It’s not unusual to see camouflage-clad soldiers and vehicles throughout Switzerland. Every male between the ages of 18 and 35 can be conscripted into the Army, and after 21 weeks’ basic training you keep your weapon and undergo additional training, followed by reserve duty.
The Swiss Army mobilised 5,000 soldiers this week in exercise “PILUM 22”, which took two years to prepare. The exercise ranges across the cantons of Bern, Solothurn, Aargau, Lucerne and Zurich.
Basic training exercises were planned to begin on Monday, 18 January, but 5,000 Swiss citizen recruits were instead told to do their training at home for the first three weeks to preclude the risk of spreading Covid-19 in the barracks.