The onset
of the Cold War worried the Icelandic nation to a certain degree already in the
late 1940s. The government looked at various solutions to this security
problem. Among which an alliance with the Nordic countries with military aid
from the US was considered very preferable. However the US was unwilling to
support such a venture. Instead Iceland became one of the founding members of
NATO in 1949.
[Soviet bomber shadowed by a US interceptor out of Iceland.]
One of the
governments primary aim was to keep no permanent foreign military troops in the
country. However the start of the Korean War and large fleet of Soviet dual
purpose vessels stationed north of the country (fishing fleet allegedly) changed the predicament. A
military defence treaty was signed with the US and a considerable contingent of
American troops were based in the country. The main goal of this contingent was
Anti Submarine Warfare and the interception of bombers, its ground force merely
designated to defend the immediate areas around the main base in Keflavík.
[Icelandic Coast Guard in the 1970s.]
All other
security measures still fell on the shoulders of the Icelandic nation. In spite
of the immense subversion and propaganda activities by the Soviet Union and
their political allies within Iceland the Icelandic government managed to
continue with a number of reforms in order to improve the country's readiness
to face Soviet aggression and other ensure its sovereignty. However not all
reforms were successfully completed. Among
them the establishment of a Coast Guard infantry force to complement the Police
in the countryside and in wartime was not finished in the 1950s as planned and
instead it still only exists in an embryonic form to this day. The Coast Guard
did however receive new small-arms and the ships armour was much improved
already in the late 1940s and in the 1950s.
[Icelandic Coast Guard patrol boat. Considerable armour was put on the smaller wooden hulled vessels.]
Iceland's
success in the Cod Wars in the 1950s and 1970s cemented popular support for the
Coast Guard and blunted communist propaganda aimed at it. Not much was done in
the form of improving its naval capabilities however since such defence activities
were primarily to be performed by the US forces stationed in the country. Iceland
would remain focused on internal security, counter-intelligence, military
deception and defeating minor incursions. These activities fell mostly on the
Police, its reserve force as well as the civil defence to a certain degree.
[Viking Squad members training in the 1980s.]
In the
1970s the threat of international terrorism became so prevalent that some defences
had to be prepared. The well trained old guard that had served in the Police
from the 1930s until the 1950s had retired by then and the two decades of US
military presence had somewhat dulled the military training regime Icelandic
policemen were subjected to. The response was to form a special unit which
would be known as the Viking Squad (Víkingasveitin).
[Viking Squad soldier in olive green uniform.]
The early
plans for the Viking Squad would consist of small groups of older and more
experienced policemen, but later it was realized that their training and
physical condition were substandard. It was decided to ask for Norwegian help
and Lieutenant Arnór Sigurjónsson, an Icelander serving the Norwegian army, was
tasked with overseeing the training of the first squadron of Viking Squad
members. The founding date of this special force is considered to be in 1982
when this group finished their special force training school in Norway.
[Viking Squad assaulting a terrorist hideout.]
The group's
main activities would be anti-terrorism and defence against Soviet spetsnaz
raids in practice however they were to be mostly employed for minor gun related
law-enforcement activities. For the most part the Viking Squad was armed with
H&K MP5 sub-machine guns, shotguns and pistols such as Smith&Wesson .357, H&K
P7 and Glock 9mm. It was also equipped with machine guns and at least one
mortar in order to deal with more heavily armed Soviet troops.
