He usually works as a service manager at the company Visma. In the Home Guard, Bjørnar Fyhn is a commander. It fills everyday life with meaning. – When the Home Guard calls, it is my duty to serve the country. I do that together with everyone else who gets the same phone, says Fyhn. – But I am completely ready to step in. He says it is rewarding to be part of the Home Guard. – The home security duty is a civic duty. Putting on the uniform means that you represent the Armed Forces for the country. I believe very strongly that the Defense of the Fatherland is one of the strongest civic duties one can do. To me it makes sense. Bjørnar Fyhn is a commander in the Home Guard and always has his uniform and equipment ready for the next time duty calls. Photo: Hanne Wilhelms / news – Assisting on the platforms The armed forces have raised the alert. And the Home Guard will increase the number of soldiers going forward. They will also run several exercises. What that means for Bjørnar Fyhn’s everyday life remains to be seen. – I’ll take it as it comes. Usually his everyday life consists of work, training, socializing and various positions, including the Red Cross in Tromsø. – You are not afraid of being called out on a sharp assignment? – The Home Guard already carries out sharp missions today. We had assistance at the borders during covid, and now we are out on platforms assisting with observation. So if I am called out on a sharp mission, I will be. Of course, this entails the risk that such an assignment entails, but it is not something I worry about, he says. One thing he hadn’t thought much about before, but which has occurred to him during his service in the Home Guard, is that the fellow soldiers are often people from his own immediate environment. – Suddenly I met old acquaintances from school and work. It’s really nice to pick up the thread with these people again. A troop from Heimevernet’s HV-09103 prepares to be markers at an exercise in Bergen in 2016. Photo: Jostein Hestdal / Forsvaret Heimevernet’s unique knowledge This is also one of the Heimevernet’s key strengths, believes Major Sverre Kunej Dæhli, who leads a new task force for the Home Guard in Tromsø. Dæhli believes it is of military strategic importance that those who serve in the Home Guard also meet each other and socialize outside the service. – People who know each other work better together. In addition, you also have the enormous amount of local knowledge that is represented in the fact that people defend the area where they work and live. – This means that they are also able to register what changes much faster than ordinary sensors will be able to pick up. The Home Guard consists of approximately 40,000 soldiers spread over 11 districts. What they assist with today is, among other things, guarding and securing oil and gas installations, says Dæhli. He was surprised by how many people unsolicited asked to be part of the new task force in Tromsø. – Nothing has been done to recruit. Bjørnar Fyhn believes that a sense of duty is one of the things that makes people sign up. – It has grown in step with the escalating tension in Europe throughout the year. He also believes that the feeling of nationalism, stepping up and doing something extra for Norway, means that many have signed up. Fyhn believes that the fact that so many volunteer before the task force has been established and recruitment has begun shows that there are many who feel they have more to give. Viktor Fladmoe is the Army’s chief shop steward. He believes that many soldiers are more motivated after the state of alert has been raised. Photo: ØYSTEIN ANTONSEN / news – Getting more motivated Chief shop steward in the Army, Viktor Fladmoe, says most conscripts take the tense situation in stride. – But it is clear that there are many people who think it is a slightly disgusting situation in the world now. But we are generally aware of why we are here and what we are going to do. Fladmoe told news earlier this week that he has received messages from several former soldiers who wonder if the increased preparedness means that they may have to find the uniform again. – Those who have just left will no longer receive any information from the Armed Forces. The big concerns are about mobilisation, and whether to call in those who have finished their initial service. He believes that raising the alert was a sensible move. – I think the signal the Armed Forces sends to civil society is very good and correct. It shows why we are here. It also makes many soldiers more motivated as well. For me personally, it becomes a little cooler to have the job I have when the Armed Forces have that significance.
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Heightened preparedness means that service manager Bjørnar Fyhn has to put on his uniform – news Troms and Finnmark
