule permitted it, we would have shorter days on Sundays. In the other end, we were done we were done. Sometimes this was at 17:00, sometimes at 22. In addition there were watches round the clock, and the fact that we were on standby 24/7. As a medic I had further inconveniences, such as when people woke me up at night because they had felt ill. Then I would have to get up and see what I could do before catching a bit more sleep before the 04:00-watch. Usually people got well again, but sometimes we got patients that had to be in isolation, and then it would be our (the medics) job to care for them. A bit lame sometimes, but it was a part of the job, and I actually enjoyed it (most of the time, anyways). A normal tour of duty was 2x 3 weeks, so we had six weeks on, three weeks off. In theory…
And thus the year passed, and suddenly I was done. The ship was in Bergen, and I remember standing on the shore watching the ship leave. It was quite sad, because I have had an amazing year. I have met so many nice and talented people, and made a few friends for life (I hope). I have learned so much about myself and gained a huge amount of knowledge. I have become more independent, and my cleaning skills are now superb. I have learned to live and work with all sorts of people, including people I don’t like, and I have learned to lead. As a medic I have learned a lot about injuries and the human body, things that might help me save a life someday. In the coast guard I put what I had learned into use and helped injured crew members. During my time there we also sailed from Harstad in the north down to Kristiansand in the south seeing a lot of the beautiful coast line. And of course; I’ve done a lot of cool military stuff, like shooting and working with cannons, being on exercise with several ships, submarines, helicopters, aircraft and special forces. And other cool, secret stuff.
Sometimes, military life sucks. Sometimes it’s just boring as hell. You’re feeling miserable, and just want to go home, but in the end the lame thing will be over, and you can laugh about it with your friends. So despite these downsides, I have had an amazing year, and I don’t regret it for a minute. If you are one of those who are considering to whether to go or not, go! It is pretty much a once in a lifetime chance, and you will experience a lot of things that you would not be able to do otherwise.
Now my military life is over, and next chapter of my life is studies in Dublin.
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