Norwegian army
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Norwegian_army".

content
Military of Norway
Components
Army Hæren

Navy Sjøforsvaret (Coast Guard Kystvakten)

Air Force Luftforsvaret

Home Guard Heimevernet
Ranks
Norwegian military ranks

The Norwegian Army (Norwegian: Hæren) is Norway's military land force. It is part of the Norwegian Defence Force along with the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Royal Norwegian Air Force and the Norwegian Home Guard. Established in 1628, it's considerd as the Senior service of the Armed forces, currently it has a peacetime strength of 16,000, and approximately 51,000 fully mobilized.1 The Army is mainly located in two areas, mid-Troms and the south-eastern part of the country, with other special units like the King's Guards and the border guards placed elsewhere.

A Norwegian soldier in Afghanistan with a local.

Contents

Pre-World War II history

The Norwegian Army dates back to Viking timescitation needed, when it consisted of only the household forces of local kings and their allies. The present army was established by the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV "to defend the kingdom against exterior dangers." This is still the primary mission of the Norwegian Army.

The first great victory of the Norwegian Army came in 1808, when the Swedes attempted to invade Norway from the south, but were forced back by the forces of Prince Kristian August. In 1814 the Swedes invaded again, this time with the support of the victors of the Napoleonic wars. The Swedish king intended to take Norway by force, but the Norwegian army could not be broken despite several losses and as a result the war ended with the Swedish king accepting Norway as a separate state with its own constitution - but the Norwegians having to accept him as a king. The officer class was well represented in the forming of the Constitution in 1814, which included clauses providing for a Norwegian national army based on compulsory service.

In 1905, the Storting voted to separate from Sweden. The army had been modernized and were highly trained in the years before 1905. War seemed inevitable, and 22,000 men were mobilized, but Norway achieved independence peacefully.

World War II

Main article: Norway in World War II
Main article: Norwegian Campaign

As well as the Norwegian Army taking part in the Norwegian Campaign, Norwegian army members joined the Norwegian resistance movement after German forces occupied Norway. Likewise there were many Norwegian army members that joined German forces. Norwegian soldiers also joined free Norwegian units in the United Kingdom to continue the fight against the Nazis. These units included the Norwegian Independent Company 1 and 5 Troop, No.10 (Inter Allied) Army Commandos. [1]

Post World War II

Norway was one of the founding members of NATO, and during the Cold War, the Norwegian Army's primary role was the defence of Norway and Western Europe's northern flank. British, Dutch and US Marines were tasked to assist in the defence of Norway during any Soviet invasion.

Norway has also contributed to NATO and United Nations peacekeeping forces. Since 1947 Norway has contributed military personnel to over 40 international operations abroad and some 120,000 Norwegians have served in these operations. The major missions have been UNIFIL (Lebanon), IFOR/SFOR (Bosnia) and KFOR (Kosovo), as well as multiple contributions to UN observer missions.

The Norwegian Army sent troops to support the NATO ISAF mission in Afghanistan, to help free Afghanistan of the Taliban. Norwegian special forces were involved in combat operations during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002, and Norwegian Army troops during Operation Harekate Yolo in 2007. [2]

Insignia

NATO Code OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1 OF(D) Student Officer
 Norway No Equiv
General
Generalløytnant
Generalmajor
Brigader
Oberst
Oberstløytnant
Major
Kaptein / Rittmester
Løytnant
Fenrik		 No Equiv
NATO Code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1
 Norway
 No Equivalent No Equivalent
Sersjant
Korporal		 No Equivalent

Grenader

Menig

Organization

Future Structure of the Norwegian Army (click to enlarge).

The Army is organized along three functional lines:

  • Commander, Army Forces (HSTY)
  • Commander, Army Ranger Command (HJK)
  • Commander, Army Transformation and Doctrine Command (TRADOK)

Subordinate commands

HSTY

[3]

The reserve BRIG 6 has been disbanded as a consequence of the 2005-08 white paper, and the BRIG N/ DIV 6 staff merged with HSTY

Maneuver units.

All units except Telemark Bataljon are mainly made up of conscripts. A battalion size battlegroup, formed around Bn2 or PBn on a rotational basis, is to be available for national contingencies[4]

Support units.

HSTY relies on NASAMS units of the Royal Norwegian Air Force for air defence

The ISTAR Concept.
Parts of:

TRADOK

  • Krigsskolen (Army Academy)
  • Hærens Taktiske Treningssenter (Army Tactical Training Centre)

HJK

Garrisons

Weapons

Individual weapons

Crew weapons

Combat vehicles

Norwegian CV9030

General-purpose vehicles

  • Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen: a wide range of models, softskin, hardtop and armoured versions; MB 240 softskin most widely used
  • Hägglunds Bv206, an unarmoured tracked vehicle often used for reconnaissance and command-and-control tasks
  • Nissan Terrano II
  • Toyota Land Cruiser
  • Alvis Tactica
  • Land Rover Wolf
  • Scania P93, P113, P143 trucks, and also the 412 rescue and recovery vehicle
  • Lynx 5900 and 6900 snowmobiles
  • Lynx Yeti Pro V800 Army snowmobiles
  • Polaris Bigboss 6WD ATV
  • The army has recently bought 25 new Iveco LMV light-armored vehicles for patrol and reconnaissance tasks in connection with Norway's contribution to the ISAF force in Afghanistan, and has an option of buying 47 additional vehicles. The Iveco vehicles are intended to fill the span between the unarmored Geländewagens and the CV9030 IFVs previously operated by the army, after personnel from the Telemark Battalion made requests for lightly armoured vehicles after missions in Afghanistan. The first four Ivecos are now deployed to the Norwegian Camp Nidaros in support of ISAFs Quick Reaction Force in Mazar-e-Sharif, another 12 are to follow soon. [7] [8].


Bugle calls of the Norwegian Army

The Norwegian Army has as of 2002 officially 59 bugle calls (for additional information see Bugle calls of the Norwegian Army)

References

  1. ^ "Forsvarsnett: The Norwegian Army" (in Norwegian). Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
  2. ^ Arvtageren til AG-3

External links
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