Eirik Østbye Andresen is an operations officer in the Armored Battalion at Setermoen camp in Troms. He has served and lived for seven years at Setermoen. Earlier this year he became a commuter. – For my part, it was natural due to changes in my own life. I wanted to get closer to family, and parents who are getting older, he says. Andresen is in good company. An overview news has gained access to shows that 1,946 employees in the Armed Forces are currently commuters. With a commuter agreement, employees are covered for 30 home journeys a year. In 2022, there were a total of close to 18,000 defense employees. – We can’t have it like that Mayor of Bardu municipality, Toralf Heimdal (Sp), has worked for several years to get more defense personnel living at the duty station. – We need arrangements that make it more attractive and profitable to get more employees to establish themselves here. The way it is now, it pays for more people to commute in the Armed Forces, he says. Bardu mayor Toralf Heimdal. The picture is from the defense chief’s presentation of his professional military advice this spring. Photo: Malin Strømsnes The mayor’s colleague in Evenes, Terje Bartholsen (Ap), agrees that the proportion of defense commuters is challenging. – You cannot demand to live in, for example, Arendal all your life, and commute and work in the Armed Forces in Indre Troms or in Evenes. We can’t have it that way. In the municipality of Nordre Nordland, the air station and the Air Force are being built. The same is happening with the Army in Inner Troms. There will be more soldiers and employees in the Norwegian Armed Forces. At the same time, the allied presence will increase. But it is not a given that this means more residents in the defense municipalities. Weekly commuters between south and north There are 660 defense commuters in the Army. Several of them travel, like Andresen, from their home in the south to their job in the north. Commuter status in the Armed Forces An employee in the Armed Forces can be granted commuter status from a new place of duty to the address of residence if the person in question owns/rents and lives in an independent home at the time of being ordered to the place of duty. For employees who are not granted commuter status by the Norwegian Armed Forces, they can become fiscal commuters. Employees under the age of 22 can become tax-related commuters to the parental home. As a tax-related commuter, you can claim tax deductions for additional costs for board, lodging and travel to and from the commuter accommodation at the place of employment. SOURCE: The Norwegian Armed Forces. On Thursday afternoon, he gets on the airport bus, and then watches the plane south. Sometimes he waits until Friday afternoon to go home to Eastern Norway. Eirik Østbye Andresen is an operations officer in the Armored Battalion in Setermoen camp, and commutes weekly. On Thursday or Friday afternoon, he travels back to Oslo. Photo: Kari Anne Skoglund / news – As I see it, the commuter service is about keeping personnel in the Armed Forces. Some have needs that mean that people have to live in the south. It could be family needs, or that you don’t have the opportunity to bring your partner up with you due to, for example, work, he says. Andresen points out that for a family it can be burdensome to move many times in a short period of time. The way the Norwegian Armed Forces’ ordering system is structured, one can serve in three different parts of the country for a period of ten years. – Preparedness is taken care of Family life is a key factor for the Armed Forces wanting to facilitate commuting. That’s what army commander Lars S. Lervik says. – What we see is that in order to keep the people we have, we have to make arrangements both for commuting and for people to move and live for short and longer periods where we have business, he says. Chief of Army Staff Lars S. Lervik, here during the Cold Response military exercise. Photo: Didrik Linnerud Arnesen / Forsvaret / NTB The army chief says that presence is important. – We take care of the requirements we have for preparedness, also through commuting. – It is about today’s and future’s soldiers being part of a society where it is natural to have two incomes, says Lervik. When the “commuter plane” takes off from Bardufoss Airport on Thursday and Friday afternoons, there are usually many defense commuters on board. Photo: Pål Hansen / news Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) says the government wants to make arrangements to reduce commuting in the Armed Forces. That is why the government has recently allocated more money to defense housing. – We have to count on both more commuters and more settling in defense municipalities when we step up. I would like to see employees with families to a greater extent settling near the places of employment. It is important for preparedness, for district policy, and for the Armed Forces to function in a good way, he says. Minister of Defense Bjørn Arild Gram. Here during a visit to NATO employees in Great Britain. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almas / Havard Blekastad Almas Gram expresses that the government is concerned with good preparedness around the clock – every day of the week. – That is why it is important that we have people in place in the functions that are important to fill. At the same time, we have to ensure recruitment, and therefore commuting is part of the solution. Proposes write-down of loans In Indre Troms and in Evenes, the municipalities are working to get more people to report moving. – We are concerned that the defense employees who do not have commuting rights must report their move. We are convinced that there are a good number who should have reported moving, who have not done so, says mayor of Målselv, Bengt-Magne Luneng (Sp). Målselv mayor Bengt-Magne Luneng (Sp). Photo: Hanne Wilhelms The mayor of Bardu has come up with proposals for concrete measures. – I have proposed to the Defense Commission’s report to write down mortgages as a means of getting more people to settle here. You must also have emergency allowances, so that it pays to live here, says Heimdal. Bartholsen in Evenes says they are keen to make arrangements for the Norwegian Defense Forces to succeed with their explorers. – Then we need the economy that the citizens provide. It is important for the municipalities that defense commuting is at an absolute minimum. Terje Bartholsen, mayor of Evenes, where the Air Force base is expanding. Photo: Frida Brembo / Frida Brembo/news Better housing and job offers Even the recent defense commuter Andresen has enjoyed living in the north. He says that a lot of good is being done by the municipalities to make it attractive for defense personnel to settle near their place of duty. Operations officer Eirik Østbye Andresen has lived and served for seven years at Setermoen. This year he became a commuter. Photo: Kari Anne Skoglund / news – The most important thing is, of course, that there are job offers for fellow movers here. The armed forces can also benefit from doing something about the housing situation. This is to make it more attractive to live close to the garrison in Indre Troms, he says.
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Close to 2,000 employees in the Armed Forces are commuters – news Troms and Finnmark
