Sissi (Finnish light infantry)


Sissi is a Finnish term for light infantry which conducts reconnaissance, sabotage and guerrilla warfare operations behind enemy lines. The word sissi, first attested in the modern meaning "patrolman, partisan, spy" in 1787, comes to Finnish from Slavic and refers either to a forest bandit or his yew bow.
The Finnish Army trained Sissi units to conduct long range reconnaissance patrols, gather intelligence from concealed observation posts, raid enemy installations, conduct road side ambushes and pursue and destroy enemy special forces units.
In wartime, an unspecified number of reservists were to be assigned to Sissi battalions and would deploy and operate as small groups up to company size. They were meant to stay behind and covertly operate against enemy forces in their area of responsibility even if regular friendly troops had been forced to retreat. Sissi battalions were part of Finnish Army local troops, unlike the jäger and armored brigades meant for operational use.
In official Finnish military parlance, the word "sissi" has been largely phased out. For example, the Sissi company of the Lappi Border Guard of the Finnish Border Guard was renamed to "Border Jaeger Company" in 1994. The conscripts serving in the unit were concurrently renamed to Border Jaegers. Similarly, Finnish Army sissi units are now called "reconnaissance" units, and the personnel serving in them called "tiedustelija", "reconnaissance man". A notable exception are the sissiradisti or Sissi signalists.

History

Wars between Russia and Finland have a long tradition of Finnish sissi warfare. Famous sissi leaders have included Pekka Vesainen, Tapani Löfving, and Olli Tiainen.
Before the hostilities of Winter War, the Finnish Borderguard formed 25 Independent Battalions from local reservists along the border area. After the outbreak of hostilities, a further five Sissi Battalions were formed from "auxiliary personnel". These battalions especially those of the latter type, were below their nominal strength in both men and weaponry. These units proved to be effective in using motti tactics in their native area with light infantry weapons and skis.
In the Continuation War the ad hoc Sissi Battalions were discontinued, but Independent Battalions were raised, 4th Independent Battalion was directly under the command of Supreme Headquarters doing LRRP and raiding missions deep inside Soviet area. In the Battle of Ilomantsi, soldiers of the 4th disrupted the supply lines of the Soviet artillery, preventing effective fire support. In the Ladoga Karelia front the length of the front, absence of roads and lack of troops prevented continuous front lines during the trench warfare period. Both armies used a chain of fortified field bases separated by the wilderness, monitoring and controlling the gaps with patrols. Both Finns and Soviets launched raids and recon patrols into enemy territory. Battles were short clashes of lightly armed infantry groups from squadron to battalion in size, with little chance of support or reinforcements.
After the Second World War, Sissi units were decommissioned and officially Sissi training was discontinued, although many units gave Sissi training for their reconnaissance units. In the beginning of the 1960s, Paratrooper School was established at Utti, infantry and border guard established Sissi training companies thereafter.

Famous sissi troops

In Finnish, "sissi" means guerrilla, but the term is somewhat misleading when referring to Finnish Defence Force Sissi troops. Sissi forces are not irregular guerrilla or militia forces; they are part of the regular FDF troops trained for operations behind enemy lines. Like most of the Finnish Defence Forces, Sissi battalions are composed of reservists. Their closest foreign equivalents are the Swedish Armed Forces Jägare troops.
Sissi as a description is a person of extraordinary stamina – e.g. "Sissi weather" refers to the worst possible weather conditions, for sissi soldiers prefer these for their operations, since bad weather tends to distract enemy soldiers and hide any noise caused by sissis.
Despite the phasing out of the term in official use, in Finnish military slang sissi continues to be used as an umbrella term for all unconventional military applications, such as MREs, which are called "Sissi rations", also any improvised and/or temporary repair to any equipment is often called "sissiviritys", literally "sissi fix" or "sissi patch", in addition any improvised booby-trap, such as a firearm rigged to fire at doorway of a building once someone opens the door, may be called "sissijäynä", literally "sissi prank".

Training

The training of the Sissi troops was not centralized, but they were historically trained in several Finnish Defence Force brigades as well as in the Sissi companies of the Finnish Border Guard. Reserve officers for all Sissi troops were trained at Reserviupseerikoulu.
The Sissi conscripts were given training in survival, signals and demolitions, extended small arms training as well as training in advanced escape & evasion techniques and ambush tactics. Those unable to cope for either physical or psychological reasons were either given deferments or transferred to a regular infantry training.

Weapons and equipment

Sissi troops were un-motorized and are not equipped with heavy weapons or equipment, their uniforms and weaponry almost identical to the regular infantry issued. Distinctive personal equipment used by Sissi were Savotta "Para Jäger" backpacks used because of extended hikes, camouflage paint and personal camouflage nets. Sissi units had fewer crew served weapons and more sniper rifles than regular infantry.
Mines were an important part of the Sissi tactic of ambushing enemy convoys. They were also used to discourage pursuit after a raid and serve as defences of bivouac. Sissi training included constructing improvised explosive devices, as well as boobytraps. Sissi units had a wide variety of land mines at their disposal, including:
The Finnish Defence Forces no longer has any sissi companies as part of its peace time training organization. The last sissi company was renamed to a reconnaissance company in 2015 and disbanded completely in 2016.
The status of sissi troops as part of the wartime FDF is less clear, as there is little available public information. The National Defense University of Finland hasn't published any thesis or paper on the 21st century where sissi units and tactics are mentioned. The FDF's reformed land warfare doctrine is a distributed fighting doctrine which requires every soldier in the army to understand basic principles of asymmetric tactics. FDF continues to provide reconnaissance training in many major training formations, where they emphasize reconnaissance, forward observation and fire control but this training no longer leans towards special tactics, weapons, sabotage and woodland area fighting skills. However, the FDF paratroopers trained in the Utti Jaeger Regiment are trained in woodland area fighting, survival skills, unconventional methods and asymmetric tactics though the major role is geared more towards long range reconnaissance and special operations.
Finnish Border Guard, under the ministry of interior, has renamed its Sissi companies to Border Jaeger companies and has adopted the term Border Jaeger as a replacement for the term Sissi. These are trained to operate behind the enemy lines with asymmetric tactics and unconventional weapons and methods as well as do long term operational reconnaissance and aggressive short term reconnaissance and sabotage. Aside from classical Sissi training, the training also includes peacetime operational methods and the responsibilities of the Border Guard i.e. border control, patrol and tracking and catching illegal intruders.