Hærens Jegerkommando

Hærens Jegerkommando is a special forces unit of the Norwegian military. It is the armed forces competence centre for commando, airborne and counter terrorist duty in the Norwegian Army. Its headquarters are located 30 kilometres north of Elverum in the southeast of Norway, at Rena leir military base.

Forsvarets Spesialkommando
Norwegian army special forces logo
ActiveHFJS: 1962 - 1971
HJS: 1971 - 1997
HJK: 1997-2006
FSK/HJK: 2006 - 2014
FSK: 2014 - Current
Country Norway
BranchRoyal Norwegian Army
TypeArmy Special Operations Force
RoleSpecial Reconnaissance
Direct Action
Military Assistance
Combat Search And Rescue
SizeClassified
Garrison/HQRena leir
EngagementsBosnian war
Kosovo war
Operation Enduring Freedom
Task Force K-Bar
Operation Anaconda
Decorations  United States Army Presidential Unit Citation

Etymology

Hærens Jegerkommando directly translated to English means:

  • "the Army's"( Hærens ) +
  • "hunter/huntsman (which in Norwegian military terminology, relates to scouts (involved in reconnaissance))" ( Jeger- ) +
  • "an administrative/operative command" ( -kommando ).

English translations of the unit's name, include:

  • "Army's Special Forces Command", "Army's Reconnaissance Command", "Army's Ranger Command" or possibly "Army Huntsmen Command")

History

Name changes

The unit was established as Hærens Fallskjermjegerskole in 1962.[1] It was renamed Hærens Jegerskole in 1968, and its location was Trandum (near Jessheim).[1] The unit's current name was decided in 1997. In 2014 the name was changed from FSK/HJK to simply; FSK. Also in 2013 FSK left the Army branch and together with the MJK (Marinejegerkommandoen) was organised under one Norwegian Special Forces Staff (NORSOC).

Headquarters

Headquarters are at Rena leir military base, which received its first active units in 1997 after the base had been constructed in 1993–96.

Organization

FSK is a special operations force (SOF).[1] (Another special operations force of the Norwegian military is MJK (Marinejegerkommandoen).)[1]

FSK has a large HQ unit and a paratrooper unit, which trains personnel from all branches of the Norwegian military in parachute operations. The Pathfinder platoon is part of the HJK training cadre and consists of conscripts deemed suitable for service in the unit after a selection period. The role of this unit is to annually train one platoon of jump-qualified recce soldiers.

Chain of command

The Hærens Jegerkommando together with the Forsvarets Spesialkommando are under a command named FSK.[2] The FSK itself is under direct command of the General Inspector of the Army.[3]

Missions outside of Norway

In Kosovo

HJK was the first special forces unit to enter Pristina. The HJK's mission was to level the negotiating field between the belligerent parties, and to fine-tune the detailed, local deals needed to implement the peace deal between Serbian authorities and the Kosovo Albanians.[4]

In Afghanistan

On 23 July 2007 HJK lieutenant Tor Arne Lau Henriksen was killed in a short and intense close quarters engagement between a Norwegian special forces reconnaissance patrol and hostile fighters in Logar Province, Afghanistan.[5][6]

William H. McRaven, a United States Navy vice admiral, who serves as the commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), said in an interview with a Norwegian newspaper in 2007 that he regarded the Special forces of Norway to be among the top special forces in the world and that one of his favourite operations was the Norwegian heavy water sabotage by the Norwegian resistance forces during World War II.[7]

Commanding officers
  • Dag Garshol (from 2008 until present)[8]
  • Torgeir Gråtrud (from 2004 to 2008)[8][9]
  • Lieutenant Colonel Karl Egil Hanevik(1996[n 1] -2004)[9][10]

Weapons

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Tom Bakkeli - Norges Hemmelige Krigere ( ISBN 978-82-489-0722-0 )
  5. Aftenposten Newspaper article: "Special forces soldier killed in Afghanistan" (in English)
  6. Aftenposten Newspaper article: "Fallen soldier comes home" Archived 18 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in English)
  7. http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/artikkel.php?artid=10093179
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 July 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Notes
  1. The reference lists years 1996 and(!) 1997 as the year he started to lead HJK.
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