Denmark starts first full 11-month conscription intake

Some 1,600 young men and women began their first day of conscription at Danish military barracks on Monday, in the first full intake to serve the extended 11-month period, DR reported.

Chief of Defence Michael Hyldgaard said conscription gives young people the opportunity to take responsibility and contribute to both the Defence and society as a whole.

With a few exceptions, conscription has been extended from four months to 11 months from 2026. Service in the Royal Life Guards, the Guard Hussar Regiment, cyber conscription and on the royal ship Dannebrog lasts 12 months.

Men and women are now called up on equal terms. Women previously had the right to serve but were not subject to conscription. Around 20 percent of this year’s conscripts are women, according to the Defence. All 1,600 conscripts have volunteered.

The conscripts are spread across 14 service locations in the army, navy and air force. Their first three to five months will focus on basic military skills, including firearms training, first aid, physical training and learning how to move through terrain.

They will then enter operational service, carrying out tasks such as guarding and readiness duties, patrols, drone operations and radar assistance. According to the Defence, this will allow permanent professional soldiers to focus on tasks requiring a higher degree of specialisation.

After the first five months, conscripts may carry out operational duties both within and outside the Kingdom of Denmark, including in Greenland, on NATO deployments in Latvia or aboard navy vessels. Any deployment outside the Kingdom of Denmark will be voluntary, the Defence said.