If you faced being drafted

[Helsinkian]

I was drafted and served 12 months in the Finnish military when I was 19-20. And I am still a reservist, so it's possible that I might be called back for exercises at any time.

In Finland we have universal male conscription. While there is an alternative, non-military service, most men rather go to the military. If a person is a so called "total objector", who refuses both military and non-military service, he will be sentenced to a prison term, though in recent times that has been more of a "house arrest" sort of thing with a monitoring bracelet. These cases are relatively rare.

Polls show continued support for conscription with about 70 percent of the population in favour of it. I didn't mind the experience. It actually helped me deal with my social anxiety issues.

[Helsinkian]

^ Looking up the statistics, it actually surprises me that the number of men choosing civilian service is so low; here are the statistics from the 2015 draft:

• 76.14% of the men born in 1997 went to military service
• 1.68% chose civilian service
• 8.84% were permanently exempted for medical reasons
• 7.91% were temporarily exempted for medical reasons (ordered to be evaluated for military suitability again at a later date)
• 3.14% were exempted because they held double citizenship and resided abroad

(Source in Finnish)

Edit: That number does not include those who first go to the military but decide in the first few days that they want to switch over to civilian service. But even including them, the percentage of men choosing civilian service only rises to about seven percent.

A couple of decades ago, one could not simply choose the civilian service; if you announced that you wanted it for reasons of conscience, you would have been put in front of a panel that would have determined if your objection was genuinely based on reasons of conscience and not on other factors. After that was removed, the number of people choosing civilian service increased but apparently it has gone down again or at least has been steady.

Civilian service lasts 12 months, while military service may last 6, 9 or 12 months depending on the type of training that you receive. I was given an NCO training so my service lasted 12 months.

Additions to the exemptions: Jehova's witnesses are entirely exempt from serving, and so are the inhabitants of the autonomous, demilitarised region of Åland Islands.

Addition to civilian service: as the draft does not apply to women, they are not required to complete civilian service either. However, there is an exception: if a woman volunteers for military service but gets second thoughts and decides to quit after 45 days of service or more, she is required to complete the 12 months of civilian service instead.