The Icelandic Defense Force (IDF) is the military body responsible for protecting Iceland, headquartered at Keflavík, and manned by United States military personnel. It is a subordinate unified command of U.S. European Command and is composed of Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel as well as local Icelandic civilians. Keflavík in Iceland Keflavík is a town of around 10,200 inhabitants in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. ... The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) is Unified Combatant Command of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. ... US Army Seal The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Seal of the Air Force. ...

The IDF was created in 1951 when, at the request of NATO, the United States signed an agreement to provide for the defense of Iceland and the North Atlantic. There are more than 25 different commands of various sizes attached to Iceland Defense Force. Approximately 1800 U.S. military personnel, 100 United States Department of Defense civilians, and 850 Icelandic civilians as well as military members from the Netherlands, Norway, Canada, and Denmark work on NAS Keflavik. The air force component of the force is the 85th Group, whereas its army component, responsible for the ground defense of Iceland, is the U.S. Army Iceland (ARICE), consisting entirely of reserve components from the United States. 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... The NATO flag NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance, Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for defence collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, D.C., on April 4... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated as DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ...

See also

• Military of Iceland
• Icelandic Coast Guard

When Iceland became a founding member of NATO in 1949, it did so on the explicit understanding that Iceland, which has never had a military, would not be expected to establish an indigenous force. ... Some factual claims in this article or section need to be verified. ...

External link

• US military site