Home Guard (Norway)
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The Norwegian Home Guard ( no, Heimevernet – "HV") is the rapid mobilisation force within the Norwegian armed forces. Its main focus is local defense and civil support, but it can also detach volunteers for international operations. Its main tasks are safeguarding territorial integrity, strengthening military presence, and protecting important
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
. It has land defense units, and has volunteers and conscript personnel with backgrounds from all branches. Founded 6 December 1946, it is the second youngest branch in the Norwegian armed forces after the
Norwegian Cyber Defence Force The Norwegian Cyber Defence Force ( no, Cyberforsvaret) is a branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for military communications and defensive cyberwarfare in Norway. The force employs 1,500 people located at more than 60 locations. The m ...
().


Organization

The Home Guard is divided into 11 districts ("HV-districts"), which again is divided into smaller units, typically covering a single
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
. In a wartime situation Heimevernet will typically be used to protect the local infrastructure and population. The Home Guard district commanders represent a level of command subordinate to the Joint Operational Headquarters but with territorial responsibility which includes responsibility for operational planning. They also have a responsibility to the Chief of Staff of the Norwegian Home Guard for force production. The Home Guard maintains contact with the civil community through a civil-military network based on mutual knowledge and trust. The local commanders are responsible for fostering cooperation with the police and the civil sector at local and county levels.


Strength

The Home Guard has 40,000 soldiers all over the country, distributed on eleven regional districts. The Home Guard also has several rapid-reaction intervention forces consisting of 3,000 voluntarily recruited and well-trained soldiers.


Troop exchange

The Home Guard does a troop exchange with the Minnesota National Guard every year. The exchange grew from Norwegian American soldiers sent to Norway to assist resistance fighters in World War II. As part of the exchange, American Guard members are flown to
Værnes Air Station Værnes Air Station ( no, Værnes flystasjon) is an air station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force located in the municipality of Stjørdal in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is co-located with Trondheim Airport, Værnes, which is owned and operated ...
and Norwegians are sent to
Camp Ripley Camp Ripley is a military and civilian training facility operated by the Minnesota National Guard near the city of Little Falls in the central part of the state. The location of the camp was selected in 1929 by Ellard A. Walsh, Adjutant General ...
. Troops complete each other's training, and tour the area.


The Rapid Reaction Forces

From 2005, the Home Guard has recruited for a high readiness force with better trained and equipped personnel. It is called the "Rapid Reaction Force" (). This is the spearhead of the combat force that consists of specially selected, educated and equipped personnel. The force can be mobilized rapidly and is a national resource. Effort strengths contribute to national security. Soldiers often come from operational armed forces in the Armed Forces and commit themselves to a minimum of 3 years service each and can be ordered on a sharp mission in Norway. They must update and further develop their military competence continuously. They can attend a number of courses, task force missions and other defense activities. There is one Rapid Reaction Force per district, in total 3,000 men and women. The Rapid Reaction Force is the speartip of the Norwegian Home Guard, and contains flexible and mobile units. It has top priority when concerning weapons, material and training resources. The force is ready to respond within hours to acts of terrorism, bomb threats, and or other emergencies. In peacetime, the RRFs can support the police and civilian community with a variety of tasks, including providing security for the public and enforcing police regulations. The RRFs are named after operations executed during WW2 by the
Norwegian Independent Company 1 Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, pronounced ''Norisén'' (approx. "noor-ee-sehn") in Norwegian) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during ...
(a.k.a. ''Linge Company''): * Oslofjord HV-district 01: RRF Polar Bear VI * Oslo and Akershus HV-district 02: RRF Derby * Telemark and Buskerud HV-district 03: RRF Gunnerside * Opplandske HV-district 05: RRF Grebe * Agder and Rogaland HV-district 08: RRF Osprey and Varg * Bergenhus HV-district 09: RRF Bjørn West * Møre and Fjordane HV-district 11: RRF Archery * Trøndelag HV-district 12: RRF Rype * Sør-Hålogaland HV-district 14: RRF Heron * Nord-Hålogaland HV-district 16: RRF Claymore * Finnmark HV-district 17: RRF Ida & Lyra and Delfin The Naval branch of the Home Guard used to be four RRFs. but the Norwegian government closed the units down in 2017 due to saving costs. * South: RRF Bundle * West: RRF Salamander * North: RRFs Waxwing and Anklet


Platoons

The Rapid Reaction Forces consists of several different platoons within each district. In this way, each district will be able to respond to any kind of incident that could occur, without having to rely on outside help. Each district (with some variations) will have trained operators in these different types of units: * (Ranger platoon) * (
Sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...
platoon) * (
Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
) * ( K9 unit) * (Staff platoon – ( S-1, to S-4), transport & logistics) * ( Signal platoon) * (
Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...
team – Underwater reconnaissance, explosives-detection) * ( Medical platoon) * (
Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
platoons) a Light Mechanized unit has been established in district's 12, 14 and 16. this one is called (Multi Platoon). These platoons handle the custom made
Geländewagen The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, sometimes colloquially called the G-Wagen (as an abbreviation of Geländewagen) is a four-wheel drive automobile manufactured by Magna Steyr (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch) in Austria and sold by Mercedes-Benz. Originall ...
290 multi III and is the speartip of the RRF's.


Equipment

Until the end of the 1960s, the Home Guard used second-hand weapons from the Norwegian Army. At the end of the period, the Home Guard was equipped with more modern and heavier weapons. The Home Guard today uses small arms like the
MP-7 The Heckler & Koch MP7 (German: ''Maschinenpistole 7'') is a personal defense weapon chambered for the HK 4.6×30mm armor-piercing cartridge designed by German defence manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It was designed (together with the new cartrid ...
submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
s, HK416 automatic rifles, MG-3
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
and FN Minimi
light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the sam ...
s. Additionally, the
Barrett M82 The Barrett M82 (standardized by the U.S. military as the M107) is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American company Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. Also called the Light Fifty (due to its chambering of ...
sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a por ...
and Glock 17
pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...
are used. Additionally, the
Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle The Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle (, named after ''Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'' which initially produced it) is a Swedish developed caliber man-portable shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedis ...
is used by the rapid reaction forces infantry platoons. The vehicle fleet consists mainly of
Mercedes-Benz G-Class The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, sometimes colloquially called the G-Wagen (as an abbreviation of Geländewagen) is a four-wheel drive automobile manufactured by Magna Steyr (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch) in Austria and sold by Mercedes-Benz. Originall ...
utility vehicles, ambulances and
Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...
lorries. In November 2020, The Rapid Reaction Forces received 420 new
Volkswagen Amarok The Volkswagen Amarok is a pickup truck produced by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles since 2010. It is a body-on-frame truck with double-wishbone suspension at the front and leaf springs at the rear. The Amarok range consists of single cab and d ...
field wagons, to replace the older MB 240 wagons.


Home Guard districts

Region 1 * Oslofjord Heimevernsdistrikt 01 – HV-01 – Rygge * Oslo og Akershus Heimevernsdistrikt 02 – HV-02 –
Lutvann Lutvann is a lake in the recreational area Østmarka in Oslo, Norway. It covers an area of 0.39 km², at 205 m elevation. Located just outside the capital city, it is a popular site for recreation, including swimming and fishing during summe ...
*
Telemark og Buskerud Heimevernsdistrikt 03 Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...
– HV-03 –
Heistadmoen Heistadmoen is a Norwegian military encampment in Kongsberg, in Viken county, Norway. Heistadmoen currently provides able quarters for the Telemark and Buskerud Home Guard District (''Telemark og Buskerud Heimevernsdistrikt''). The camp is large a ...
* Opplandske Heimevernsdistrikt 05 – HV-05 –
Terningmoen Terningmoen is a military camp (or base) in Elverum in Norway. The base trains and houses parts of the Norwegian Army such as: * His Majesty the Kings's Guard ( HMKG) (First two months of service) * Norwegian Home Guard HV-05 (district 5 of the Ho ...
Region 2 * Rogaland Heimevernsdistrikt 08 – HV-08 –
Vatneleiren Vatneleiren is a military base located in the municipality of Sandnes in Rogaland county, Norway. It was constructed just east of the Hanafjellet mountain just outside the Sandnes (town), city of Sandnes by the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army ...
* Bergenhus Heimevernsdistrikt 09 – HV-09 – Bergenhus Region 3 * Møre og Romsdal Heimevernsdistrikt 11 – HV-11 – Setnesmoen * Trøndelag Heimevernsdistrikt 12 – HV-12 –
Værnes Trondheim Airport ( no, Trondheim lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Trondheim, a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, Trøndelag, Værnes, a vill ...
* Sør-Hålogaland Heimevernsdistrikt 14 – HV-14 – Drevjamoen Region 4 * Nord-Hålogaland Heimevernsdistrikt 16 – HV-16 –
Elvegårdsmoen Elvegårdsmoen is a military training camp site in the municipality of Narvik in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the inner end of Herjangsfjorden, on the southeast side of the village of Bjerkvik. The site was of some importance durin ...
* Finnmark Heimevernsdistrikt 17 – HV-17 – Porsangermoen


Weapons school

The Home Guards weapon school (HVVS) established in 1947 is located at Dombås. The training centre is providing education and courses for Home Guard personnel, but also for the other branches in the armed forces. HVVS schools 1200
NCOs A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
and
officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
yearly, and offers 70 different courses of various length.


See also

*
Directives for Military Officers and Ministry Officials upon an Attack of Norway The Directives for military officers and military commanders in the event of an armed attack on Norway (''Direktiver for militære befalingsmenn og militære sjefer ved væpnet angrep på Norge'') is commonly referred to as “the poster on the ...
* Home Guard


References


External links


Norwegian Home Guard
*
HV-016 HV-016 is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's ability to mobilize its military and its ability to resist". ...
{{Norway topics Home Guard Militias in Europe