Setermoen is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bardu

Bardu

Bardu is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Setermoen, the largest urban area in the municipality.Norway's largest military garrison is located at Setermoen...

 in Troms

Troms

or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 county, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. Its population (2009) is 2,457. The local administration declared city status for Setermoen in 1999, but this was rejected by the government of Norway since the municipality has less than 5,000 inhabitants.

Location

Setermoen is located along the river, Barduelva

Barduelva

Barduelva is a river in Troms county, Norway. It runs from the lake Altevatnet and empties into another river, the Målselva. This river is the largest source of hydroelectricity in all of Troms county....

, and on the shores of Sætervatnet lake in the middle of the Bardudalen valley. It is about 23 km (14.3 mi) south of Andselv

Andselv

Andselv is a village along the Andselva river in the Bardufoss area in the municipality of Målselv, in Troms county, Norway. Its population is 776. Andselv is located just north of Bardufoss Airport along European route E6 about north of the village of Heggelia and south of Andslimoen....

/Bardufoss Airport

Bardufoss Airport

Bardufoss Airport is situated at Bardufoss in the municipality of Målselv in Troms, North Norway. The airport is primarily military, but also serves a few civilian flights...

 and about 75 km (46.6 mi) east of the city of Harstad

Harstad

is the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...

. European route E6

European route E6

European route E 6 is the designation for the main north-south road in Norway, and the west coast of Sweden, running from the southern tip of Sweden, at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the country north to Finnmark. The route ends close to the Norwegian border with Russia...

 runs right through the center of Setermoen. Both the Bardu church and the Setermoen military camp are located in Setermoen.

Setermoen Camp

Military education was established at Setermoen in 1898 because of its strategic location in the midst of the mountains, and is one of the oldest camps in Norway today. In many ways, the Norwegian Armed Forces

Norwegian Armed Forces

The Norwegian Armed Forces numbers about 23,000 personnel, including civilian employees. According to mobilisation plans , the strength during full mobilisation would be approximately 83,000 combatant personnel. Norway has mandatory military service for men and voluntary service for women...

 has shaped Setermoen and the community through its presence.

Altogether, about 1000 soldiers and 500 officers are stationed here, making it the largest garrison

Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

 in Norway. Stationed at Setermoen is:

• Artilleribataljonen (artillery battalion)
• Panserbataljonen (armoured battalion)
• Sanitetsbataljonen (Medical battalion)
• Etteretningsbataljonen (Intelligence battalion)

Recently, a massive renovation program has taken place at Setermoen. Most of the main buildings and barracks will be torn down and new ones built. Costs of the project will spiral to over 1 billion Norwegian krone

Norwegian krone

The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...

r (about US$155 million). The reason for the project is the end of the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 and the reorganization of the Norwegian Army

Norwegian Army

Norway achieved full independence in 1905, and in the first century of its short life has contributed to two major conflicts, the Cold War and the War on Terror. The Norwegian Army currently operates in the north of Norway and in Afghanistan as well as in Eastern Europe. The Army is the oldest of...

from a mere mobilization force into a modern professional force, as this requires a lot more follow-up to the troops and better standards to attract more volunteers.