Island Command Faroes ( da, Færøernes Kommando; ISCOMFAROES) was the military unit on the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. It was the military command of the Faroe Islands, the Faroe Islands airspace and the Faroe Islands territorial waters. It supported the local government with military advice as well as search and rescue capabilities. Island Command Faroes was amalgamated with Island Command Greenland to a Joint Arctic Command on 31 October 2012.

History

Faroes Marine District ( da, Færøernes Marinedistrikt) was established on 5 September 1951 in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

. On 1 June 1961, the district name was changed to the Faroe Islands Command, and on the same date, the Marine Station Thorshavn was created as an authority. In 1963, the Marine Station at Hoyvíksvegur 58 was built and became the new home of the Faroe Islands Command, which until 1979 consisted of the command authority (Faroe Command), the Marine Station ,and Naval Radio Tórshavn. From amalgamation in 1979 until the establishment of the Arctic Command on 31 October 2012, the Faroe Islands Command was the joint authority name. On 1 January 2001, the new Level II authority was established, which was called the Faroe Islands Command. On 2 July 2002, there was a ceremony where the

Dannebrog Dannebrog (until the mid-20th century often spelled Danebrog) may refer to: Flags and orders * The national Flag of Denmark * Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen, links=no), a Royal Danish decoration Places * Dannebrog Island, an i ...

(Danish Flag) was hauled down for the last time at the Marine Station in Tórshavn. The key to the buildings was then handed over to Tórshavn's mayor. The final relocation was a reality and

Mjørkadalur Mjørkadalur is a valley on the Faroese island of Streymoy in the Tórshavnar municipality. It has no postal code. It is located on the mountain of Sornfelli above the fjord of Kalbaksfjørður. The buildings in Mjørkadalur used to be part of the ...

became the new home of the Faroe Islands Command. In 2005, the Danish government decided that all activities on the mountain of Sornfelli should be shut down on 15 November 2010. The NATO radar installations which had been established in 1963 in Mjørkadalur on the mountain of Sornfelli at 749 metres above sea level, were a link in the defence of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

. The radar installation was closed at a small ceremony on 1 January 2007 after more than 40 years. It is permitted for civilians to travel on the mountain road up to the radar facility, which offers a panoramic view of the Faroes. Since 10 February 2011 a part of the main building in Mjørkadalur has been used as a detention centre by the Danish Police in the Faroe Islands; this came about due to problems with mould in the former locations of the detention centre. The Danish defence forces handed over the buildings in Mjørkadalur to the Faroese government in 2013.

Commanding officer

Commanders of Island Command Faroes have been:

References

External links

Information in Danish about the Faroese military command
Military units and formations of Denmark Military units and formations of NATO Military of the Faroe Islands Military units and formations established in 1961 Military units and formations disestablished in 2012 {{Denmark-org-stub