Latvia opens mobilization centres for volunteer reserve training

Latvia’s National Armed Forces opened mobilization centres on Saturday for citizens who had volunteered for reserve soldier training, LSM reported. Centres were established at Teika Secondary School in Riga and in Valmiera, Kuldīga and Alūksne.

The volunteers will be taken to the Infantry School in Alūksne, where they will spend three weeks learning basic military skills.

By 9 a.m., many volunteers had gathered at the mobilization centre in Riga. They were divided into groups of up to 10 people and taken through several stages, including registration, a commander’s address and the distribution of equipment such as helmets, vests, underwear, uniforms, boots and dry rations.

After receiving the equipment and having their photographs taken, the volunteers had to wait. Lieutenant Colonel Aigars Eglītis, head of the National Armed Forces’ Mobilization and Recruitment Department, said all the reservists would be sent to the Infantry School together.

Eglītis said more than 100 people were expected to arrive at the mobilization centres in total, although the final number would depend on how many actually reported for training. The three-week course will provide intensive instruction from morning to evening and teach participants basic military knowledge.

Reserve soldiers are Latvian citizens aged 18 to 60. While the programme is aimed at men, women are also invited to apply, Eglītis said.

After completing the course, participants will become reserve soldiers who can be called up for exercises during peacetime or mobilized into the armed forces during a crisis. Their duties must be carried out during their free time, meaning they do not leave their jobs. They must take leave for training or reach an agreement with their employer.

No specific physical requirements have been set, but participants must undergo a health examination.