Emergencies: The Great Self-Deception

This may not be true, but the anecdote goes that Tordenskjold allowed his soldiers to pass through the same area several times to give the impression to the enemy that his strength was much greater than he actually was.

This is good old fashioned List of war allegedly having an effect abandoned by the opponent before the start of the battle. At the same time, there is a danger of self-deception in such a strategy.

In the context of Norwegian emergency preparedness, self-deception lies in the fact that the armed forces can sometimes appear as Tordenskold soldiers in that we think the armed forces are larger than they are, with more personnel and equipment than they are.

Civilization’s struggle for Europe

In this case, it could mean that civil society is less prepared to manage crises than is necessary. It could be detrimental not only to civil society, but also to the ability of the armed forces to perform their essential function if Norway finds itself in a crisis of security policy and war.

Comprehensive defense concept It involves mutual support and cooperation between the armed forces and civil society in relation to crises. The purpose is to make the best possible use of the community’s total resource, but that of course does not mean that the resources will be more. Each resource can only be used in one place at a time.

The armed forces can provide assistance to the police, authorized under the Police Act and regulated through assistance instructions. Only this form of assistance makes it lawful for the armed forces to use military force against their own citizens in peacetime. Authority in this context cannot override the exercise of authority permitted by the police. In other words, it should be as small as possible and should be proportional.

Can also defend Provide assistance to public authorities such as municipalities and other actors in emergency preparedness. This is authorized in the Defense Code, but has not yet been regulated by its own instructions. The Armed Forces can also assist the rescue service by supporting emergency search and rescue and rescue operations during accidents and disasters.

Putin celebrates Doomsday

In recent years, we have seen the armed forces contribute to a number of crises in Norway. During the pandemic, the armed forces have contributed to a number of missions and on different legal grounds. The armed forces assisted the police and expanded border controls on the borders with Sweden and Finland and in Gardermoen.

Defense also helped Various civilian actors with various equipment lending and coronation testing and vaccination. Just to name a few examples. House Keeper (HV) motto “Everywhere, Always!” For two years it seemed to describe the armed forces as a whole.

At the same time, HV has been one of the Armed Forces’ resources that has been used to the maximum, in various development assistance roles. An HV soldier has become a Tordenskygold soldier, also in a different sense that the armed forces seem bigger than they are. For the majority of HV Soldiers, they are daily civilian employees of various occupations. If you take one of these outside for active HV service, the person meets less often at work in a kindergarten, hospital, or workshop. In other words, here we are also in danger of counting the same resource multiple times.

Who should be punished?

Under the rapid mud landslide In Gjerdrum Christmas 2020, massive amounts of emergency preparedness resources from the civilian side. In addition, the armed forces assisted both the police and the rescue service. The Special Forces of the Armed Forces, the Army and the Air Force have contributed human and material resources of many kinds. The main rescue center wrote in its assessment report (2021) that “the armed forces were the single largest contributor to the rescue effort in Gerdrum.”

Ten people died, however the handling of Gerdrum must be seen as a success story, because without the assistance of the armed forces, the outcome could have been much worse. At the same time, several incidents occurred that created the impression that the total defense force in general, and the armed forces in particular, is greater than it actually is. The accident occurred in central eastern Norway.

It’s common Proximity to a very, very large number of actors in emergency preparedness, both civilian and military. In addition, there were no simultaneous sharp and competitive incidents that could take over the resources used in Gerdrum.

Putin’s fiasco

Preparedness and ability to handle crises can suffer from these success stories. There is a risk that both actors in civil emergency preparedness and civil society in general prepare for low preparedness in the normal situation in the belief that the armed forces can assist anywhere and at any time. This can be a problem in concurrent crises and especially if Norway ends up in a security policy crisis or war.

In such a case The armed forces will have a reduced capacity to assist civil society. Adverse events of a civilian nature do not cease to occur if Norway ends up in an intergovernmental crisis and even war. Then civil society itself must deal with crises as best they can. At the same time, civil society is expected to assist the armed forces. Without this assistance, it could have negative consequences for the combat power of the armed forces.

The choice between two evils

The war in Ukraine is thought-provoking. There now appears to be broad agreement that Norway’s preparedness and ability to deal with crises is very weak. But if so, where would it be so bad? Is it civilian or military? Both? How are these two things balanced so that mutual support and cooperation are good enough across the entire crisis spectrum?

There are questions The newly appointed Total Emergency Preparedness Committee must respond when it reports in 2023. Until then, it is important not to allow short-term assessments to control the use of resources now available for emergency preparedness purposes.