A personal reflection on the Home Guard, deep-rooted prejudices, and the people we may forget to thank.
As has gradually become my habit, I recently came across a news item about a plane full of Home Guard soldiers who were on their way home from the joint Nordic exercise Arctic Shield in Greenland.
I was genuinely pleased to see it.
I find it difficult to imagine a future in which we will not stand shoulder to shoulder with our Nordic brother nations. We are stronger together, and I find it encouraging to see that this cooperation is also taking place among our respective volunteer units.
But the post made me think of a conversation I recently had with a good friend who has volunteered in the Home Guard for many years.
He told me about the central role the Home Guard has been given in national defence, and about the responsibility its organisation must be able to shoulder if Denmark faces a serious crisis or conflict.
And at that point, I have to admit, the old Army man in me came out a little.
My immediate inner monologue was probably something along the lines of: Oh, really? Surely the Army has that under control.
In retrospect, not my proudest moment.
Later, I spoke with a former colleague, an Army officer, who explained the thinking behind the role the Home Guard is expected to play in national defence.
He put it rather bluntly:
“The Army should do what it does best. It should deploy and fight alongside NATO. And then the Home Guard will have to protect Denmark.”
That is, of course, a crude simplification of how the tasks are divided, but the point struck me nonetheless.
Because who will actually protect Denmark if large parts of our professional military capabilities are engaged in NATO operations elsewhere?
Who will help secure our ports, critical infrastructure, energy supply, and all the other facilities on which our society depends?
The Home Guard has an absolutely central role here.
And that made me dig a little deeper on a personal level and ask whether I might still be carrying around some old prejudices.
Weekend warriors?
I spent 14 years in the Danish Defence, and I do not think I will offend too many old Army people by saying that, historically, we may not always have taken the Home Guard entirely seriously.
Weekend warriors and all that.
Fortunately, my experience is that this culture was in retreat throughout my career. It is also my impression that the Army and the rest of the Danish Defence have increasingly come to recognise what the Home Guard can contribute.
But some of the old prejudices apparently remain. At least in me.
And perhaps it is therefore time for us to put them behind us once and for all.
They are not full-time professional soldiers. Nor should they be. They have different circumstances and different tasks, and all else being equal, that may simply make their contribution even more impressive.
Among other things, it is my experience that many Home Guard soldiers spend an astonishing amount of their own time improving their military skills.
Evenings, weekends, and free time that could otherwise have been spent with their families or on any number of other things.
And they do it voluntarily.
That surely deserves both our respect and our gratitude.
We May Need Them More Than We Imagine
I believe our grandparents’ generation had a different understanding of the importance of the Home Guard.
During the Cold War, the idea that Denmark could be attacked was a much more immediate part of reality.
For many years, we have lived in a different world, one in which it may have been more difficult to see the military relevance of the Home Guard.
But that world changed over time, making the relevance of the Home Guard harder to see.
Today, however, we are once again talking about territorial defence, critical infrastructure, sabotage, emergency preparedness, and the need to be able to protect our own society.
And suddenly, the role of the Home Guard becomes very tangible.
I do not know how many installations and facilities would probably need guarding in a crisis, and I cannot help wondering whether we even have enough volunteers to cover all the needs we could envisage.
That is a question I believe we should take seriously.
Because if we, as a society, expect the Home Guard to be able to shoulder such an important task, then we must also take its needs seriously.
Exactly what equipment, training, and framework that requires is something I will leave to those who understand the operational realities of the Home Guard.
I am an old Army man. Not a Home Guard man.
But I believe we owe it to them to listen to their professional assessments and give them the best possible conditions for carrying out the tasks we expect of them.
And Then There Is Everything They Already Do for Us
The next time you encounter a member of the Police Home Guard directing traffic and feel a little annoyed that you have to stop and wait, try taking a helicopter view and seeing it from a slightly broader perspective than your own frustration.
Or spare them a kind thought when you see a group of Home Guard guys on their way home from an exercise on a Sunday afternoon.
They spend their free time carrying out tasks that benefit all of us.
When the Home Guard assists the police, takes part in search operations, or supports the emergency services, it contributes resources that society would otherwise have to find elsewhere.
That is a contribution of real value.
And on top of that, we also expect them to step forward if our country ever needs to be defended.
That is actually a great deal to ask of other people.
Remember to Say Thank You
I do not know whether we can ever give volunteers what they truly deserve.
That applies to Home Guard soldiers, but in reality also to all sorts of other people who spend their free time doing something for the community.
We cannot necessarily repay them for the time they give or the responsibility they assume.
So, to a large extent, perhaps they simply have to make do with a thank-you?
But if that is apparently the best we can come up with, then we must at least remember to say it.
So, to all of you in the Home Guard:
Thank you for the time you give. Thank you for the tasks you carry out. And thank you for stepping forward for the rest of us.
I believe we will need you even more in the future.
And to myself and my old colleagues in the Army:
Perhaps it is time we put the last of the weekend-warrior jokes on the shelf.
Because they may very well be the people we will need to protect us here at home.
LinkedIn post about Arctic Shield: Link