I'm no longer updating this thread.
If anyone's interested in further updates, I'll be posting them here instead:
Norwegian Armed Forces photos - Försvaret | Page 2 | The American Military Forum
Thank you.
What is this departure from the forum for? Out of respect for you in your contribution to the JMSDF thread in the past, I will honor your thread by making regular updates.
I hope to see you again here , soon. Let not differences in opinion on some areas of policies between you and I be a barrier between us.
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Swedish Army takes delivery of Archer artillery systems
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Deliveries of Archer self-propelled artillery system to the Swedish Army have begun.
The first of the truck-mounted 155mm systems -- made by BAE Systems Bofors -- were officially turned over to the Army by the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration on the first of this month, the Swedish military said.
The systems will be operated by the Army's A 9 Artillery Regiment, the country's only artillery unit.
"This day is very important for the regiment, these pieces are a big part of our identity as a regiment and as gunners," said the regiment's commander, Col. Johan Pekkari.
Sweden is the sole operator of the Archer system. Norway had jointly ordered the system but later dropped out of the program.
Deliveries of the artillery system will continue throughout this year, giving Sweden a total of 24 systems.
Archer artillery systems delivered to Swedish military - UPI.com
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In the spring of 2014, Tora, a 20-year-old living in Norway, received a letter from the armed forces inviting her to try out for Jegertroppen, or the Hunter Troop, a new Special Forces unit and the world’s first all-female military training program. Tora, who had recently graduated from high school and had, out of interest in a military career, visited an armed forces open day, did not hesitate to apply. “I had been waiting for the armed forces to come up with a tougher specialty for girls,” she explained.
Norway, along with Israel,
opened combat positions to women in 1985, but only 10 percent of its soldiers are female. Before 1985, women served only in support functions such as medics and engineers. For special operations, the number of female members is still zero: the country’s Special Forces is open to women, but few had applied and none had passed the admissions test. The lack of women has limited the Special Forces’ effectiveness in international operations. “In Afghanistan, one of our big challenges was that we would enter houses and not be able to speak to the women,” explained Captain Ole Vidar Krogsaeter, an officer with Norway’s Special Forces Operations. “In urban warfare, you have to be able to interact with women as well. Adding female soldiers was an operational need.”
Courtesy Norwegian Special Forces Command (FSK)
Norway's Female Soldiers | Foreign Affairs