Hans Majestet Kongens Garde (HMKG) (lit., His Majesty The King's Guard; the Royal Guards) is a battalion of the Norwegian Army. The battalion has two main roles; it serves as the Norwegian King's bodyguards, guarding the royal residences (the Royal Palace in Oslo, Bygdøy Kongsgård and Skaugum) and Akershus Fortress in Oslo, and is also the main infantry unit responsible for the defence of Oslo. The HMKG is located in Huseby leir in Oslo. Huseby leir is located on the old Oslo farm Nordre Huseby gård (Northern Huseby farm), which was acquired by the Norwegian government in the late 19th century.
History
The first all-Norwegian unit of the royal guard of Sweden and Norway were a 38-man strong squadron of despatch riders from the Akerhusiske ridende Jægercorpses gevorbne Escadron, and its main function was to go as messengers between Stockholm and Christiania. By 1856 this service was obsolete, and the king decided to form a new Norwegian infantry company to be part of the guard. The Norwegian guards company was formally formed from members of the Norwegian Corps of Jäger, mainly from Stjørdal, on 8 November 1856 by King Oscar I, in order to underline his status as king of both Norway and Sweden. The company moved from Stockholm to Kristiania in 1888, where, in addition to its guards duties, it served as a trials unit. On Norway's independence in 1905, the company became the new guards unit for King Haakon VII and was increased to battalion size. The battalion served with distinction during the Second World War, where it prevented the Wehrmacht from capturing the Royal Family and the Cabinet at the Midtskogen Gård on 10 April. This gave the Guards its first battle honour. Later in the campaign, the Guards fought with distinction on Dovrefjell and at Lundehøgda, near Lillehammer, winning their third battle honour. During the campaign in central Norway they were known among the German soldiers who fought them as "die schwarzen Teufel" or "the black devils", due to their ferocity and dark uniforms.
In August 2022, 30 Royal Guards were kicked out of the armed forces after a process that was said to involve drug testing; however, the chief of the Royal Guard said later in August that the hair samples were not analyzed, due to a "technical failure". Authorities had earlier in August claimed that the test kits that (allegedly) were used were not considered reliable, therefore the positive tests - the evidence - were not kept in evidence. "The ex-soldiers" are claiming that coersion was used; they were (allegedly) told that "the case" would be on their civilian police-record; however, the Norwegian Armed Forces went over to a new practice two years ago: drug cases do not get turned over to civilian police authorities. The drug tests in 2022 - by taking hair samples - were done by corporals taking hair samples; none of the personnel that work in the "narcotics group" of the military police, were present; the soldiers were given an impression that they would get reduced punishment if they admitted to illegal use of drugs; One soldier called the process a bluff so that one could elicit confessions. The chief of the armed forces' "narcotics group", says that drug tests can be done, however if they are done against specific suspects, then (each) drug test has to be part of (any number of individual) criminal cases. As of 26 August, the Chief of Defence is satisfied with the report that he has been given.
Military organization
The HMKG is organized as a light infantry battalion of five companies:
Each of the rifle companies takes turns in carrying out guard duty at the royal residences in between other duties. The majority of Guardsmen are National Servicemen who are posted to the regiment after their basic training. On arriving at the battalion from basic training, they spend their first five weeks in ceaseless drill practice, hand-to-hand fighting, physical training, close range firing and case solving exercises before they are allowed to perform their first duties outside the royal palace or around the Royal Family's country residence. In addition the guards practice specialized operations within their platoons, and whenever a company becomes the oldest unit within the battalion (longest period of conscription), the company enters service as gardestridsgruppe (guard battle group), GSG, with a 72-hour emergency response time. The mission of the GSG is classified, but it was used during the 22 July attacks on Oslo in 2011.