Male: 17-44 (55 for officers) years of age for compulsory military service.
Female: 17 years of age for military service. Compulsory for females born in 2000 or later.
The military force in peacetime is around 17,185 personnel including military and civilian staff, and around 70,000[5] in total with the current military personnel, conscripts and the Norwegian Home Guard in full mobilization.[1]
Among European NATO members, the military expenditure of US$7.2 billion is the highest per capita.
An organised military was first assembled in Norway in the 9th century and its early focus was naval warfare. The army was created in 1628 as part of Denmark–Norway, followed by two centuries of regular wars. A Norwegian military was established in 1814, but the military did not see combat until the German occupation of Norway in 1940. Norway abandoned its position as a neutral country in 1949 to become a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Cold War saw a large build-up of air stations and military bases, especially in Northern Norway. Since the 2000s, the military has transformed from a focus on defence from an invasion to a mobile force for international missions.
Defence Staff Norway (DEFSTNOR) in Oslo acts as the staff of the Chief of Defence. It is headed by a three-star general or admiral. DEFSTNOR assigns priorities, manages resources, provides force generation and support activities. Each of the four branches of defence is headed by a two-star general/admiral who are subordinate to DEFSTNOR.
Norwegian Joint Headquarters (NJHQ) located at Reitan, close to Bodø has operational control of Norwegian armed forces worldwide 24/7. It is headed by the Supreme Commander Norwegian Forces – a three-star general or admiral.
Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation (NDLO) at Kolsås in Bærum Municipality (just outside Oslo) is responsible for engineering, procurement, investment, supply, information and communications technology. It is also responsible for the maintenance, repair and storage of materials.
Conscription was constitutionally established the 12 April 1907 with Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov § 119.[8]
Norway employs a weak form of mandatory military service for men and women. While 62,873 men and women were called in for the examination of persons liable for military service in 2010 (mandatory for men), 9,631 were conscripted.[9] In practice recruits are not forced to serve, instead only those who are motivated are selected.[10] In earlier times, up until at least the early 2000s, all men aged 19–44 were subject to mandatory service, with good reasons required to avoid becoming drafted.[citation needed]
Since 1985, women have been able to enlist for voluntary service as regular recruits.[11] On 14 June 2013, the Norwegian Parliament voted to extend conscription to women.[12] In 2015 conscription was extended to women making Norway the first NATO member and first European country to make national service compulsory for both men and women.[13] In 2020, women made up one-third of new conscripts.[14]
Students of professional subjects (doctors, psychologists, pharmacists, dentists, etc.) may serve their conscription after completing a six weeks course, receiving lieutenant ranking when they begin their service. This arrangement is called Conscript Academic Officer (Norwegian: Vernepliktige akademikere (VA)).[15]
In 2020, the media said that "several soldiers said that they were informed about additional four months of service; the information was given after military service had started".[16][needs context]
Telemark Battalion (Norwegian: Telemark Bataljon, 3.Bn), in Rena[19] with Leopard 2A4NO main battle tanks and CV90 infantry fighting vehiclesA Norwegian military police officer during a NATO exercise in 2014
The Norwegian Special Operations Command (NORSOCOM) (Forsvarets Spesialstyrker (FS), was formed on 1 January 2014 by bringing the Special Operations Command (FSK), The army's special warfare unit, and the Naval Special Operations Command (MJK), The navy's special warfare unit, together under a unified command.
339 Special Operations Aviation Squadron (339 Skvadron) (339 SKV), at Rygge Air Station and Bardufoss Air Station, flying Bell 412SP helicopters, providing air support to the special forces. Being an air force unit, chief NORSOCOM executes tactical command of 339 SOAS.[27]
Special Operations Air Task Group (SOATG), at Rygge Air Station, providing operational planning, command and control for Norwegian Air Force assets deployed in support of special operations.[28]
The Norwegian Defence University College (NDUC) (Norwegian: Forsvarets høgskole) is the institution in charge of officer and NCO training, re-qualification and military studies. The officer schools of the separate armed services are departments under NDUC and thus independent from their respective services. The central administration of the NDUC is located at the historic Akershus Fortress in the city center of Oslo.[29]
The NDUC is headed by the Chief of the NDUC (sjef FHS, also referred to as rektor), a two-star rank.
Leading Group
The Chief of the NDUC is assisted by the Leading Group (or the Leader's Group, Ledergruppen), composed of the NDUC's Chief of Staff (stabssjef), the officer in charge of academic work (dekan), the chiefs of the Military Academy (Krigsskolen, the army officer school), the Air Force Academy (Luftkrigsskolen, the air force officer school) and the Naval Academy (Sjøkrigsskolen, the naval officer school), the Chief of the Cyber Engineer Academy (Cyberingeniørskolen, the recently established Cyber Defence branch's officer school), the Chief of the NCO School (Befalsskolen, joint for the armed forces), the directors of the two institutes for military studies and the NDUC's Command Sergeant Major (sjefssersjant).
Managing Board
The Managing Board of the NDUC (Høgskolestyret) is the governing body and it includes the Chief of the NDUC, The chiefs of the Army (Hæren), Navy (Sjøforsvaret) and the Air Force (Luftforsvaret), three members of the board (tre ansattrepresentanter), one external (audit) member of the board (ekstern representant) and one student (cadet or civilian) member of the board (studentrepresentant).
NDUC HS Administration
The NDUC Administration is composed of two staffs (administrative staff (Driftsstab) and academic work staff (Fagstab).
The Norwegian National Defence Staff College (FHS Stabsskolen) is located in the Akershus Fortress and provides education in general military studies, common to the services, such as strategic military leadership, international peacekeeping operations, Military-Civilian Cooperation etc. It offers Bachelor and Masters programs as well as advanced academic programs.
Defence Intelligence College
The Defence Intelligence College (Språk- og etterretningsskolen) is located at the Lutvann Barracks (Lutvann leir) in Oslo and the intelligence officer course is a three-year Bachelor program.
The Norwegian Military Academy (Krigsskolen) is the Norwegian army officer school, located at the Linderud Barracks (Linderud leir) in Oslo. It provides officer training and professional development, as well as a NCO training program for high school students (videregående befalsutdanning).
Air Force Academy
The Air Force Academy (Luftkrigsskolen) is the Norwegian air force officer school, located in the Kuhaugen area in Trondheim Municipality. It provides officer training and professional development, as well as a NCO training program for high school students (videregående befalsutdanning).
Naval Academy
The Naval Academy (Sjøkrigsskolen) is the Norwegian navy officer school, located in the Laksevåg area in Bergen Municipality. It provides officer training and professional development, as well as a NCO training program for high school students (videregående befalsutdanning).
Cyber Engineer Academy
The Cyber Engineer Academy (Cyberingeniørskolen) is the Norwegian Cyber Defence Force officer school, located at the Jørstadmoen Barracks (Jørstadmoen leir) in Fåberg in Lillehammer Municipality. It provides training for officer training in communication and information system operations.
NCO School
The NCO School (Befalsskolen) is a joint institution, training sergeants for all the services. It is located at the Sessvollmoen Barracks (Sessvollmoen leir) in Sessvollmoen near Oslo - Gardermoen IAP. The school was established in 2019 by merging the NCO school of the army (Hærens befalsskole), navy (Befalsskolen for Sjøforsvaret), air force (Luftforsvarets flygeskole), engineering services (Forsvarets ingeniørhøgskole), military intelligence service (Forsvarets etterretningshøgskole) and the Home Guard (Heimevernets befalsskole).
The Institute for Defence Studies (Institutt for forsvarsstudier) is located at the Akershus Fortress. It is organised in four centres: Centre for Norwegian and European Security, Centre for Civil-Military Relations, Centre for Asian Studies and Centre for Transatlantic Studies
Armed Forces Higher School Strategic Course
The Strategic Course (FSH / Sjefskurs)[31] trains senior military officers and high-ranking government officials in strategic military command and national security studies. It uses the education resources of the Institute for Defence Studies, but it is independent from it, directly subordinated to the Chief of the AFHS.
^"Tall og statistikk" [Figures and statistics]. NDF (in Norwegian). 11 January 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
^Bentzrød, Sveinung Berg (15 November 2020). "Trodde de skulle på 12 måneders militærtjeneste. Fikk beskjed om at de skulle være ute i 16" [Thought they were going on 12 months of military service. Was told they were going to be out in 16.]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Flere soldater sier de fikk vite om fire ekstra måneder etter at tjenesten var i gang. [Several soldiers say they were told about four extra months after the service started.]
^Danielsen, Tone (2012). "Hos oss sitter kulturen i hjertet" – en antropologisk studie av kultur i Marinejegerkommandoen (in Norwegian). Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt (FFI). p. 45. ISBN978-82-464-2052-3.
Harald V
Jonas Gahr Støre
Bjørn Arild Gram
General Eirik Kristoffersen
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