Young people with an immigrant background constituted between 15 and 20 percent of Norway’s relevant age cohorts over the past decade—but only 2.5 to 3.5 percent of those performing initial military service. Their representation among conscripts was therefore only around one-eighth to one-quarter of what proportional participation would suggest. The findings echo recent evidence from […]

The Norwegian Armed Forces has shortened the compulsory course for guard and security soldiers from five weeks to three (a 40 percent reduction). Around 1,800 conscripts enter these positions annually, making this one of the country’s largest categories of compulsory military service. At Bardufoss, approximately 120 conscripts are completing the compressed course, which covers weapons […]

In a recent Forvaretsforum story Ingrid Indianna Nordby who entered Norwegian first-time service motivated for an active year in uniform says she ended up spending most of it at a computer in an office role she had not applied for. Serving at Bardufoss as an operations assistant in Brigade North, she says her dyslexia and […]

Norway’s Armed Forces are facing criticism over welfare services for conscripts after the Armed Forces Personnel and Conscription Centre reported “major problems” in its 2025 annual report. The NRK report says the criticism concerns the welfare offer available to conscripts, adding to a broader pattern of complaints about how Norway treats soldiers performing compulsory service. […]