Artillery Brigade (Finnish Army)
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Artillery Brigade (Finnish Tykistöprikaati) is a Finnish Army unit situated in Niinisalo, in Western Finland. The Artillery Brigade trains conscripts and regular personnel for war-time artillery duties. In addition, it provides a weather service in the Niinisalo region, and trains most of the Finnish Defence Forces' dogs. The total strength of the brigade is some 800 conscripts and 400 regular civilian and military personnel.
The Artillery Brigade consists of the Satakunta Artillery Regiment, the Reconnaissance Battalion, the Artillery School, and the Satakunta Military Band. Every year, some 1,600 conscripts are trained by the brigade. The training guns vary from 122 mm light howitzers to 155 mm cannons and 122 mm multiple rocket launchers, depending on the reserve units which the conscripts are trained for. The conscripts participate in several live-fire exercises in the nearby firing range at Pohjankangas, before the two- or three-week-long national live-fire artillery exercise held twice a year in Rovajärvi firing range in Lapland.
The Artillery School provides University-level education for future artillery officers and continuing education for artillery regular personnel.
