DN: Will cut 1,500 defense jobs – NRK

The final plan for the armed forces are not sent to Parliament before mid-June, but should have received the endorsement of the government.

There are daily Dagens Næringsliv writes that the proposal entails a reduction in positions, fewer military bases, rationalization and efficiency.

The purpose of the cuts is to accommodate new initiatives and ensure consistency between funding, structure and tasks.

The plan proposes to cut in excess of 1,500 positions spread over 1,100 military staff and 450 civilians.

It is estimated a savings of 2.4 billion in four years, and that 23 billion released over 20 years.

Army hardest hit

the Army will likely be hardest hit. 2nd Battalion at Shield with around 120 employees will be laid. Coastal Ranger Command in the Navy are going away, and the same shall Naval Home Guard, according to Dagens Næringsliv.

As the coastal corvettes, MTBs, phased out. Once again proposed number Band of the Armed Forces reduced.

It is proposed in the plan to close down bases Trondenes, Harstad Syd, Åsegarden, Setnesmoen, Cellar, Andoy, Kjevik, Nærøysund and Grunden 22.

the aim of the proposals should be to put in place new initiatives, but also ensure consistency between funding, structure and tasks.

ARE dOWN: 2nd Battalion at Shield with 700 employees will be laid.

Photo: Øystein Antonsen / NRK

– the backlog from previous governments

Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide writes in an e-mail to NRK that the government will have a substantial investment in the Armed Forces of the upcoming long-term plan, but that there is a backlog from previous governments. She will not go further into details about cut proposal.

– There is a longstanding backlog of operating and maintenance costs that we inherited from previous governments. There is a need for a defense with a solid structure that is financed in a sustainable manner. Put together with the security situation we currently face, suggests there is a significant commitment.

Moreover, she writes that the case now under consideration in the government and that they aim at adding long-term plan before Parliament during the spring session in 2016.

– It has not yet set a final date for submitting. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment on speculation or simple matters that come up before LTP being submitted to the Storting, writes Eriksen Søreide.

– Dramatic cuts

Torbjørn Bongo, deputy head of the Norwegian Officers Association, responds on the proposals for cuts in defense.

– we are experiencing cut proposals as dramatic and we believe they will weaken Norway’s defense capability. There is a considerable weakening of the Army, says Bongo told NRK.

– Do you think there will be parts of Norway who are especially affected when it comes to defense cuts?

– it looks enough like it is Northern Norway which are the toughest hit, at least when looking at the operational departments. Simultaneously it probably ever cuts in part support, and it hit the rest of the country is relatively evenly distributed, says Bongo.