This year’s cohort of Swiss army draftees, due to report this month for the required military training that all Swiss men enter at age 19, have been told to stay home and start their basic training on-line because of the pandemic.
The 15-18 week training will begin with all the classroom-style instruction front-loaded; the remaining portion will take place in shifts, with the first group headed for the barracks on February 8th.
During the at-home training, recruits are expected to put in six hours a day working at their tasks and can be monitored by their supervisors. They are also expected to engage in at least four hours a week of exercise. After basic training, Swiss spend several weeks a year on active duty until they have completed 245 days.
And yes, every Swiss soldier is issued a Swiss Army Knife—but it doesn’t look a lot like the ones you see in stores. At left, the original, first issued in 1890; at right the current (2008) model.
