I would say it varies very very much.

 

Having been in the Home Guard about 20 years - 10 of them very active AND been a conscipt in between, I have some background.

 

One thing is certain: I have not seen anything as bad in the Home Guard, as I experienced in the Air Force infantry. I still hold there are some officers that should have been court martialled. Air Force infantry was worse than useless.

 

If you say there is about 60.000 in the Home Guard, you could break it down as follows:

 

50 % rarely or never show up (I among them), they are useless as troops, they will need at least 3-4 weekends before they are of any use. That'a why they are kept.

 

25 % are poor; but with better leaders they could be usefull - at the present they are of limited use.

 

15 % are good with the quality of professionals; but lower endurance and poorer physique (older mainly); but they are of way better quality than the 3 month conscripts. They have soldiering as a hobby.

 

10 % are "professionals" in the sense that some of them have contracts with the army for international deployment - and they are trained to the same standards as deployable. They are able to fight on par with everybody. And they are better armed.

 

There are some perspectives needed:

 

1. The 10 % are gathered in infantry companies (or ship crews) that can fight as companies with combat tasks.

2. The 15 % are excellent for surveillance, so the 10% can be thrown in where needed.

3. With 2 10% companies pr. district it is unlikely that anything less than a btn can invade - and that is what is needed, as larger formations will be far more likely to appear on the intelligence service screens.

 

As we saw when a fireworks factory blew up, they could - by shuffling around - maintain guarding around a town 24/7 for  weeks at company strength. They prevented looting - among other things.

 

There are some great advantages:

 

1. There is an extreemly high level of readinessWith a few hours you have 15-25 combat ready companies - in position and in reasonably prepared positions.

2. And you have total surveillance of the country - nothing escapes them. It is rather well known among special forces that Denmark is a hell-hole - as soon as they have evaded one patrol, they run into another and are driven into ambushes.

3. They have a very high endurance if they are shuffled around - as is trained constantly.

4. If you need many feet on the ground - searching for missing children f.i. - they are there - quickly. There is a huge reserve of ambulances (if you aren't too critical with facilities) with reasonably trained paramedics - especially for the large number of lighter injuries as a result of a terrorist attack or natural situation. Flooding protection is SOP in southern Jutland f.i. The police has direct command in peacetime - and the officers in the police companies are policemen.

A hint: If you see a police Home Guard on duty: Regard his/her instructions as you would a police officers - the courts does.