Local Defence troops, or Local Defence units and Volunteer reserve units (Maakuntajoukot in Finnish) are local troops of Finnish Defence Forces composed of volunteer reservists and other volunteers who have pledged to act within troops during a crisis. Finnish Defence Forces and, under control of FDF, National Defence Training Association of Finland are responsible for training of troops. Local Defence troops are composed of provincial companies, each of which is under command of Military province of their area (Sotilaslääni, four in total, divided to 19 military districts (aluetoimisto)), in total there are 28 companies.
Most important duties for Local Defence troops are protection, guarding, oversight and defence of certain objects and the area of their respective military district in general in addition to helping police and/or firedepartments and other officials in number of matters, in war time armed forces companies of Local Defence troops are called interception companies that are under direct command of headquarters of their respective Military province just as they are in peace time. Members of troops have their personal equipment (excluding most of battlegear such as flak vests, ballistic helmets and weaponry) in their home on a recipe from FDF, allowing quick mobilisation of troops in case of crisis since they only need battlegear and additional equipment such as vehicles, signalling equipment and supplies to be completely ready, these will be provided by garrisons and/or other military installations within or at least near to the military district the company in question is located in. Companies are always composed of reservists from area of certain military district within military province in question, providing an advantage of knowing the area of operations. Troops are trained regularly and their physical abilities are tested annually with conditions of suitability for troops set higher than basic expectations for professional soldiers of FDF.
Some left-wing political parties and other political groups have criticized Local Defence troops for being too close to White Guard which was abolished after World War II, while some civilian organizations such as Finnish Red Cross criticize that Local Defence troops shouldn't take a part in operations that fall under their area of expertice such as peace time volunteer rescue service.