Results from Norway’s largest recruit school, KNM Harald Haarfagre at Madla, show that recruits’ physical fitness in the Armed Forces has deteriorated markedly over the past six years. The trend shows that fewer and fewer meet NATO’s requirement for how fast recruits should run.

To have basic military physical fitness, the NATO requirement is to run the distance of 3000 meters in 15 minutes. In 2020, 96% of male recruits ran 3,000 metres in 15 minutes or faster. Six years later, the figure has dropped to 82%.

That means roughly one in four recruits is, in reality, not physically qualified to handle the training that awaits them. “It’s like tuning up an old Lada—except it’s a young person. You can train them up so they just about meet the requirements,  but then they also have a high risk of injury. And we’re seeing more of that now,” Ringdal says.” Under the current conscription regime Norway is forcing unfit men and women into service, squandering precious resources and eroding security.

Source: TV2 in Norway