Posted on 05/04/2015 2:54:52 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
The Finnish Defense Forces is preparing to inform its 900,000 military reservists of their role in the event of mobilization, all the while maintaining the communication has no connection to threats posed by Russia.
However, according to journalist Peter Iiskola, this is the first time a letter of this sort has even been sent out in Finland, Newsweek reports. Finland has a small army of around 16,000. In the event of war, this number can swell up to 230,000, drawing from former conscripts.
The announcement of the letter, which reservists between ages 20-60 will receive, follows on the heels of a joint declaration signed by Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland in early April to reaffirm defense cooperation among Nordic states. That declaration explicitly stated that Russia presents the greatest challenge to European security.
Finland does not belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and public opinion polls continue to display opposition to the idea of joining the alliance.
Still, Finland is firm in denying the letter has anything to do with Russia.
“The sending out of these letters to our reservists has no connection to the security situation around Finland,” Finnish Defense Forces director of communications Mika Kalliomaa told Newsweek. “We are simply keeping ties with our reservists and asking them what their role would be in an instance of war, and asking them if there is new knowledge we should know about. There is no link to any threat from Russia.”
Finland shares an 800-mile border with Russia, the longest in the European Union. The Kremlin has been testing the waters by sending aircraft into Finnish airspace—sometimes three times in a single week.
More recently, Finland’s navy detonated depth charges in an attempt to scare off a possible foreign submarine lurking in the waters off Helsinki.
The Finnish defense minister refused to speculate as to the source of the suspected submarine, but Nordic media quickly jumped to the conclusion that the Russians were involved.
“They haven’t said it was Russia but who else would it be?” Patrik Oksanen, political editor of Sweden’s Hudiksvalls Tidning newspaper, told Newsweek. “It’s Russia. It’s logical it was Russian.”
Other states close to Russia have taken similar precautions. Lithuania plans to reinstate the draft, and the Czech Republic is looking to follow suit. As of March of this year, public opinion in Poland supports conscription to the tune of 80 percent. This marks an 8 percent increase from polling conducted in November 2014.
Someone needs to ask Hillary how that “reset” is working out...
Maybe some of this guy’s descendants can help out: (Winter War was Finland v. Stalin)
“Simo Hayha’s involvement in the Winter War was very extraordinary. With his Mosin-Nagant M91 rifle, he would dress in white winter camouflage, and carry with him only a day’s worth of supplies and ammunition. While hiding out in the snow, he would then take out any Russian who entered his killing zone. Hayha preferred to use iron sights on his gun instead of scopes, as scopes had a tendency to glare in the sunlight and reveal his position. While he may sound like an ordinary sniper, this was far from the case: over the course of 100 days during the winter he racked up over 500 kills, earning him the nickname “The White Death”. The Soviets feared him so much that they mounted numerous counter sniper and artillery attacks to get rid of him, all of which failed miserably. However, on March 6th, 1940, he was hit in the jaw by an explosive round from a counter sniper. He fell into an 11-day coma, awakening on the day that the war ended.”
M28/30 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4
“Häyhä used a M/28-30 with serial number 60974, since it suited his small frame (1.6 m (5 ft 3 in)). The rifle is a shorter, Finnish White Guard militia variant of the Mosin–Nagant rifle, known as “Pystykorva” (literally “Spitz”, due to the front sight’s resemblance to the head of a spitz-type dog) chambered in the Finnish Mosin–Nagant cartridge 7.62×53R. He preferred iron sights over telescopic sights as to present a smaller target for the enemy (a sniper must raise his head higher when using a telescopic sight), to increase accuracy (a telescopic sight’s glass can fog up easily in cold weather), and to aid in concealment (sunlight glare in telescopic sight lenses can reveal a sniper’s position). As well as these tactics, he frequently packed dense mounds of snow in front of his position to conceal himself, provide padding for his rifle and reduce the characteristic puff of snow stirred up by the muzzle blast. He was also known to keep snow in his mouth whilst sniping, to prevent steamy breaths giving away his position in the cold air.[10]”
FYI, the Russian cartridge was the 7.62x54R, NOT 7.62x53R. Love that trick with snow in the mouth...presumably not yellow snow, either.
Might have been 7.62x53r if Finnish made ammo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62%C3%9753mmR
“After gaining its independence in 1917 and after the Finnish Civil War of 1918, large numbers of Model 1891 Mosin–Nagant rifles were in the hands of the Finnish military. As the old barrels were worn out, they were replaced by new 7.83 mm (.308 in) barrels and the leftover 7.62×54mmR cartridges being in short supply, a domestic product was needed. This gave birth to the 7.62×53mmR.
Whoever the guy was that planned for the WWII war with Russia was a smart guy.
They captured a bunch of Russian rifles (I believe at the end of WWI or shortly after), rebuilt them to tighter tolerances than the original gun, and used the same ammunition as the Russians. When the war came, the Finns captured most of their supplies from the Russians. Everything worked seamlessly with what they already had.
Evidently, he did was not paralyzed with “not-invented-here”.
Cheers to the warriors in Finland for getting ready during such an anti-defense social and political situation. We in the western culture nations need you.
Sisu.
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