Hjemmeværnets Patruljer or the Home Guard Patrols - more commonly known as "Patruljekompagnierne/the Patrol Companies" are Special Operations troops of the Danish Home Guard who can trace their origin back to "Specielle Efterretningspatruljer ved Østre Landskommando - SEP/ELK" and "Specielle Efterretningspatruljer ved Hærens Operative Kommando - SEP/HOK" or "Special Intelligence Patrols" which were operative from 1959 to December of 1994.
Due to the necessity of restructuring these Special Intelligence Patrols, the Home Guard closed the SEP units and in January of 1995, the Home Guard founded "Patruljekompagnierne/PTR" or "the Patrol Companies/PTR" who are the successor to the SEP units.
These Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols are highly trained and carry sophisticated equipment such as night vision goggles, combat assault vests etc. The PTR patrols are the equivalent of the US Army 75th Ranger Regiment and the British 21st and 23rd SAS (Special Air Service). PTR troopers are capable of performing a variety of missions, such as Special Operations, hit and run, grab and snatch, surveilance etc. with insertions from the sea, air or land.
Training is regularily conducted with the British SAS, Hunter Force, US Army Special Forces, Danish Army Hunter Corps, Danish Navy Frogman Corps and various other foreign Special Operations units, especially German ones.
Members of the PTR patrols are all-out volunteers recruited from all over the Danish Home Guard. The men and women rank all the way from privates to captains.
Although the PTR patrols are of Home Guard origin, they are an elite force, considered by some to be comparable to the US Army Special Forces and the British SAS Reconnaissance units in terms of capabilities.
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