Norwegian Armed Forces

The Norwegian Armed Forces (Norwegian: Forsvaret, lit. 'The Defence') are the armed forces responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Home Guard, and Norwegian Cyber Defence Force as well as several joint departments.
The military force in peacetime is around 17,185 personnel including military and civilian staff, and around 70,000 in total with the current military personnel, conscripts and the Norwegian Home Guard in full mobilization.
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.
Norway had its combat units withdraw from the War in Afghanistan in 2021. During the war, Norwegian combat forces had been on loan to ISAF, and later on loan to Resolute Support Mission.
The formal commander-in-chief is King Harald V; however, the de facto supreme decision-making is made by the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. The Chief of Defence (a four-star general or admiral) is the professional head and leader of the armed forces, and is the principal military adviser to the Minister of Defence. The Chief of Defence and his staff is located at Akershus Fortress in Oslo, while the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, responsible for commanding operations, is located in Bodø. The main naval base is Haakonsvern in Bergen Municipality, the main army camps are located at Setermoen in Bardu Municipality, Bardufoss in Målselv Municipality, and Rena in Åmot Municipality. The main air station is Ørland Main Air Station in Ørland Municipality.
Military branches (in order of seniority):
Other main structures include:
Conscription was constitutionally established on 12 April 1907 with Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov § 119. 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. In practice recruits are not forced to serve, instead only those who are motivated are selected. 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.
Since 1985, women have been able to enlist for voluntary service as regular recruits. On 14 June 2013, the Norwegian Parliament voted to extend conscription to women. 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. In 2020, women made up one-third of new conscripts.
There is a right of conscientious objection.
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)).
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".
From 1 August 2023 the Norwegian Army has this structure:
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.
NORSOCOM (Forsvarets Spesialstyrker (FS)), Akershus Fortress, Oslo
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.
Chief of the NDUC
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 following departments form the AFHS:
Norwegian National Defence Staff College
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.
Norwegian Military Academy
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).
Institute for Defence Studies
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) 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.