The Special Support and Reconnaissance Company ( da, Særlig Støtte- og Rekognosceringskompagni), until 1 January 2007 known as the ''Patrol Company Army Operational Command''Patruljekompagniet
/ref> ( da, Patruljekompagniet) is the only remaining Long Range Surveillance Company (LRSC) / Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) Coy) in the Danish Armed Forces. The unit is part of the

Danish Home Guard The Danish Home Guard ( da, Hjemmeværnet) (HJV) is the fourth service of the Danish military. It was formerly concerned only with the defence of Danish territory, but since 2008, it has also supported the Danish military efforts in Afghanistan ...

, and the only one of its kind, working directly for the

Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures ...

and the only unit in Danish Armed Forces that uses a woven fabric for its

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

. Like with the other Danish SOFs, the accepted soldiers have one year probation, before they get their beret with the SSR insignia, and can be considered full members.

History

The unit ancestor: the Homeguard Special Intelligence Patrols (SEP) was founded in 1959 during the Cold War. SEP was disbanded in 1994 and Patrol Coy Land Command Zealand was established from the SEP unit in 1995. The unit was first assigned as a

Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP (pronounced "lurp"), is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrols deep in enemy-held territory.Ankony, Robert C., ''Lurps: A Ranger's Diary of Tet, Khe Sanh, A Shau, and Quang Tri,'' revised ...

Coy to the Land Command Zealand (Corps-level) and later on the Danish Army Operational Command as Patrol Coy AOC. This unit - ''Patruljekompagniet'' - was transformed into the SSR on 1 January 2007 under the Homeguard Command. The unit celebrated the 50 year anniversary of Special Intelligence Patrols on 9 April 2009, as the oldest existing patrol unit of the Danish Homeguard and the only

Special Reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) or Recon Team is conducted by small units of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units or military intelligence organizations, who operate behind enemy lines, avoiding direct combat and detect ...

unit of the Danish Homeguard. SSR Patrol

Special Intelligence Patrols (SEP)

The Special Intelligence Patrols (''Specielle Efterretningspatruljer'' or SEP) was founded in 1959 during the early cold war years and was specialised in collecting tactical intelligence behind enemy lines. Originally this was done using static observation sites but later on by insertable intelligence patrols operating behind enemy lines. The legacy of the Special Intelligence Patrols has not been forgotten and the basic skills (LRS/LRRP) and

special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) or Recon Team is conducted by small units of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units or military intelligence organizations, who operate behind enemy lines, avoiding direct combat and detect ...

capabilities have been maintained and developed within ''Patruljekompagniet''. During the cold war and until the turn of the century SEP - and later ''Patruljekompagniet'' - cross-trained with British TA

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

units from 21 SAS (V) (

Artists' Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regimen ...

) and 23 SAS (V) when they visited Denmark during large scale NATO exercises, as well as US Army Special Forces.

Combat Swimmers

''Patruljekompagniet'' has the capability to insert patrols covertly from the sea, due to their training with the

Danish Frogman Corps The Frogman Corps ( da, Frømandskorpset) is the maritime special operations force of the Danish Defence part of Special Operations Command. On 1 July 2015, the Frogman Corps transferred from the Royal Danish Navy to the newly established Spec ...

, a naval special forces unit. They are trained as

combat swimmer A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, comb ...

s and are capable of various kinds of covert surface insertions.

Close protection teams

In 2006, specially selected soldiers from the SSR, among others, were trained by the Danish Army Special Operations Forces

Jægerkorpset The Jaeger Corps also known as the Huntsmen Corps ( da, Jægerkorpset) is an elite special operations force of the Danish Defence part of Special Operations Command, formerly of the Royal Danish Army, based at Aalborg Air Base. History The Jae ...

as military close protection operators and participated in Danish Army Protection Teams (

Protective Services Detail A security detail, often known as a PSD (protective services detail, personal security detachment, personal security detail) or PPD (personal protection detail), is a protective team assigned to protect the personal security of an individual or ...

/ DA Army PSD) in Iraq.

SSR

At the beginning of 2007 ''Patruljekompagniet'' changed names to ''Hjemmeværnets Særlig- Støtte og Rekognosceringskompagni'' (SSR) - the Special- Support and Reconnaissance Coy. ''Patruljekompagniet'' was no longer available only to the Danish Army Operational Command (DAOC) but opened to all the Danish Defence Commands e.g. the Danish Navy Operational Command. This marked the end of ''Patruljekompagniet'' and the beginning of a new era for this historical specialised unit of volunteer soldiers. NOTE: Some local homeguard scoutplatoons carry the name of "Patruljekompagni" for historical reasons, but has no patrolling capability beyond scoutplatoon-level and has no LRS-capability. Only SSR - the former ''Patruljekompagniet'' to the AOC - can be labeled a "Patruljekompagni" (LRSC/LRRP-COY) in military terms.

References

External links

SSR (Hjemmeværnet)
- official homepage
SSR
- official recruiting homepage
Special Support and Reconnaissance
- official homepage in English
The Special Support and Reconnaissance Company
Danish Defense website.
SSR: The Danish Frogman Corps’ extra eyes and ears – and hands!
article about supporting the Danish Navy SOF.
Special Forces are in place
article about Danish SOF exercise.
SSR documents at Issuu
- official archive of articles and print about SSR.
Patruljekompagniet

YouTube videos about Patruljekompagniet and SSR

Danish Special Operations Forces and LRS units
{{coord, 55.8742, N, 12.4300, E, source:wikidata, display=title Military units and formations of Denmark Special forces of Denmark Military units and formations established in 1959 Army reconnaissance units and formations