Part of the military defence – ensuring territorial integrity

The Border Guard is part of Finland’s military defence. 

Special border jaegers train in the terrain, with red smoke behind them. The Border Guard is capable of immediately safeguarding Finland’s territorial integrity and providing military defence. As a part of the national defence system, the Border Guard participates in NATO’s collective defence.

In 2024, the Border Guard’s number of training days and training events increased. New threats in the security environment call for new readiness. At the same time, closing of the border crossing points on the eastern border ensured that more people could participate in the training. The ability to maintain defence readiness improved among the personnel placed in the border troops. 

Conscripts and reservists

Conscripts were trained for 107 439 days, in total, during 2024, which corresponds to the previous year. Reservists were trained for 6 560 days, in total, during one year, which is more than before the corona pandemic. Considerably more reservists were trained in 2022 and 2023, after the corona pandemic.

The Finnish Border Guard’s number of training days have increased in the resent years. In 2020, the number of training days was almost 115 thousand. In 2021, on the other hand, the number slightly decreased to 107 thousand. In 2023 the number increased up to 123 thousand training days. In 2024, the number of training days was approximately 114 thousand.
Figure: The Border Guard’s training days 2020–2024


 

 

We train conscripts to special border jaegers and border jaegers in Immola, Onttola and Ivalo. Border Guard conscripts receive training for demanding reconnaissance tasks.