When Princess Ingrid Alexandra one day becomes Queen of Norway, she will also become Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. A total of three “dream days” in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force were the gift from the Armed Forces when the princess turned 18 in January. Today she visited the Army at Setermoen camp in Indre Troms. The artillery battalion, the armored battalion and the sanitary battalion are stationed there. The princess tried, among other things, a storm armored vehicle and a tank. Spokesperson Brage Wiik-Hansen in the Army told the Defense Forum ahead of the visit that Princess Ingrid Alexandra would also get to try shooting with the new K9 artillery vehicle. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Happy princess During her visit to Setermoen, the princess also took part in a sanitation exercise, where she helped evacuate a “wounded” soldier on a stretcher. The 18-year-old also met conscript soldiers of the same age and ate field rations around the fire. When the visit was over, Princess Ingrid Alexandra found it difficult to point out what had been the most fun during the eventful day. – I think it is so difficult to choose. I can’t say which is more fun. Everything is fun! Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Last week the princess visited the Norwegian Navy. Then, among other things, she was part of the fast-moving boat Stridsbåt 90, and she herself had the opportunity to steer the vessel, according to Kongehuset.no. Princess Ingrid Alexandra also participated in a sanitation exercise with the Norwegian Navy, and she took part in a navigation exercise on board the corvette KNM Glimt – one of the fastest naval vessels in the world. Flying fighters Almost a year ago, in November last year, the princess visited the fighter troop of the Norwegian Armed Forces’ special command at Rena. The visit was part of the Armed Forces’ graduation gift to Princess Ingrid Alexandra in 2019. During the visit to the Special Command, the then 17-year-old princess dressed in a military uniform and threw herself from a jumping tower, where the soldiers practice parachute jumping. Just a few weeks later, the princess became one of the last in Norway to fly the F-16 fighter, before the aircraft type was phased out after 40 years in service for Norway. She controlled the levers herself for parts of the trip. Saw the kingdom from the air. Over Evenes, over “Norway’s national mountain” Stetind – towards Bardufoss, down towards Lofoten and back in the sea areas around Bodø. Princess Ingrid Alexandra got to fly with the F-16. Pretty cool, the princess has described it as herself. – I learned an awful lot about the military on those trips. It was also my first official assignment alone. Both visits were fantastic and very educational, said Princess Ingrid Alexandra when news interviewed her in connection with her 18th birthday in January. Here the princess will be one of the last to fly an F-16 in Norway. Conscription Whether the princess chooses the Armed Forces after she finishes high school, as her father and grandfather did, is not yet known. When news asked if she had to be in the Armed Forces in order to be Queen, who is then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, she replied: – I have conscription on the same level as everyone else, but there is nothing in the Constitution that says I need a military education. So not because of my role anyway. JUMPED IN IT: The princess threw herself from the jumping tower when she visited Rena camp last year. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB
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