In May 2022, just a few days before Finland applied to join NATO, Lieutenant Colonel Annukka Ylivaara took command of the Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion, the Finnish Army’s elite training unit for urban combat operations.
She now serves at the Finnish Ministry of Defence and helps coordinate her country’s preparedness related to comprehensive security. How did her military journey start? And what does her country being a NATO member mean to her?
Lieutenant Colonel Annukka’s military journey
Lt Col Annukka Ylivaara was born in the town of Sodankylä in Lapland. Both of her parents served in the Finnish Defence Forces: her mother as a civilian and her father as a professional soldier. Their example influenced Annukka to enlist for military service (which is voluntary for women and compulsory for men in Finland) in 1999. During this military service, which involves a wide range of survival and combat training with other young people from across the country, Annukka decided to apply to the military academy and become a professional soldier.
“I perceived an officer’s career as interesting and meaningful work for the common good,” she says. “It is also characterised by a duty rotation, which guarantees that the tasks change at regular intervals, so it is possible to develop and challenge yourself.”
Facing the cold in the Arctic
Annukka’s military career began with her voluntary service in the Jaeger Brigade in Sodankylä, which specialises in training forces to operate in the Arctic climate and harsh weather conditions. Growing up in the northernmost region of Finland, Lt Col Ylivaara developed a passion for hunting, cross-country skiing and other winter sports early in her life. These hobbies helped prepare her for the first chapter of her career, during which she spent many days out in the Finnish wilderness.
“Maybe the most common misconception about the Arctic climate training is that it is only for ‘the tough guys and gals,’” she says. “I did my voluntary military service in Lapland, so I had good knowledge of how to operate in Arctic conditions even before my professional career. But I think everybody can survive there – you just need to be well-trained and prepared.”
Temperatures in northern Finland regularly fall to extreme lows, and anything below minus 30 degrees Celsius requires extra care for both personnel and equipment.
“You need to dress in layers, avoid getting sweaty and monitor yourself and fellow soldiers to avoid frostbite,” Annukka explains.
With a smile, she remembers the first night that she spent outside in a tent as part of her training.
“That night in January 1999, the temperature dropped below minus 45 degrees Celsius. Despite the cold, our instructors eventually decided that we would spend the night in the tent anyway, but quite close to our garrison area. In the middle of the night, they woke us all up to make sure that we were fine. It was quite an experience only after a few weeks of service!”
Once a Jaeger, always a Jaeger
Following her cold weather operations experience, Lt Col Ylivaara took on a variety of other roles – including as the head of the national security team at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and an aide-de-camp to the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces – before returning to her roots as a Jaeger. As the commander of the Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion, she led up to 650 troops in urban combat training, ensuring the operational readiness of the Finnish Army in this vital area.
Although they operate in different terrains, the Lapland and Uusimaa battalions both carry on the Finnish Jaeger legacy. The earliest Jaeger units were formed after the First World War and were key players in the development of the Finnish forces. Following the war, the Jaegers patrolled a large border area with Russia, and their traditional methods and principles are still at the heart of their successor training units today.
“Similar to the first Jaegers, the current tactics of all Jaeger units involve taking advantage of the terrain and the unit’s own strengths, such as activity, manoeuvrability and local knowledge”, explains Lt Col Annukka. “This applies both to operating in urban areas or the forests.”
From her time training in urban combat, she has learned that the main challenge comes from the three-dimensional nature of the battlespace. In addition to the ground level and air space, the fighting takes place inside buildings, in underground spaces and on rooftops, and in various light conditions.
“Urban terrain favours the defender,” she says, “with buildings providing more protection. In urban areas, the offender needs more troops when compared to the forest.”
Annukka Ylivaara inspecting the Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion during the Battalion’s anniversary parade, 2024
Leading a battalion
In May 2022, Lt Col Ylivaara became the first woman to serve as a battalion commander in the Finnish Army. As the commander of the Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion, she was responsible not just for training a wide range of troops – from professionals to reservists to conscripts and volunteers like her younger self – but also for ensuring the battalion’s operational readiness. She led operational planning for wartime, overseeing the battalion’s main exercises and other events.
“There is no regular day for a battalion commander”, Lt Col Annukka says. “You need to plan things very carefully but also have to be prepared for and capable of making changes based on the information at hand even on very short notice. This is what made my post interesting.”
Ceremony for the accession of Finland to NATO in Brussels, Belgium on 4 April 2023.
Standing together for defence and security
On 18 May 2022, in the same month that Lt Col Annukka took up her assignment, Finland and Sweden simultaneously submitted their applications for NATO membership. Finland joined the Alliance less than a year later, on 4 April 2023 (with Sweden following on 7 March 2024).
“The whole process, including our national political process for applying for membership and the ratification, was very fast,” Lt Col Annukka remembers. “My first feeling was surprise – how quickly and smoothly everything happened. I think it is not an exaggeration to say that national consensus concerning the membership was reached in a record time.”
Currently, Lt Col Ylivaara serves as Assistant Secretary General to the Security Committee at the Finnish Ministry of Defence, a harmonising body which coordinates proactive preparedness related to comprehensive security. In her opinion, Finland is and will continue to be a contributor to the security of the Alliance, with particular insight and experience as the NATO country with the longest border with Russia.
“We have always maintained and developed our national defence and have valuable lessons to share with other NATO members. For sure, there is also a lot to learn from our Allies. Finland being a NATO member means that we are not alone, but together for common defence and security.”
Story/Images: NATO Newsroom.
