RICHMOND, Va. –
Virginia National Guard senior leaders and Soldiers traveled to Finland to observe Exercise Karelian Stronghold alongside key senior leaders within the Finnish Defense Forces Sept. 1 - 7, 2024, at multiple locations in Finland.
Brig. Gen. Todd Hubbard, the VNG Director of the Joint Staff was joined by Jason Burrow, the VNG’s emergency coordination manager, as well as leadership assigned to the Military Intelligence Company, 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and the 34th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosives Enhanced Response Force Package. Lt. Col. Matthew Hanley, Virginia State Police director of field operations, also was on hand to observe the exercise.
The trip was conducted in support of the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program, in which Virginia and Finland became partners earlier in 2024.
“We are fortunate to be partners with Finland to train with their military and learn from each other,” said Hubbard. “They are very capable and have a robust system to mobilize their entire military and civilian first responders.”
Karelian Stronghold is a large-scale, bi-annual security exercise hosted by Finland focused on Local Defense, part of Finland’s Total Defense strategy involving all of the country’s citizens. The exercise validates and develops collective security, inter-agency cooperation and the ability to prepare for civil disturbance situations.
During their visit, the VNG contingent received an in-brief and an overview of the exercise from their Finnish counterparts, as well as an overview of the Karelian Brigade and the Finnish Local Defense. Later, they observed the tactical operations center where Finnish personnel meshed with other agencies.
“VNG personnel observed interagency TOC operations between Finnish soldiers and local authorities,” said Maj. Young Ethridge, deputy commander of the 34th CERFP. “Local fire departments, police, and Finnish Army personnel conducted a joint exercise practicing their tactics, techniques and procedures, and communication techniques for future operations. The Karelian Brigade’s Fire Chief provided a brief overview to VNG personnel regarding the relationship between the Army and local civilian authorities and a current situation report of the scenario.”
The VNG personnel also observed military operations in urban terrain, or MOUT, training with a Finnish military police unit, as well as joint military-police operations.
"The observation included a joint police-military dynamic facility entry and threat elimination,” said Ethridge. “VANG personnel also observed a military police company conduct inner cordon, assault and MOUT activities at a former school in the Mikkeli area. We observed some of the Karelian Brigade’s MOUT techniques during their assault of the facility, as well as their Care Under Fire and Casualty Collection Point activities on the objective.”
The VNG and Finnish senior leaders also discussed future opportunities for joint training as part of the State Partnership Program, something Hubbard said can only make each agency stronger.
“Karelian Stronghold allows the Karelia Brigade to practice mobilization in a field environment,” Hubbard said. “Working through their plans and actually executing the missions are things that we do here in Virginia. Our partnership gives us an opportunity to share best practices. This will make both Virginia and Finland even more resilient in the future.”
The SPP agreement between the VNG and Finnish Defense Forces builds on several decades of friendship and partnership between the two organizations. Finnish troops served alongside the Fort Belvoir-based 29th Infantry Division during the Stabilization 10 rotation in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2001-2002, and VNG personnel have trained side-by-side with their Finnish counterparts on numerous occasions over the years. More recently, Virginia Soldiers and Airmen competed in a Finnish Sniper Championship and participated in the Arctic Forge 23 exercise. This summer Finnish personnel came to Virginia to participate in the Cyber Fortress 3.0 exercise, hosted by the 91st Cyber Brigade.
Read more about the VNG’s partnership with Finland at https://vngpao.info/yckwa597.