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The Danish Home Guard 

 

The Danish Home Guard is an organisation for people, who – on a voluntary basis – want to take part in the defence and the support of the country.  

The Home Guard is present all over the country. With its military organisation, its command structure, and the means of communication the Home Guard can be activated to support the civilian society in many ways, also during peacetime. This support is related to assistance to the police during national disasters, search-and-rescue operations, etc.


Both men and women from the age of 18 can apply for membership of the Home Guard, and a military background is not necessary. The wish and the will to participate is more important.

When membership has been granted, members are admitted into one of the following branches :

  • The Army Home Guard
  • The Naval Home Guard
  • The Air Force Home Guard
  • The Infra-structure Home Guard


The overall mission for the Home Guard is to reinforce and to support the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force in fulfilling their missions. Related to this overall mission, the common military tasks of the Home Guard are

  • surveillance and reporting
  • guarding, securing, and protection activities
  • limited and uncomplicated combat operations.

 

The Danish Home Guard was founded in 1949, initially consisting of former members of the Resistance Movement from the occupation during the years 1940 to 1945. In 1948, the Danish Parliament passed the first Home Guard Act. Throughout the years this act has been kept up-to-date, but the fundamental principles still remain the same as they were back in 1948. The actual act is from 1982 with minor modifications since then - latest in 1993.

These fundamental principles form the ideological concept of the Home Guard:

 A citizen, as a member of the Home Guard, is able to demonstrate his right - voluntarily and unpaid - to participate in the defence of his country and its democratic values.

Today (2005) the Home Guard totals some 56,000 volunteers, men and women, and approx. 800 employees (regular officers and civilians).