Víkingasveitin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sérsveit Ríkislögreglustjórans | |
|---|---|
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| Active | October 19, 1982 – Present |
| Country |  Iceland |
| Type | Special Operations |
| Role | Security of the state and state officials, Security of foreign dignitaries, Counter-Terrorism and Law Enforcement |
| Size | 45 -Soon 48 |
| Nickname | Víkingasveitin ("The Viking squad") |
| Motto | Með Lögum skal Land byggja |
| Engagements | Yugoslav wars, Operation Enduring Freedom |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Jón Bjartmarz |
Víkingasveitin (English: The Viking Squad), or Sérsveit ríkislögreglustjórans (English: Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner) is Iceland's elite counter-terrorism unit, specializing in various types of armed and unarmed infantry combat. It is designated to perform the same missions as SWAT teams and FBI:HRT of the United States, OMON and OSNAZ of the Russian Federation, and Germany's GSG 9. It is in many ways modeled on the Norwegian Delta counter-terrorist unit with which it conducts many exercises, both in Norway and Iceland. The Viking squad has about 45 officers.
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[edit] Duties
The unit is tasked with several duties, including but not limited to:
- Security of the state and state officials.
- Security of foreign dignitaries.
- Counter-Terrorism
- Support of local police forces.
Additionally, the unit is designated to protect important installations in wartime, and it is often involved in exercises with Norwegian and Danish military special forces. During the stay of the U.S. military forces in Iceland, it conducted anti-special forces training operations and was responsible for its defences against terrorism.
[edit] Squads
The Viking Squad has five main squads:
- Alpha Squad: A bomb squad specializing in bomb defusal.
- Bravo Squad: A boat squad specializing in operations on sea and water, diving and underwater warfare, and boat operations.
- Charlie Squad: A sniper squad specializing in sniper warfare, entries, and close target reconnaissance.
- Delta Squad: An intelligence squad specializing in anti-terrorism intelligence, surveillance, and infiltration.
- Echo Squad: An airborne squad specializing in airplane hijacking operations, skydiving and surprise assault operations, along with port security.
[edit] Firearms
[edit] History
[edit] Armed police
Although the first Icelandic law enforcement officers, the nightwatchmen of Reykjavík in the 18th century, were heavily armed with morningstars, the armed capabilities of early 20th century police were very limited. However the threat of a communist revolution and later invasion by foreign militaries forced the Icelandic government to rethink its position on police weaponry.
As a response to the forming of an illegal communist paramilitary unit the Icelandic police acquired Krag-Jørgensen rifles, Mauser C96 and Royal 7.65 mm pistols and in late 1939 officers of the Capital Police were to form the officer corps of an Icelandic military defence force. This rearmamentation was spearheaded by Hermann Jónasson prime minister and former police chief and Agnar Kofoed Hansen Chief of Capital Police and Officer graduate from the Danish Army. This military force never went from the training grounds as it was still training on 10 May 1940, the day 740 Royal Marines invaded Iceland.
During the war Agnar did his best to continue acquiring weapons despite the unwillingness of British occupational forces to permit such imports. Nonetheless Reising cal 45. sub-machine guns and Federal laboratories grenade launchers were bought from the U.S. along with tear and nerve gas grenades.
The forming of a military defence force from the military trained portion of the Icelandic police didn't continue after the war, as it was eventually decided that the U.S. Armed forces would continue to defend Iceland from military threats while Icelandic police concentrated on internal threats from communist revolutionary forces.
[edit] The Viking Squad
The Special Unit is considered to have been officially founded in 19 October 1982, when its first members finished training with Norwegian Special forces. There were many reasons for commissioning the unit, including a hijacked airliner that landed at Keflavík International Airport in 1976, Eco-terrorists who sunk whaling ships in 1986 and a few occasions of criminals using firearms against unarmed policemen. It had become clear that the Icelandic Police needed an effective tool to combat such violent, armed situations.
Members of the unit were deployed in the Balkans as a part of operations lead by NATO, and some members have been deployed to Afghanistan. The unit used to be under the command of the Reykjavík Chief of Police, however, in 1997, a new law was passed that put the unit directly under the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police.
In December 2003, Minister of Justice, Björn Bjarnason, introduced plans to strengthen the unit in response to the War on Terrorism, and further its responsibility in all operational issues covering more than one local jurisdictions. To this effect, members of the unit are now stationed both in Akureyri and at Keflavík International Airport.
So far, in spite of being heavily trained in it, the use of lethal force has never been required by members of the Viking squad, of which its members are reported to be very proud.
[edit] Videos
Videos of the Viking squad trainings.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
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