"Norway's mandatory military service is intended to toughen up the Arctic nation's young men and women. But six of its young military police recruits who were forced to go for a freezing, naked run – and consequently caught frostbite – appear to have been pushed too far," the Telegraph reported.
Setermoen's military barracks, where the six recruits were trained, are located about 160 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Although an outdoor temperature had plummeted to —20C (-4F), the youths were ordered to get undressed and to take their boots off; then they were forced to go for a naked run outside the building. During the unusual exercise, all six novices got frostbite and required medical treatment after they returned to the barracks.
"This kind of thing is not supposed to happen. Boys and girls called up for military service for the first time should be brought into a safe environment.
Consequently we are taking this incident very seriously and want to get to the bottom of what happened," Obit Aleksander Jankov, an army spokesperson, told Danish media outlet Dagbladet, as cited by the Telegraph.
Norwegian military officials have already launched an investigation aimed to shed light on the unusual incident and to find out who sent the recruits on their naked run.
Dagbladet, however, speculates that it is most likely that the novices were tricked by other soldiers from Brigade Nord.
