The princess is now well underway in the first service. Last week she started in the Engineer Battalion in Øverbygd in Indre Troms. She will serve here for the next 12 months. Together with 300 other fresh soldiers, she is now embarking on an intensive recruitment period. On Wednesday we got the first glimpses of the soldier princess Ingrid Alexandra. The princess arrived at the camp on the night of Thursday last week. On Wednesday this week, NTB and news were allowed to join the camp to see how she is doing. The soldiers salute. Photo: Princess Ingrid Alexandra is now a soldier in the Norwegian Armed Forces. / NTB With the press present, the princess took part in a lesson where she learned about the different parts of a weapon, and how to disassemble and reassemble it. The princess then posed for a photo together with fellow soldiers and the management at the camp. She did not give interviews during the session, but was asked by the battalion commander if she regretted the choice to join the engineer battalion. – I have no regrets, answered the princess. The princess prepares weapons. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / NTB The princess, like the rest of the royal family, does not have a surname, and ahead of military service there has been some speculation as to what she will be addressed as. – She is charged as recruit Alexandra. Treated like everyone else Princess Ingrid Alexandra serves a military camp with around 800 soldiers, and well over 200 civilian employees. Skjold camp consists of the Army’s Engineer Battalion and the infantrymen in the 2nd Battalion. – The princess will be treated in the same way as all the other soldiers, battalion commander Bjørn Kråkstad previously told news earlier this year. The princess together with the commander of the Engineer Battalion, Bjørn Kråkstad, and her company commander. Photo: NTB It is also requested by the Royal Palace. – The first service something Princess Ingrid Alexandra will experience on the same level as other conscripts, writes communications adviser Sara Svanemyr in an e-mail to news. Here, Princess Ingrid Alexandra is helped by a fellow soldier. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB It can get very cold at the place where the princess serves. In January, the lowest measured temperature in Øverbygd was -38.3 degrees. At the same time, the weather fluctuates quickly. Only days later, 2.9 plus degrees were measured. Young people: – Pretty cool The military camp is located in Øverbygd in Målselv municipality. The settlement has less than 1,000 inhabitants. The childcare center in the village is located close to the military camp. Pupils think it is fun that the princess serves in their village. – It’s quite grand that a royal comes to such a small place as Øverbygd, says Jørgen Sørgård Heiskel (13). He hopes for a royal visit to kickboxing training. The village has several Norwegian and European champions in sports. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB When soldiers have passed the school, the pupils have tried to look for the princess. If they were to meet Princess Ingrid Alexandra at the store, they have the plan ready. When soldiers pass the Bjørkeng nursery school, students Leonard Eliassen (14), Jørgen Sørgård Heiskel (13), Elias Rostad (14) and Tommy Rostad (15) try to see if they can wave to the princess. Photo: Malin Straumsnes / news – We might ask to take a picture with her. The junior high school students are also used to seeing familiar faces in the small village. The engineer battalion’s former camp in Øverbygd today belongs to FilmCamp. Films such as “Sulis 1907”, “The Battle of Narvik” and “The 12th Man” have been filmed here. The king ruled the country from the neighboring municipality. It is not the first time that royals have had the Øverbygd area as their residence. The princess’s great-grandfather and grandfather stayed for several weeks only a few kilometers from Skjold camp during the war in 1940. Hut King Haakon ruled the country from a log cabin at Trangen in the neighboring municipality of Balsfjord. In other words, one can say that the Crown Princess serves on defense and military historical grounds.
ttn-69
Princess Ingrid Alexandra starting with the recruitment in the Armed Forces in Troms – news Troms and Finnmark
