Iceland Defense Force
The Iceland Defense Force ( IDF ) was a US- deployed and operated military association with headquarters in the Icelandic city of Keflavík . Their stationing was conditioned by the Cold War . It was created at the request of the Icelandic government after the country joined NATO . The members of the IDF came mainly from the United States Marine Corps , the United States Navy and the United States Air Force . It also had local civilian staff and worked closely with local authorities, particularly the Icelandic Coast Guard . Iceland itself only has very limited military resources (→ Iceland's military situation ).
The IDF had approximately 1,350 US soldiers , 100 US civilians and 650 Icelandic civilians. It also included soldiers from Norway , Denmark , Great Britain and Canada . Members of the Icelandic Fire Brigade were also part of the Iceland Defense Force .
Basically, the name of the association was always written out according to the rules of American English , since the acronym IDF could be confused with the similarly abbreviated Israeli armed forces .
On March 15, 2006, the US ambassador unilaterally announced the dissolution of the American contingent. On September 30, 2006 the last soldiers left Keflavík . The future fulfillment of the bilateral defense agreement is being negotiated. It is becoming apparent, however, that in future the Northern European NATO partners Denmark (sea defense) and Norway (air defense) will take over the central tasks of Icelandic national defense together with the Icelandic coastguard and police .
Web links
- Overview of the Iceland Defense Force on GlobalSecurity.org
- About the withdrawal of US troops ( isl. )