Out in a Latvian pine forest, members of a reconnaissance team sprouted out of the low vegetation — wild blueberry bushes adding purple stains to their camouflage uniforms. Huddled around a radio operator, they completed a radio check with the company commander.

Moments later, the rest of the platoon quietly filtered out from a nearby treeline. They formed a defensive perimeter in the shape of a triangle, their weapons aimed toward an unseen enemy.

At first glance, the group looked like an army patrol. They wore full combat kits — helmets, rucksacks and face paint — each equipped with what appeared to be assault rifles.

But the soldiers were, in fact, high schoolers.

Latvia, a nation of 1.8 million people bordering both Russia and Belarus, made “National Defense Training” mandatory for high school-level students in 2024. With lessons led by instructors from the Defense Ministry’s Youth Guard, the curriculum includes first aid, crisis preparedness, and basic military skills for 16- to 18-year-olds — even target shooting with air rifles. 

“They’ve already forgotten some of what we taught them in school,” instructor Klāvs Bernhards said, surveying the distance between each member of the platoon. “If a drone drops a bomb and you’re all standing close together, none of you will survive. If you spread out, then some of you will survive.”

The summer camps build on the lessons taught in the classroom during the school year. Over 19 days, students live much like soldiers, learning military drill, combat tactics and weapons handling. Those aged 18 also practice firing live rounds from the Heckler & Koch G36, the assault rifles used by Latvia’s armed forces.

“When they told us we’d be using real firearms, they warned us to grip the weapons properly; you have to really grip it so you don’t break your collarbone,” 18-year-old trainee Markuss Celms said. He’s fired airsoft guns before, but nothing with this amount of recoil.

“I expected a much bigger recoil, so I literally didn’t even flinch,” said Celms.

During this particular training exercise, Celms used an airsoft replica while providing security for his platoon.

“Right now, I’m in overwatch,” he explained. “I’m watching the sector for potential incoming enemies.”

If you ask the instructors, the only real threats in the forest during this exercise were ticks and mosquitoes. But Latvian officials have said that the country’s security concerns are anything but hypothetical.

Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said Russia continues to probe countries across Europe using hybrid tactics and other forms of pressure.

“Today, Russia is testing various means in various countries,” Braže told The World. “It’s a serious issue, and we all have to understand what Russia does, prevent it, counter it and take it seriously.”

The education program forms part of a broader national effort to strengthen Latvia’s defenses. The country has restored military conscription for young men and increased defense spending to nearly 5% of GDP.

Braže, who also serves in Latvia’s National Guard, believes military training benefits civilians, as well as the armed forces.

“Once you understand how it functions, you become much calmer and more confident,” Braže said. “You gain confidence in yourself, your teammates, the armed forces and society as a whole. It’s good for individuals, but also for the whole country.”

For many students at the camp, the training offers reassurance in uncertain times.

“I think it’s really helpful because we don’t know what can happen,” Madara Ziberte, 16, said. “The war in Ukraine is happening, and we’re close to Russia, so anything could happen.”

Ziberte said she hopes to join the military in the future. Her friend, 17-year-old Diāna Spruğevica, is not feeling as inspired at the moment.

She signed up for the summer training camp because her sister is in the Latvian military. “I just wanted to see what she’s talking about all the time,” Spruğevica said, “and also just to challenge myself.”

For now, the army life is not for her.

“I’m pretty lazy,” Spruğevica joked with a chuckle. Rather than keep up with the discipline at camp, she said she’d prefer to simply eat and sleep.

During the day’s lunch break, the crack of gunfire could be heard outside the mess hall. Somewhere on the base, there was a live-fire exercise. Inside the tent, students ate chicken and couscous from cardboard lunch boxes, drank fruit juice, texted friends, gossiped and played card games.

One moment they were ordinary teenagers enjoying lunch, the next they were marching in cadence.

After completing the patrol base exercise, 18-year-old trainee Santa Lenerte removed her helmet and took a drink from her water bottle. Checking social media, she said her friends were clearly enjoying a very different kind of summer.

“They’re going to the beach, they’re hanging out with friends, but I don’t feel jealous or like I’m missing out,” Lenerte said. “I’m making new friends here.”

A smile broke through the camouflage paint covering her face.

“I’m enjoying my summer,” she said. “Just in my own way.”

The group spent the rest of the day learning to pack an emergency 72-hour survival kit and to navigate through the forest with nothing more than coordinates and a compass.

For the following day, their instructor Klāvs Bernhards told them they would learn to lob dummy grenades and assault a fortified position.