Fewer conscripts are interrupting their service, the Finnish Defence Forces reported.
In the induction intake of conscripts for the first half of the year, more than 12,000 recruits began their service in the Finnish Defence Forces.
After the first six months of training, only 16.1 percent of those who started their service in January have had to interrupt their service. This figure is 2.6 percentage points lower than a year earlier. According to the Defence Forces, one of the factors contributing to the reduction in the number of interruptions is the development of pre-service health checks.
"More personnel resources have been allocated to preliminary health examinations, and the examinations have likely been conducted more effectively than during the coronavirus period. This is possibly reflected in the lower dropout rate," the Head of the Field Medicine Services Unit, Commander (Med.) Petri Kangaspunta said in a Defence Forces Press release.
The main reason for dropping out among the first half of this year's intake has been transferring to the E-service eligibility category, which allows a temporary exemption from service due to health reasons.
Although health reasons remain the most common justifications for interruptions, the number of E-classifications has somewhat decreased compared to the corresponding numbers for the two previous January intakes.
The Finnish Defence Forces organisation system for service fitness classifies conscripts based on their health. For example, A-classification means a conscript is perfectly healthy, B-classification indicates minor handicaps and C-classification indicates someone exempt from peacetime service due to health reasons.
D-classification is for those unable to serve in peacetime and wartime. T-classification is for those who cannot serve for reasons unrelated to health.
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