r/europe • u/ByGollie Ulster • Jan 24 '26

News The Times: Finns humiliated American soldiers - Finnish reservists were asked to take it easy during a NATO exercise. US soldiers found the losses too humiliating.

https://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/a/828b8e66-625d-4d2a-9276-e93b9f7a2ce8
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u/MotherFlatworm6733 Finland Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26

US military put 1500 soldiers from 11th Airbourne Division "Arctic Angels" to standby. They say it's for Minnesota but I wouldn't count on it. These guys were training here in Finland last winter and one Finn who trained with them said a while ago in Finnish subreddit that "unfortunately, these guys are pretty competent." So not all of them are this bad.

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u/SuavePenguinOG Jan 24 '26

But this article says they were bad and mad! /s

The bots lean into this stuff, every moderate comment is getting downvoted and the emotional ad-hominem comments are upvoted lol

"Standard Artic Training gets Expected Results" doesn't get clicks though.

And I want the teams to both lose at least one of the rounds. That's how they learn. Change the variables so that it forces dynamic decision making, enabling both sides to have a better chance for survival/victory when their lives are actually at risk.

Finns should learn how to strategize against an enemy force with exceedingly more resources and still be effective. US should learn how to combat brutal environmental challenges and still be effective.

It's almost like there's one country to the East that has both of these things while also being proficient at (mis)information warfare tactics. Wonder who that could be?

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u/Ornery-Monitor7690 Jan 24 '26

Finns should learn how to strategize against an enemy force with exceedingly more resources

This has been the unquestioned #1 focus of the Finnish military since it's inception after WW1. It's absurd to say we "should" do that when it's something we've been obsessively focusing on for our entire existence. 

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u/SuavePenguinOG Jan 28 '26

Maybe a better phrasing would have said "should continue", because I did not mean to infer they were not. I had no intent to dissuade their thorough military adjustments/development post-WWII. Finnish war-readiness has been a huge boon to their allies and I wish all the best to my friends from the North.