Defence of Iceland
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2008) |
| Military of Iceland | |
|---|---|
| File:Icstateflag.svg | |
| Service branches | no regular military forces |
| Ministry of Justice and Ecclesiastical affairs | Icelandic National Police Icelandic Coast Guard |
| Defence Department | Icelandic Crisis Response Unit Iceland Air Defence System |
| Military manpower | |
| Coast Guard | 160 |
| Police | 700 |
| Special Operations Unit of the National Commissioner | 52-56 (2007) |
| Radar Agency (IADS) | 80 |
| Crisis Response Unit | 100 |
| Reserves, Civil Defence and Rescue Units | 18,000+ |
| Military manpower - availability | |
| males age 15-49 | 82,705 (2008 est.)[1] |
| females age 15-49 | 76,671 (2008 est.)[2] |
| total | 159,376 (2008 est.)[3] |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | |
| males age 15-49 | 66,895 (2008 est.) |
| females age 15-49 | 61,999 (2008 est.) |
| total | 128,894 (2008 est.) |
| Military Defence expenditures | |
| Official Defence Department Expenses (incl. IADS) | 26.6 million USD (2008) |
| Other Military or related expenditures | |
| Coast Guard | 28.4 million USD (2007) |
| Crisis Response Unit | 10 million USD (2007) |
| National Commissioner (incl. Special Forces) | 19.4 million USD (2007) |
| National Police (overall incl. National Commissioner) | 110.2 million USD (2007) |
The Republic of Iceland, a NATO member, maintains no standing army. There is however no legal impediment to forming one. Iceland maintains a well trained Coast Guard, National Police forces, Air Defence system as well as a voluntary expeditionary peacekeeping force. These services perform many of the operations Iceland's NATO allies relegate to their standing armies. There is in addition, a treaty with the United States for military defences and formerly maintained a military base in Iceland until September 2006. This base is currently maintained by the newly formed "Icelandic Defence Agency". There are also agreements about military and other security operations with Norway[4][5], Denmark[6][7][8] and other NATO countries.
Iceland holds the annual NATO exercises entitled Northern Viking; the most recent exercises were held in 2008[9], as well as the EOD exercise "Northern Challenge". In 1997 Iceland hosted its first Partnership for Peace (PfP) exercise, "Cooperative Safeguard," which is the only multilateral PfP exercise so far in which Russia has participated. Another major PfP exercise was hosted in 2000.
Iceland has also contributed ICRU peacekeepers to SFOR, KFOR and ISAF.
The Government of Iceland contributes financially to NATO's international overhead costs and recently has taken a more active role in NATO deliberations and planning. Iceland hosted the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Reykjavík in June 1987.
Norway has also agreed to grant Icelandic citizens the same eligibility as Norwegian citizens for military education in Norway and to serve as professional soldiers in the Norwegian Defence forces.[10]
History
In the period from the settlement of Iceland, in the 870s, until it became part of the realm of the Norwegian King, military defences of Iceland consisted of multiple chieftains (Goðar) and their free followers (þingmenn, bændur or liðsmenn) organised as per standard Nordic military doctrine of the time in expeditionary armies such as the leiðangr. The armies being divided into units by the quality of the warriors and by birth. At the end of this period the number of chieftains had diminished and their power had grown to the detriment of their followers. This resulted in a long and bloody civil war known as Sturlungaöld. The average battle consisted of little less than 1000 men.
Amphibious operations were important part of warfare in Iceland in this time, especially in the Westfjords, while large naval engagements were not common. The largest of which was an engagement of a few dozen ships in Húnaflói known as Flóabardagi.
In the decades before the Napoleonic wars the few hundred militia-men in the South West of Iceland were mostly equipped with rusty and mostly obsolete medieval weaponry, including 16th century halberds. When English raiders arrived in 1808, after sinking or capturing most of the Danish-Norwegian Navy in the Battle of Copenhagen, the amount of gunpowder in Iceland was so low that it prohibited all efforts of the governor of Iceland, Count Trampe, to provide any resistance.
In 1855, the Icelandic Army was re-established by Andreas August von Kohl the sheriff in Vestmannaeyjar. In 1856, the king provided 180 rixdollars to buy guns, and a further 200 rixdollars the following year. The sheriff became the Captain of the new army, which become known as Herfylkingin, "The Battalion." In 1860, von Kohl dies, and Pétur Bjarnasen takes over the command. Nine years later Pétur Bjarnasen died before appointing a successor, and the army falls into disarray.
In 1918 Iceland regained sovereignty as a separate Kingdom ruled by the Danish king. Iceland established a Coast Guard shortly after, but financial difficulties make establishing a standing army impossible. The government hoped that a permanent neutrality would shield the country from invasions. But at the onset of Second World War, the government, becoming justifiably nervous, decided to expand the capabilities of the National Police (Ríkislögreglan) and its reserves into a military unit. Chief Commissioner of Police Agnar Kofoed Hansen had been trained in the Danish Army and he moved swiftly to train his officers. Weapons and uniforms were acquired and near Laugarvatn they practiced rifleshooting and military tactics. Agnar barely managed to train his 60 officers before the United Kingdom invaded Iceland on May 10, 1940. The next step in this army building move was to train the 300 strong reserve forces but the invasion effectively stopped it.
Icelandic Army Regimental Standard of the 19th century Army.Forces of the Foreign Ministry
Icelandic Crisis Response Unit
The Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (ICRU) (or Íslenska friðargæslan which in English means "The Icelandic Peacekeeping Guard") is an expeditionary peacekeeping force maintained by the Ministry for foreign affairs.
The Unit is manned by various personnel from Iceland's other services, armed or not, including the National Police, Coast Guard, Emergency Services and Health-care system. Because of the military nature of most of the ICRU's assignments, all of its members receive basic infantry combat training. This training has often been conducted by the Norwegian Army, but the Coast Guard and the Special forces are also assigned to train the ICRU.
Most of the ICRU's camouflage and weaponry is procured through or borrowed from the Norwegian Defence Forces.
The formation and employment of the unit has met controversy in Iceland. Especially by people to the left on the political scale. In October 2004 three Icelanders were injured in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. The incident led to tough questioning of the group's commander, Colonel Halli Sigurðsson, focusing on his conduct. The Colonel was replaced by Colonel Lárus Atlason.
The ICRU has or is operating in:
Military missions
Afghanistan within ISAF
Iraq within NTM-1 (and the Coast Guard within Dancon/Irak)
Serbia/
Kosovo within KFOR
Civilian missions
Forces of the Defence Agency
The Icelandic Defence Agency (Varnarmálastofnun Íslands) was founded in April 2008.[1] It functions as Iceland's Defence Ministry and is under the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Among its duties is maintaining defence installations, intelligence gathering and military exercises.
Iceland Air Defence System
The Iceland Air Defence System or Íslenska Loftvarnarkerfið was founded in 1987, and operates four radar complexes, a software and support facility and a command and report centre. It is the main element of the newly created Icelandic Defence Agency.
Possible standing military
Currently, the political tide in Iceland is against the formation of a regular armed force.[citation needed] However due to recent events, such as the U.S. military leaving, the heating tension in Europe with Russia and an important military exercise in August, 2007, the government of Iceland is considering taking steps to create a defence force in Iceland.[citation needed] This would mainly consist of a police-military force to begin with and weaponry received from the Danish military, trained by Norwegian officers.[citation needed] A Gallup poll from May, 2007 showed an increase in Iceland's concern regarding the island's defence and had the support for an Icelandic defence force at 68%.[citation needed] The overall decision for an Icelandic army is still in question.
Interior Forces of the Justice Ministry
Coast Guard
The Icelandic Coast Guard originates back to the 1920s. Its main tasks from its initiation have been to protect Iceland's most valuable natural resource—its fishing areas—as well as provide security, search, and rescue services to Iceland's fishing fleet. In 1952, 1958, 1972, and 1975, the government expanded Iceland's exclusive economic zone to 4, 12, 50 and 200 nautical miles respectively. This led to Iceland's conflict with the United Kingdom, known as the "Cod Wars". The Icelandic Coast Guard and the Royal Navy confronted each other on several occasions during these years. Although few rounds were fired, there were many intense moments between the two nations. The Captains of the Icelandic Coast Guard ships were regarded as heroes (interestingly the Icelandic crew were the only ones to man their guns at any point) and earned their names in the history of Iceland as Iceland's bravest men. This attitude of heroism towards the Coast Guard persists in Iceland.
Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner
The Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner, usually called Víkingasveitin (The Viking Squad), is similar to Germany's GSG 9 and Britain's SAS; a well-trained group of operatives. The unit handles security of the state, anti/counter-terrorism projects, security of foreign dignitaries, as well supporting the police forces in the country when needed. The Viking Team is divided into five squads: a bomb squad that specializes in explosives; a boat squad that specializes in operations on sea and water, diving and underwater warfare; a sniper squad that specializes in sniper warfare, entries, and close target reconnaissance; an intelligence squad that specializes in anti-terrorism intelligence, surveillance and infiltration; and an airborne squad that specializes in airplane hijacking operations, skydiving surprise assault operations and port security. Members of the Viking Team were deployed in the Balkans as a part of operations lead by NATO, and some members have been deployed in Afghanistan. The unit used to be under the command of the Reykjavík Chief of Police, but in 2004 a new law was passed that put it directly under the National Police Commissioner. The Viking Squad has approximately 55 members.
Sources
- ^ Iceland Statistics
- ^ Iceland Statistics
- ^ Iceland Statistics
- ^ A press release from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- ^ An English translation of the Norwegian-Icelandic MoU at the website of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- ^ Norway Post: Norway and Iceland to sign defence agreement
- ^ Aftenposten: Norway to help defend Iceland
- ^ Danmarks Radio
- ^ A press release from the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
- ^ Norwegian Defence Forces: Alle gode ting er tre
- Birgir Loftsson, Hernaðarsaga Íslands : 1170-1581, Pjaxi. Reykjavík. 2006..
- Þór Whitehead, The Ally who came in from the cold : a survey of Icelandic Foreign Policy 1946-1956, Centre for International Studies. University of Iceland Press. Reykjavík. 1998.
- Icelandic Coast Guard.
- Icelandic National Police.
- Iceland Air Defence System.
- Ministry of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs.
- Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
