The rough nature of Greenland and the Faroe Islands presents unique opportunities for the new Danish Chairship of the Arctic Coast Guard Forum to put the challenging operational environment in the northern part of the Kingdom of Denmark on the spot by having the theme of ICE for the chairship period.
Above: Joint Arctic Command participated in the exercise Arctic Guardian in April 2025 during the Norwegian Chairship of Arctic Coast Guard Forum. Joint Arctic Command is hosting Arctic Guardian in 2027.
Icebergs, which pops up unexpectedly deserted areas and extreme weather conditions, all massively effected by climate change. These are some of the challenges of the environment presents for the arctic nations to operate in everyday and they are all a factor when speaking about coast guard duties in the arctic. These factors create the overarching theme for the Danish Chairship of Arctic Coast Guard Forum.
Joint Arctic Command is a part of the Danish Defence, and in the role as the Coast Guard for Greenland, it took over the Chairship for Arctic Coast Guard Forum for a two-year period.
“The Norwegian Coast Guard have done a remarkable job during their Chairship and Joint Arctic Command is looking forward to hosting the other Arctic Nations during our two-year Chairship. Joint Arctic Command will be focusing on the challenges of operating in the ice filled waters and the changing environment in the Arctic under the theme Ice.” The chief of Joint Arctic Command comments.
Above: The Chief of Joint Arctic Command was handed the chairship from the Norwegian Coast Guard in April 2025.
The Danish Chairship is two years and involves two exercises, a theoretical table exercise and a maritime focused exercise placed along the west coast of Greenland. Joint Arctic Command will be hosting six meetings placed all over the Kingdom of Denmark. Joint Arctic Command will be bringing in speakers and scholars with knowledge that can broaden the shared understanding of navigating in the area and the challenge that climate change brings.
This year also marked the 10th anniversary of the forum, which was founded in 2015 with the United States as the first host of the chairship. Joint Arctic Command will be marking the anniversary during the chair-period.
