Kainuu brigade (Finnish Kainuun prikaati) is a
Finnish Army
The Finnish Army (Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft ...
unit situated in
Kajaani
Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...
. The brigade is one of the biggest army units, training approximately 4000 conscripts annually. The Kainuu Brigade is one of the three readiness brigades in the Finnish Army.
The brigade trains troops for war-time Kainuu Jäger Brigade.
["Uudistetun taistelutavan joukot, niiden varustaminen ja joukkotuotanto"](_blank)
(22.10.2012) Puolustusvoimat, Retrieved on 27 August 2015.
The Brigade trains units suited for combat on the heavy snow and poor road-infrastructure areas of Northern Finland, and has several variations from normal Finnish Army training schedules and equipment to meet these demands, such as the light tracked all-terrain vehicles used for fast transportation of troops especially during wintertime.
The vehicles are also used by heavy (120 mm) mortar companies, who use mortars fixed on these vehicles. The equipment provides inexpensive, unopposed freedom of movement even in difficult off-road and snow conditions.
Organisation
From 1.1.2015, the organisation of the brigade is the following:
["Varusmieskoulutus Kainuun prikaatissa"](_blank)
(29.12.2014) Puolustusvoimat, Retrieved on 27 August 2015.
*Kuopio Supply battalion (''Kuopion huoltopataljoona'')
**Supply Company (Huoltokomppania)
**1st Separate Truck Company (1.Erillinen Autokomppania)
*Kainuu Jaeger battalion (''Kainuun jääkäripataljoona'')
**Recon Company (Tiedustelukomppania)
***Canine Training Unit
**1st Jaeger Company (1. Jääkärikomppania)
**2nd Jaeger Company (2. Jääkärikomppania)
**3rd Jaeger Company (3. Jääkärikomppania)
*Pohja Engineer battalion (''Pohjan pioneeripataljoona'')
**1st Engineer company (1. Pioneerikomppania)
**Technical company (Teknillinen komppania)
*Kainuu Artillery Regiment (''Kainuun tykistörykmentti'')
**Mortar company (Kranaatinheitinkomppania) (note that this unit is infantry, not artillery per se)
**1st Artillery battery (1. Tuliasemapatteri)
**2nd Artillery battery (2. Tuliasemapatteri)
**Forward observation and signal battery (Tulenjohto- ja viestipatteri)
*Northern Finland signal battalion (''Pohjois-Suomen viestipataljoona'')
**HQ company (Esikuntakomppania)
**1st Signals company (1. Viestikomppania)
**2nd Signals company (2. Viestikomppania)
Units and training
All units of the Brigade train their own specialists and drivers, and all receive a basic infantry jaeger training. All units are equipped with at least light AT fire-and-forget weapons and 12.7 mm anti-air machine guns, that can also be mounted on APCs and is very effective against infantry and lightly armoured vehicles.
Note also that this is the training organisation, not the actual war-time organisation. In this training or peace-time organisation, the Brigade can hoist everything needed on a modern battlefield except for anti-air weapons other than the 12.7 mm machine guns. These units are trained in the
Jäger Brigade.
Kuopio Battalion
{{Infobox military unit
, unit_name= Kuopio Logistics Battalion
, native_name= Kuopion Huoltopataljoona
, image=
, caption= Flag of the Kuopio Logistics Battalion
, dates=
, country= {{FIN
, allegiance=
, branch=
, type= Military logistics
, r ...
The Kuopio battalion is responsible for training of drivers for various vehicles (for Supply mostly - other battalions train the drivers they need themselves), and supply and munitions personnel. The battalion is also responsible for the training of NCOs for recon and transportation.
Kainuu jaeger battalion
The Jaeger battalion trains the main body of the brigade - the infantry. It also trains NCOs for infantry. The battalion is equipped with the tracked, non-armoured vehicles (telakuorma-auto) which make it very fast even off-road and in high snow. The battalion is equipped with state-of-the-art anti-armor weapons as well as other, lighter and cheaper AT-weapons. It also has modernized Russian 12.7 mm anti-air machine guns (as do other battalions) and the light 81 mm mortars. As all Finnish jaegers, these troops are taught to be deadly, fast, maneuverable, and silent if need to be. The Battalion also has some Sisu XA-185 "Pasi" APCs.
Pohja Engineer Battalion
This battalion trains engineers and their NCOs. The Battalion includes the 1st Engineer Company, training of which is concentrated on usage and de-armament of mines and other explosives. The other Company of the Battalion, the Technical Company, focuses on "heavy engineering" such as trench- and bridge building.
Kainuu Artillery Regiment
Kainuu Artillery Regiment is an artillery unit of the Kainuu Brigade, which is the northernmost one of the three Finnish Defence Forces#Key wartime units, readiness brigades of the Finnish Defence Forces.
In its peacetime military training for co ...
The Artillery regiment uses 81 mm light mortars attached to infantry units, 120 mm heavy mortars fixed on TeKa:s, 122 mm Soviet howitzers and modern
155 K 98
The 155 GH 52 APU (which stands for ''155 mm gun-howitzer, 52 calibers, auxiliary power unit''), Finnish designation 155 K 98 (''155 mm kenttäkanuuna 1998'' or "155 mm field gun 1998"; FDF terminology doesn't recognise gun-howitzers), is a Fin ...
155 mm guns equipped with APU to provide (minor) movement without towing vehicles. It also trains all artillery NCO's, including forward observers and mortar leaders.
Northern Finland signal battalion
This battalion houses units that are responsible for the usage and building of brigade-scale signal systems. It also trains NCOs for this task. The battalion also has the HQ company (Esikuntakomppania, EK) that trains the military police for the brigade, which also uses the dogs trained by the Kainuu jaegar battalion. MP NCOs are not trained at the brigade, but in Rovaniemi. The recon and
"sissi" NCOs specialiced in communications are also trained in Northern Finland signal battalion.
History and tradition of the Kainuu brigade
The brigade has its roots in the
Savolax Infantry Regiment The Savolax Infantry Regiment ( sv, Savolax infanteriregemente) was an infantry musketeer regiment in the Swedish Army, in the province of Savolax (Savonia). The regiment was created in 1626 as the Savolax and Nyslotts Land Regiment. It was allo ...
of the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, and the
battle of the River Lech on April 5, 1632, which is the traditional day of the brigade. It also holds up the traditions of the men that fought at
Suomussalmi
Suomussalmi () is a municipality in Finland and is located in the Kainuu region about northeast of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu and south of Kuusamo. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...
,
Raate Road
''Rhaatee'' ( kn, ರಾಟೆ) is a 2015 Indian Kannada romantic thriller film written and directed by A. P. Arjun, in his third directorial venture after the successful films like ''Ambari'' and ''Addhuri''. The film also marks the second pr ...
and
Kuhmo
Kuhmo (known as ''Kuhmoniemi'' until 1937) is a town and a municipality in Finland and is located at the south-eastern corner of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population ...
during the
Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
as well as the
Rukajärvi
Rukajärvi ( Karelian: ''Rugarvi'', Russian: Ру́гозеро, ''Rugozero''; fi, Rukajärvi) is a rural municipality and its central village in the Muyezersky District in the Republic of Karelia in Russia. It is located on the eastern shore o ...
-directions 14. Division during the
Continuation War
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
.
[Palokangas, Markuu (2013). ''Suomen puolustusvoimien joukko-osasto perinteet-'' Puolustusvoimat, p. 212.]
The honorary march of the brigade is ''Hurtti-Ukko'' by
Carl Collan Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
.
The brigade's flag is the Kajaani
Sissi Battalion's flag from 1920.
References
External links
*https://archive.today/20130412165013/http://www.maavoimat.fi/kaipr (in Finnish)
*http://www.puolustusvoimat.fi/portal/puolustusvoimat.fi/?urile=wcm:path:/EN+Puolustusvoimat.fi/Puolustusvoimat.fi+en/Army/Army+units/KAIBR+frontpage/Kainuu+Brigade+frontpage{{Dead link, date=February 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes (in English)
Brigades of Finland