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Are Sende Osen is a pacifist.
He refused military duty back in his day but now -
- he's going to be a part of the system he is against.
I'm joining the military.
I want to find out what it is that makes Norwegian youth want to risk life and limbs for king and country.
-Stay down Osen! -Stay down!
Through one year will Are serve in different branches to get to know the people dressed in the king's clothes.
What makes them want to expose themselves for this regime that is the closest thing you get to prison.
Get up tent bag, get on GRU, helmet, weapon and fall in.
God help me!
But will he be able to adjust to the military's strict regime?
Saving Private Osen
Hell Week, Mastering Exercise or Referance Exercise, dear child has many names.
One week of physical and mental hard work with little food, little sleep and a lot of hardships -
- makes Hell Week some of the hardest you can go through as soldier in peace time.
The Air Force School uses a Hell Week at the start of their education as a refereance point onwards in the education.
Private Osen has been signed up as a cadet at the Air Force School in Trondheim.
And as expected he must become a part of a team that will go through this trial.
Now I'm going to be a part of the very essence of military service -
- the manhood test with big M.
I have listened to my mates whine about this for almost 25 years -
- and now I'm going to participate myself, now I'm going out in the woods and if I'm lucky come back again in a week.
Stand up.
Good day. Please be seated.
When you start at an Air Force School in the military -
- that’s a privilege, you have been carefully selected and evaluated, -
- and there are many that did not get a spot behind each of you.
But that does not mean you should go around here with your hat in your hands.
It's much better to be a lion for a day than a sheep for your life.
This is the Air Force's first day.
Now we'll get some time to know each other before totally exhausting ourselves out in the forest.
What do you think is the intent of giving feedback?
That you can improve on it and maybe do it better or do the same if you did ok.
It's a week long exercise where we are put to the test -
- with how we act both as a team and as leaders.
I envision it to be a week of little food and sleep.
If you want to learn another person it's about telling that person how he affects you.
I see you have this the wrong way Are, should I say something or not.
Because I could believe that if I pointed it out -
- you could get some bad feelings and I don't want be a part of that -
So what that makes me do, I can choose between two options.
I can ignore it and hope that someone else take it up with you, -
- or I could point it out and deal with the fallout. -No, I can fix it.
That was a small example of the training.
Not only are they going to break Osen, they are going to break the code Osen.
They want to understand how I work and how I tick.
And with that Are is sent out into the woods to take on Hell Week.
Oh man it was good!
So that's how a button tent looks.
Never seen before.
Right into the wild here there's a large farm -
- where the 'party committee' is currently located -
- enjoying themselves with gas grills and stuff.
Probably TV's and everything.
While hatching out sadistic plans for us, the little people who are outside in small tents like that.
This is the base.
Second Lieutenant Sundvald is first man out as team leader and has just received orders for the next few days.
Yes.
It was as feared, or expected. Escape.
Shortly put we are going to bring as little as possible.
Escape is common on exercises like this.
The simulation is that the cadets have had to eject from fighter planes behind enemy lines.
For the next two days they will move between designated posts with minimal gear without getting spotted by the enemy.
We have tonight to prepare for our escape.
And then we will meet tomorrow morning at 04:00.
Ready.
-The thing is to have as little on your body as you can. -And no Gore-Tex? -No Gore-Tex allowed.
The team packs what little they can bring and try to sleep some hours before it kicks off.
You have been handed the equipment you need for the escape.
Middle of the night, we've lined up and received GPS's and Walkie Talkies.
And then we'll be going out.
Then they said to leave your food if you had any on you. And I did.
My plan was to bring a little so that when morale was low I could just pull out some chocolate -
- from my backpack, but I had to leave all that.
-Quite the amount of goodies. -Just such a shame to give it all away.
Because now I just have a little sugar cube and two small bags of sugar.
Now is the chance for everyone else to also come forward with any food they may still have.
Bet they would be really pissed if they found any more food now.
"This is your last chance to bring it forward".
Lashings are next.
We'll try and capture some chickens for you out in the woods.
-Lagopus! -Lagopus!
Are's team get one last look at the map before they have to turn it in.
They have certain times to be located at posts -
- but in the time between they must hold a low profile and not be detected.
-Are, I have a fun fact! -Yeah?
-Do you know how much blueberry you have to eat to get full? - No.
5 kilo.
But before that time you will have serious diarrhea so you will never be able to eat 5 kilo blueberry.
No, ok.
A day without food starts making its mark on the team.
The posts are manned by Mentors from the Air Force School.
At these posts they will receive problem solving tasks -
- and there are rumors that the rewards are food items.
-How's the journey? -Good.
Both in your heads and feet?
Bit sore in the feet but otherwise ok.
How is your team, got any rules to follow?
We have made some rules.
If the rule is for example to not get any food.
And you then walk past a farm inside here.
And one of you know a guy or you can see there are some possibilities.
What do you do?
The temptation is certainly there.
It will be steak and scrambled eggs.
Really?
Depends on what you yourself want to get out of this exercise.
You miss out on some important experience if you cheat.
What if a majority takes the offer without any qualms while you yourself feel it is a bit wrong.
There's the same mechanism, should I say something or not.
And there is one thing that annoys Are.
We that have run around all day out in the forest.
We have received orders that we can't use Gore-Tex pants.
Then I see the officers who are just sitting around in their tents -
- they have Gore-Tex pants on and that I find...
Really wrong and I have noticed a lot of that here in the army, -
- you demand something of your soldiers but you grant yourself that little extra comfort.
We're out of crisp bread so you'll have to go without food some more.
We'll try and hand out more crisp bread to you next time.
So has the world become that I was actually looking forward to two dry pieces of crisp bread.
But they had not managed to bring enough to everyone.
Or someone stole some pieces.
But we will receive two extra pieces next time so it will be quite the feast tomorrow.
The lack of food is now seriously starting to take its toll.
In the hills I get incredibly tired and I struggle with my balance and have to take support steps. It goes slow.
If you're sick or have a cold... The flu or something, it's a bit of the same feeling.
That it's really though to go uphill, and your pulse increases really fast.
It doesn't take much before you get really tired.
If I got as little food at home as I did today I would have broken down.
How about there?
After a long days march it's time to camp for the night -
- and Are and his team has spotted an abandoned farm.
There's no door or anything so... it's not really breaking an entry.
We're not going to take or break anything just take some shelter for the night.
-Weird, it seems like someone lives here. -Probably in use by the neighbour farm.
So maybe they aren't here while we are.
I say "Go for it".
-You say that? Me as well. -Do you agree? -I agree.
I just laugh inside me thinking about the other guys laying out in the forest without sleeping bags.
Cursing at each other and huddling to keep warm.
And here are we at Hilton Hotel.
-If best team is smartest team. -Hilton Hotel Mostadmark.
Then I think we easily should.
-Maximal comfort, minimal effort. -That's right.
Day after Are's team reaches a new post with hope to finally get some food.
At this post they are to burn a piece of thread by making a fire with primitive means.
With the Mentors as strict judges.
Look!
-He's smoking. -Yeah.
Then we incredibly enough got a box of Spam.
Alright!
And a boatload of crisp bread from all the posts we did yesterday where we didn't receive anything.
Now we've eaten ourselves full and well and ready to march to the next post.
After two hard days the teams are reunited at the base where they will receive a new mission.
But first they get the chance to shop with fake money they have earned underway.
Good day! Welcome to the store.
What an outstanding store.
It's a bit like Farmen reality show where they go to the market.
Tried to push some flour on us but that will just make a mess.
Local currency, Mostadmark.
Thought we had more money really.
The Spam boxes cost 500 Mostadmark per box -
- while 12 boxes of fish balls cost 300 Mostadmark.
So the choice was alright.
-Ok, thanks for now. -This was great.
They clearly like fish balls since they bought an entire tray of fish balls.
Not sure what they plan on doing next but you don't get much physical work done only eating fish balls.
A ton of fish balls in my backpack and it's relatively heavy.
Think it's closing in on my own weight.
I was thinking maybe we could go for being the team that comes last.
Tactical.
Main goal being coming in at all.
One, two, three.
God damn.
With the bags full of fish balls and a stretcher loaded with 100 kilo sand it quickly becomes heavy for Are.
Up that hill there I managed to carry the stretcher 10 meters -
- before I couldn't do anymore.
Can't do it.
-Let's just go a bit here. -We're setting it down.
Don't set it down while I'm holding here!
Ok.
Straight march.
When we came up that hill there I realized -
- this isn't for me.
I don't want to be a warrior, a lion, a soldier.
I don't want to do this but I have to try complete this exercise.
But this just isn't for me, know what I mean?
After a long night without sleep with stretcher carrying up to the top of a mountain -
- the difference in age, weight and especially motivation starts becoming apparent.
It doesn't get much better with this being just the start of the march.
I was just saying...
That I'm incredibly skeptical -
- to walking another mile with this load out.
That it's on the border to not being doable, or it isn't doable.
You can decorate it but I told them it isn't doable.
No.
It's impossible.
And I know you're all about proving the impossible is possible. Right?
But this right here isn't possible for me.
How far do you think you are able to go then?
You ask...
Making the right decisions regarding the path you're going could make it possible for you to go.
That's...
No, that no, no.
-Well, well, here we sit. -Here we sit.
You have an approved medical reason.
I'm just some guy that doesn't complete.
I've gone far enough today.
Can't bear walking anymore.
We were supposed to walk another 10 kilometers with that...
...heavy backpack, and I just didn't want to, and as a civilian I can say that, I refuse.
That can't the other cadets say, they must say "Yes" but I said it. I don't want to.
I've *** walked enough.
I even tried walking up that hill earlier today.
But I was persuaded not to.
You think you can do 40%.
While your mother thinks you can do 20%.
While the officers think you can do 80%.
That's what they go on.
You can do more than you think.
We can't take him completely out that would be too bad.
He'll now get a small chance to recover and then we will pair him with his team in a few hours.
Hopefully he will have recovered enough that he will be able to pull out the last he has left -
- or he has probably tons more left compared to what he thinks he has.
Well back with his team Are feels he must contribute a bit to his team.
He talks a lot about preparing food and that he makes his own food at home.
And it seems he's really thorough. Just fish balls isn't enough.
He found that a bit dry so he concocted some spices he had sneaked with him.
-Here it is served. -Oh thanks.
Rice with broth and fish balls essence.
This was good Are.
And everyone loved my food they said and judging by their intake -
- they really did and wasn't just being nice.
The food intake will turn out to be more important than Are could imagine.
Because the entire next night they must walk on ropes without touching the ground -
- and after that waits a nine hour long paddle up a lake -
- only interrupted by runing with sandbags.
And now I'm thinking it would be *** nice to just eat some good food and chill and relax.
But knowing these guys right they have some insane plan in the works because we aren't done yet -
- I don't know, we're probably about to -
- "Here you have 100 square miles of forest which need to be cut down with your toothbrushes".
At first you think it's a joke but then you realize you're actually going to do it.
-You are team 4. -Correct.
Welcome.
We've received a log, probably 6-7 meter long.
Weights of course some kilo and we're to transport this log from here to a point further down.
And then we'll see what comes after that.
Now everyone's depressed because they think we will have to saw on it all night.
But I know what's going on because I have smelled something afoul literally.
I know what's going on, it's that chef in the Air Force School.
So when we get down there now it isn't hard work -
- it's surprise and party.
Mark my words that is what's going to happen.
After having just received Spam, we don't need any Spam it's full party now!
It's going to be awesome.
But the exercise isn't over and from here onwards the team needs to haul the log with them everywhere.
They are given some dull small axes with orders to reduce the weight as much as possible.
It looks a bit despairing right now but as soon as the bark comes off it will look much smaller.
"Now Are's down in the basement. How does Are feel down in the basement?".
I feel pissed.
***.
I thought this was going to be our bench for the celebration party.
That's what I believed. So dumb was I.
You must not believe such!
Just expect the worst about everything and you'll never be disappointed.
It's true.
The philosophy on stuff like this is it isn't done before it's done.
I've burned my self on that before.
So now you know for next time, it isn't done before it's done.
The fact we can smell the food and that chef, do you think they do it on purpose -
- or that they haven't thought about it -Well how do you react to it?
Think it's disgusting.
Then they have probably achieved their goal.
Just think in 12 hours we won't be whittling wood, we'll be doing something else.
And 12 hours after that you're home.
One day out of many.
After having chopped away on the log all night it is now considerably smaller.
But the task is to get it even smaller.
Now there's tasks, whole bunch of quizzes questions and shooting and...
...magic and juggling and balancing and everything possible.
And for every point you get they chop a bit of the log so it gets shorter and shorter.
So now it's only so short.
So short.
The size is at least skewed.
Two minutes until start!
It's time for the exercises final task.
The team is about to complete an obstacle course - with the log.
-Ready. -Ready. -10 seconds!
Alright, let's go guys!
Five!
Four!
Three!
Two!
One!
Go!
Come on!
44:22
Good work. Good job. Real steel will.
Quite the interval.
-Steel Are. -Good work. -Steel-willed Are.
This is our last reflection on the exercise.
Don't even have to call it reflection, let's call it a mood report. What is your mood right now?
-Super. -Super yeah.
Frankly speaking I thought everyone in the army were idiots.
Thought so.
But I can see that's not the case, I have met plenty of good people.
So you youngest here, when I was your age I didn't want to be like you.
But now that I have kids myself it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if they were more like you.
Than me who was just kidding around and drinking for many years.
If I was in charge it wouldn't be called War School it would be called "The School of Love".
And we would be doing just this without the rifles.
And none of us would have to kill anyone ever and we would still have as much fun.
That would have been cool.
Think how little hate there would be if we didn't bring rifles.
Then I shall as exercise leader inform you that exercise Referance is done.
Team 4. Cheers!
In the next episode of Saving Private Osen -
- Are is going to try and get up in an F-16 fighter plane.
My dear...
God help me!