Island Command Greenland ( da, Grønlands Kommando), or simply "GLK", was a Level.II authority responsible directly to the Defence Command. It was, among other things, responsible for the military defense of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, maritime and sovereignty maintenance and enforcement, as well as

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

. Personnel assigned to the Danish liaison office at Thule Air Base (FOTAB) as well as the

Sirius Patrol The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol ( da, Slædepatruljen Sirius), known informally as ''Siriuspatruljen'' (the Sirius Patrol) and formerly known as ''North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol'' and ''Resolute Dog Sled Patrol'', is an elite Danish naval unit. It ...

( da, Slædepatruljen SIRIUS) were also a part of the Greenland Command. Island Command Greenland was amalgamated with

Island Command Faroes Island Command Faroes ( da, Færøernes Kommando; ISCOMFAROES) was the military unit on the Faroe Islands. It was the military command of the Faroe Islands, the Faroe Islands airspace and the Faroe Islands territorial waters. It supported the loca ...

to a Joint Arctic Command on 31 October 2012.The Queen opened the Arctic Command
Ritzau, October 31st, 2012 It also functioned as

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

's Island Commander Greenland, formerly part of Allied Command Atlantic. ACLANT became Allied Command Transformation in 2003, and since then it was not clear exactly how the command now fits into the NATO Military Command Structure.

History

The Danish military can trace its activities in Greenland back to the time of

Hans Egede Hans Poulsen Egede (31 January 1686 – 5 November 1758) was a Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a successful mission among the Inui ...

. From the late 18th century up to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, personnel from the

Danish military Danish Defence ( da, Forsvaret, fo, Danska verjan, kl, Illersuisut) is the unified armed forces of the Kingdom of Denmark charged with the defence of Denmark and its constituent, self-governing nations Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The De ...

contributed very actively to the exploration of Greenland, by land, sea and air. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

fishing inspections and sea measuring began again and the first dedicated Greenland command was established, called the "''Greenland Maritime Command''", located at Nuuk ( da, Godthåb). On August 1, 1951 it changed name to the "''Island Command Greenland''", while simultaneously moving from Nuuk to the Naval base at

Kangilinnguit Kangilinnguit or Kangilínguit, formerly Grønnedal , is a settlement and location of a former naval base in Greenland's Sermersooq municipality, located at the mouth of Arsuk Fjord in southwestern Greenland. The settlement had 160 inhabitants in ...

( da, Grønnedal, at that time it was only a Marine station), where it has been ever since.

Civilian duties

Under the stipulations of several international treaties, Denmark has agreed to keep and maintain a

SAR SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...

(Search And Rescue) response organization in the Greenlandic area of responsibility. This organization was administered by the Greenland Command. The organization was divided into three sections, Land, Maritime, and Air, in order to simplify the command structure, which is absolutely vital on SAR operations. The Greenland Command is authorized to request additional support from naval vessels, police cutters, the Royal Danish Air Force, civilian ships, aircraft from Air Greenland, and US or

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic SAR units based in

if need be. Currently there are about 150 total civilian and military employees employed by the command, from both Danish and Greenlandic descent.

Winter in Grønnedal

*https://web.archive.org/web/20060402233425/http://forsvaret.dk/glk - official Greenland Command site (Danish) *https://web.archive.org/web/20070606222040/http://dpc.dk/sw5407.asp - Danish Polar Centre (English)

References

External links

* {{Military of Denmark Military of Denmark

History

Civilian duties

Winter in Grønnedal

See also

References

External links