Finnish Rapid Deployment Force

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The Finnish Rapid Deployment Force (FRDF) (Finnish: Suomen Kansainvälinen Valmiusjoukko) is the spearhead international force of the Finnish Defence Forces. In a wartime national defence situation, it would be formed into separate élite battallions .

The force is trained to participate as a part of multinational peacekeeping operations and "crisis management" operations and can be deployed at short notice. The group consists of land forces and a sea detail of mine laying and mine clearance ships. As of 2006 inclusion of units from the Finnish Air Force is being studied.

Formed in 1996, the first battalion became operational in 1998. Elements of the group were first deployed in 1999 as a part of the KFOR operation in Kosovo. In a national defence situation, the FRDF would be organized into separate élite "interception" battallions (torjuntapataljoona), directly under the command of the Finnish Army headquarters.

Although the FRDF is an addition to rather than a replacement for traditional peacekeeping forces, many Finnish peacekeepers have served in the FRDF. The FRDF is currently not used for peacekeeping as a whole unit, but soldiers who have served in FRDF are given top priority for places in international peacekeeping forces like KFOR.

Being a special force (in the strictest sense of the word), only volunteer young conscripts that have passed an entry test and not yet started their military service are accepted into the FRDF. The tests are relatively easy, consisting of only basic physical, intelligence, psychological and English tests. The psychological test is the same that all NCO applicants take. As of 2002, all FRDF servicemen are trained to be NCOs at the least. The physical tests are the same that are taken by all FDF conscripts, ie. a running test and muscle test. It should also be noted that the admission tests aren't as difficult as Finnish paratrooper or combat diver entry tests. All six tests are graded with 0-3 points. A 0 in any test will disqualify the applicant, as will a total score of under ten points.

About 50% of applicants are accepted every year. Applicants are typically young men (18-19) who have already been assigned a place to complete their mandatory conscript service, but voluntarily want to apply for training for international missions instead. Women can also be accepted, also as volunteers, and typically make up less than 10% of the forces. Up to a few dozen servicemen fail to complete their training every year, usually because of poor suitability to the required NCO training or general lack of motivation.

After training, servicemen can voluntarily sign a "readiness contract" for one year at a time. This obligates them to participate in crisis management operations or peacekeeping during that year within a week's notice. In practice, no-one is forced to participate in operations and the contract serves more as an application for a place in a peacekeeping force. 90% of servicemen who complete their training do sign this contract.

[edit] Training

The FRDF service itself does not differ radically from the standard Finnish conscript service. Still, there are key differences:

- All servicemen are at least trained as NCOs, and serve the maximum amount of conscript service time in the FDF, 362 days. The usual time for conscripts is 180 or 270 days.

- The first six months of training are practically the same as for all Finnish conscript NCOs or reserve officer candidates. After about 6 months, the NCO and reserve officer training is completed and is followed by a 2-month special training period. Some servicemen are trained as medics and drivers during this period. This period is followed by a short "group training" phase, a final combat exercise where the national defence training is finalized. This period is followed by a three-month international period during which the servicemen often live in base camps simulating those found in Kosovo and other places where Finland has a peacekeeping commitment. The servicemen train patrolling, checkpoint operation, cooperation with foreign forces, riot control, etc.

- The training culminates in an international exercise. These exercises have been organized yearly in Lithuania, Norway and other countries.

The main FRDF training site is at Porin Prikaati (Pori Brigade) located in Säkylä, Finland. The core units are trained here, the arms branches varying yearly, with some years placing emphasis on the training of combat engineers and others on jaegers, etc.

Another training site is Nylands Brigad (Nyland Brigade) where the ATU, or Amphibious Task Unit, is trained. The force trained yearly there is about the equivalent of a coastal jäger platoon. ATU servicemen differ from the Pori Brigade servicemen in that they have already served a period of their conscript service in the Nyland Brigade before applying. In this case, ATU training should be considered as a separate course, which servicemen in Nyland Brigade can apply to. ATU applicants have basically the same admission tests as regular FRDF, except that applicants to the ATU also have to go through a swimming test, and are also required to have a B-class driver's licence.

The units train separately, but both wear the "Rapid Deployment Force" arch insignia in addition to their usual branch and unit insignia. Additionally, NBC training is given to volunteer FRDF servicemen at the Suojelukoulu ("Protection School") in Keuruu.

It must again be noted that the FRDF is only a "special" force in the strictest sense of the word, even though the unit has entry tests its organisation is completely conventional and the volunteer servicemen are practically not expected to perform above and beyond normal national conscript units, the only truly "special" part is the last 3-month international training period. The FRDF is part of the "modern" face of the Finnish Defence Forces and usually has good-quality, new equipment.

[edit] The Beret

The FRDF beret is the standard FDF ground forces' green beret, but instead of wearing a silver pin depicting a roaring lion, the FRDF beret sports a roaring golden lion wearing a crown.

The golden pin has to be earned in a "beret march", which is an unusually long march/exercise. Upon successful completion, the golden lion is awarded. Each branch has its own beret march, the Engineer march is often considered to be the toughest. If a serviceman fails the march for some reason, he/she is stuck with using the standard silver lion. The large majority do earn the golden lion. FRDF servicemen are entitled to use this beret, along with their shoulder insignia, during any peacekeeping operations they may engage in.

[edit] Sources

• The Pori Brigade in English
• Publications of the Finnish Defence Forces ("Englanniksi" = in English)
• FRDF in the Viking 01 exercise