Article by Johannes Fjeld. November 25 2024 at 19:16.

The Telemark battalion is to train for "conflict in an urban environment". A neighbor fears that the sound of gunfire will be a nuisance and cause worry among residents and children.

From Tuesday 7:30 to Thursday 15:30 this week, the Telemark battalion alongside other units of the Northern Brigade and Army will carry out "training for conflict in an urban environment" at an address in the Løren area of Oslo.

The exercise was first mentioned in the newspaper Aftenposten. The paper wrote that the address where the exercise will be held is in a residential area in immediate proximity to a preschool.

— "This training is very important for us, especially since we will be training in a large and complex building in a real environment," Lt. Audun Bentzrød wrote in an e-mail which has been shared with the residents of Lørenvangen condominium.

Bentzrød states that training ammunition will be used, and that "sounds of gunfire will be heard in the area throughout the period, both during the day and at night"

— "We wish to clarify that we will only use training ammunition which has been approved as posing no threat to civilians in the area. There will also be a number of armed personnel at the address. We will of course adjust our training between 23:00 and 7:00 to avoid as much nuisance as possible," the e-mail continues.

The Lieutenant states that there will be guards in reflective vests stationed at the address at all times, who will answer residents' pressing questions.

Around 50-60 soldiers will participate in the exercise, the Telemark battalion's leader Hans Marius Skjærbæk told Aftenposten.

— "You're going to be awake at night"

Member of Lørenvangen condominium's board, Beate Thandiwe Dessingthon, informed Dagbladet that the board was on November 14th informed about the exercise. The board informed the condominium's residents the same day.

—"There's nothing wrong with the information provided by the Armed Forces in itself. It says what's going to happen, where it's going to happen and when. But then it says that there can be activity at night. What does that entail? When you've got little kids, you're going to be awake at night," she told Dagbladet.

She worries that the exercise can be a nuisance and cause of worry for residents and children due to the sound of gunfire.

Many residents have the shooting in Løren in February still fresh in their memory, according to Dessingthon.

—"Many neighbors were worried then, there was a lot of talk in the back yard and at the store."

— "Important that the soldiers get to train"

The board and the residents are not sure of how much noise they should expect, Dessingthon states.

—"The most important thing is that the soldiers get to train. No-one is against the Army carrying out its training exercises, and we understand that all the relevant buildings are suitable locations for this purpose," she emphasizes.

— But how do we talk to our kids about this? What can we expect? Is it going to last all night?

She also points out that not all residents in the area have Norwegian as a first language, and she questions whether all of these residents have been properly informed about the situation.

—"Some of them have experienced war," she said.

Thanks for the understanding

Dessingthon's views have been presented to the Army.

—"We wish to first of all thank Dessingthon for understanding and accepting the Army's needs to practice and train in an urban area."

This is the response of Army head of communication Lt. Col. Lars Strøm in an e-mail to Dagbladet.

—"There will be some indoors training also at night, but Telemark battalion will at that time use marking pellets, which are quieter than the blank cartridges used during the daytime."

The Army hopes and believes that people in the immediate vicinity will "not notice much" of the activity at night, Strøm states.

—"With regard to informing children, it is important to be open. Our advice is to tell the children that this is an exercise that the soldiers who protect our country and people must do in order to accomplish their tasks should there be a need."

He asserts that the soldiers' training could be compared with, among other things, that the children must take fire safety drills in case there is a fire at the preschool.

—"It doesn't mean that there will be a fire, just that we need to practice how we will act if there is one, so that everyone gets out safely. It's the same situation for us in the Army and the Telemark battalion: we need to train for different problems or tasks such that we can solve them during a war or crisis."

Strøm informs that the Army has already met with the preschool's staff and held a dialog with the municipal government.

—"We would direct those who need any more information to contact the guard outside the building."