Iceland Defense Force
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Iceland Defense Force (IDF) was the military body responsible for protecting Iceland, headquartered at Keflavík, and manned by United States military personnel from 1951 to 2006. It is a subordinate unified command of U.S. European Command and is composed of Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force personnel as well as local Icelandic civilians. In addition, there were a few Army and Coast Guard personnel attached to this command.
The IDF was created in 1951 when, at the request of NATO, the United States signed an agreement to provide for the defense of Iceland and the North Atlantic. There are more than 25 different commands of various sizes attached to Iceland Defense Force. Approximately 1350 U.S. military personnel, 100 Department of Defense civilians, and 650 Icelanders, both civilians and firemen, as well as military members from Norway, Denmark, Canada, and the United Kingdom work on NAS Keflavik. (The base is actually apparently at Miðnesheiði near Keflavik, but is always referred to as 'Keflavik'.) The Air Force component of the force is the 85th Group, whereas a contingent of the United States Marine Corps is responsible for ground defense. In the event of a major ground threat, the Army component, U.S. Army Iceland (ARICE), would mobilize and become responsible for the ground defense of Iceland. ARICE consisted almost entirely of reserve components in the United States, and limited numbers of personnel participate in on-site training maneuvers.
On 15 March 2006 the U.S. Ambassador to Iceland announced the decision of the United States to withdraw the Iceland Defense Force before the end of September 2006. [1] On September 30, the last troops left Keflavík.
The Icelandic defence contractor Kögun has been contracted to operate and service U.S. Navy communications equipment and buildings that will be left behind.
