Under a blazing sun, six soldiers in uniform, helmets on their heads and faces painted green, wait in a ditch. A young recruit is consulting a map. His mission: to lead his group to an objective, a few hundred meters away, without being detected by the enemy. They'll have to run across fields with a pack on their backs. "The aim of the exercise is to move fast, but not too fast, without attracting attention, and above all to ensure that the group doesn't split up, which is far from easy," explained second lieutenant Elias Isaksson, an instructor with the P7 regiment based in Revingehed, in the county of Skåne in southern Sweden.

The 23-year-old would like to follow in the footsteps of his mother, a career soldier seconded to the NATO command. Sweden joining the transatlantic organization in March, after being non-aligned for a long time, has "opened up a lot of opportunities," he said with enthusiasm. For the time being, the second lieutenant is supervising conscripts to undergo section leader training, which is spread over 15 months (compared with nine for ordinary service).

There are around 60 of them with a quarter young women. Some, like 22-year-old Tom Kuhle, have been dreaming of it since childhood. With his brown hair and round glasses, the young man, born in Germany and naturalized Swedish, volunteered after completing his firefighter training. "With the war in Ukraine and what's happening elsewhere, I feel it's even more important today to be there. That's what motivates me."

'I want to be able to defend my family'

Ida Turesson, 20, from Växjö, some 200 kilometers to the north, admitted to having had a shock at first: "We're under constant pressure, we always have to hurry." From time to time, the young woman discusses the threats facing Sweden and Europe with the other conscripts: "I tell myself that it's better to be ready if the time comes. I want to be able to defend my family and friends because at the end of the day that's what matters, isn't it?"

Beside her, Lucas Tinnert, 20, who grew up on the Baltic island of Öland, nodded in agreement. He doesn't "think about war every day." But if Sweden is attacked, then he intends to fight, "to protect our culture and our way of life." The same goes for Anton Gerds, 19, a future tank commander. He talked about the gap that has opened up with his friends who escaped conscription: "They don't understand what's at stake and why what we're doing here is important," he said.

This year, 6,000 young Swedes will do their military service. This number is set to rise rapidly, from 8,000 in 2025 to 12,000 by 2032. Conscription was abolished in 2010. At that time, the kingdom opted to only retain a professional army, specialized in peacekeeping operations abroad. Seven years later, following Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Swedish parliament reinstated compulsory conscription, now "gender-neutral." Selection criteria are the same for boys and girls.

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