Finnish Defence Forces - Organization

Organization

The Finnish Defence Forces are under the command of the Chief of Defence (currently General Ari Puheloinen), who is directly subordinate to the President of the Republic in matters related to the military command. Apart from the General Staff, the military branches are the Finnish Army (Maavoimat), the Finnish Navy (Merivoimat) and the Finnish Air Force (Ilmavoimat). The Border Guard (Rajavartiolaitos) (including the coast guard) is under the Ministry of the Interior but can be incorporated fully or in part into the defence forces when required by defence readiness.

The Army is divided into four military provinces (Finnish: sotilaslääni) (Southern, Western, Eastern and Northern) which bear the command responsibility for all brigade-level units and military districts. Subordinated to the military provinces, there are 19 military districts (Finnish: aluetoimisto), which are responsible for carrying out conscription, training and activating of reservists and planning and executing territorial defence of their areas. All logistical duties of the Army are carried out by the Army Materiel Command (Finnish: Maavoimien materiaalilaitos), which has one Logistics Regiment for each military province.

The Navy consists of headquarters, supporting elements and two maritime commands (Finnish: meripuolustusalue): Archipelago Sea and Gulf of Finland maritime commands. These commands are brigade-level units responsible for conscript training and the integrity of Finland's territorial waters. They include both ship and coastal units.

The Air Force consists of headquarters, supporting elements and three air commands (Finnish: lennosto): Satakunta, Lapland and Karelian Air Commands. They are responsible for securing the integrity of the Finnish airspace during peace and for conducting aerial warfare independently during a crisis.

In the beginning of January 2008, the Finnish Army organization was overhauled. The three Army commands and the 12 military provinces were replaced by four new operative military provinces, 3 territorial military provinces and 18 military districts. In the new system, the operative military provinces form the operative regional headquarters, each consisting of several brigades, while the territorial military provinces and military districts conduct conscription, train and manage the reserve, found the bulk of crisis-time units, and take care of the local defence. Each military district has its civilian counterpart among the regions of Finland, which facilitates the civilian-military cooperation in total defence.

The military training of the reservists is primarily the duty of the Defence Forces, but it is assisted by the National Defence Training Association of Finland (Finnish: Maanpuolustuskoulutusyhdistys). The association provides reservists with personal, squad and platoon level military training. In the training, most of the instructors are volunteers, but when Defence Forces materiel is used, the training always takes place under the direct supervision of career military personnel. In addition, the Defence Forces support the voluntary training by providing instructors and giving logistical support. On the other hand, the Defence Forces may request the association to run specialized courses for personnel placed in reserve units. From the beginning of year 2008, the legislation concerning the association will require that the chairman and the majority of the members of its board are chosen by the Finnish Council of State. The other board members are chosen by NGOs active in the national defence.