A Swiss soldier fires a signal rocket during a night excercice with life ammuniation. Despite being surrounded by friendly countries, Switzerland maintains one of the largest standig armies of the world.
Not that I would like to discuss too much the size of the Swiss army... Usefilm should be about taking pictures. But let's give the army discussion a shot. Switzerland has 480'000 soldiers which can be mobilized within 48 hours. A couple of years ago, the figure was 600'000. This is about the size of Iraqi army before the first invasion in the early nineties. It also corresponds to roughly 10% of the Swiss population. It is because the Swiss army is mandatory, and everyone has to serve regularly until about the age of 38. During these "active" years, the equipment is kept at home (including the assault rifle and live amunition!). This explains the large number of soliders. Regards. J.
Good and valuable information, I like the exact timing of your shot, and the mono tone make it really a press work! Well done to you, Best wishes, Mohammad
0 
