Organization
The IDF was formally headquartered at Naval Air Station Keflavík, though its base was actually at Miðnesheiði near Keflavík. Commander, Iceland Defense Force was a U.S. Navy Rear Admiral with three other titles and roles: Commander, Iceland Sector ASW Group (CTG-84.1), Commander, Fleet Air Keflavik, and NATO Island Command Iceland. Commander Fleet Air Keflavik (COMFAIRKEF) was the senior Navy command in Iceland, responsible for the operational readiness of Navy units assigned. The commander of Fleet Air Keflavik was the operational commander in charge of all Navy and anti-submarine warfare operations. Administratively, COMFAIRKEF reported to Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet, located in Norfolk, Virginia.
The IDF was a subordinate unified command of United States Atlantic Command for a long period before passing to the control of the renamed United States Joint Forces Command. From October 2002 until its disbandment, it was under the control of the United States European Command.
The IDF was composed of United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force personnel as well as local Icelandic civilians. In addition, there were a few Army and Coast Guard personnel attached to this command.
There were more than 25 different commands of various sizes attached to Iceland Defense Force. Although staffing varied over the years, it was approximately 1350 U.S. military personnel (not including Reservists), 100 Department of Defense civilians, and 650 Icelanders, both civilians and firemen given military training manning the local Naval Firefighting team, as well as military members from Norway, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom worked on NAS Keflavik. A contingent of the United States Marine Corps was responsible for ground defense.
The U.S. Air Force component of the force was the 85th Group. The air forces stationed in Iceland included a rotational P-3 Orion patrol squadron deployed forward from the U.S. Navy's Patrol Wings Atlantic, and the F-15s of the 85th Group. Commander Dennis Corrigan, Fleet Air Keflavik's operations officer, commented to Jane's Defence Weekly in 1996 that 'Keflavik is the only place where a US Navy flag officer has both P-3s and USAF F-15s working for him. ..We have developed a joint tactical doctrine: F-15s providing air superiority to allow the P-3 to do its job, whether its mining, anti-submarine warfare or something else.' With the reduction in Patrol Wings Atlantic to ultimately seven squadrons by 1994, commitments at NAS Roosevelt Roads and Sigonella were reallocated, with Patrol Wings, Pacific taking up the Caribbean tasking to allow a full complement of P-3s in Sicily.
In the event of a major ground threat, the Army component, U.S. Army Iceland (ARICE), would have mobilized and become responsible for the ground defense of Iceland. ARICE consisted almost entirely of reserve components (until 1994, the main formation was the Army Reserve's 187th Infantry Brigade) in the United States, and limited numbers of personnel participated in on-site training maneuvers.
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