FALCON POWERS – After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many wanted to join the Home Guard, which received a record number of applications in 2022. But a third have withdrawn their applications after realizing what the assignment entails.
In 2022, the Home Guard received about 30,000 applications, a significant increase compared to the 4,500 applications that usually come in during a normal year, but a third withdrew their applications.
According to Jonas Algotsson, battalion commander for the Home Guard in Kalmar, there were many who applied to the Home Guard without having a clue what they were really getting into.
“I had an extremely large number of stupid applications that came in connection with the Ukraine war,” says Jonas Algotsson.
Despite this, 2022 was still a good year for the Home Guard. Service contracts were signed with 5,200 people during the year, which is a record. At the same time, the agreement was terminated with 3,800 people.
“Normally, we have a loss of ten percent. These are people who range from military service to the age of 70. Many find themselves in life situations where they have small children, study or move to another place. But we have become more careful that people do their contracted time,” says Jonas Algotsson.
The Home Guard is growing slowly, despite the defections. Over the past five years, the number of members has increased by 1,041 people. The goal for the Armed Forces is to increase the number of Home Guard soldiers by several thousand by 2030, but at the current rate, that goal will not be achieved.
In Småland, the Home Guard has more difficulty recruiting new soldiers compared to the big cities, where the population is larger.
“It’s a bit special. Our population is small and few completed military service in the last years of the old system. To give a comparison, when I did my military service in 1981-82, there were 47,000 who participated. The last year we had military service, there were only 3,000 in the whole of Sweden, and I think most of them came from metropolitan areas,” says Jonas Algotsson.
