The Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) or Etterretningstjenesten (E-tjenesten) is a Norwegian military intelligence agency under the

Chief of Defence The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...

and the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

History

Olav Njølstad says that the " stay-behind cooperation with the US and Great Britain represented a milestone in the Norwegian intelligence services' history".Njølstad p.395 Furthermore, through the stay-behind arrangement, the CIA finally conquered their mistrust of the Norwegian intelligence services. An important turning point" was the October–November 1949 secret visit to Norway by Frank Wisner and Richard Helms. The purpose of the visit was to discuss stay-behind with those with the top responsibility on the Norway's side. In 1995, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the intelligence service had operated a stay-behind service in cooperation with the CIA and MI6 since the end of World War II. The two ravens on the coat of arms represent

Huginn and Muninn In Norse mythology, Huginn (Old Norse: "thought"Orchard (1997:92).) and Muninn (Old Norse "memory"Orchard (1997:115). or "mind"Lindow (2001:186).) are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world, Midgard, and bring information to the god Odin. H ...

("Thought" and "Mind", the two ravens that bring information to the

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

god

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

. The red flower is thought to be either an Olaf's Rose or a sub rosa reference, perhaps both. The Olaf rose is a national symbol of Norway and sub rosa is a Latin term referring to confidentiality and secrecy.

2013 inspections

On 12 August 2013 the first ever unannounced inspection by Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, was performed at the NIS headquarter at

Lutvann Lutvann is a lake in the recreational area Østmarka in Oslo, Norway. It covers an area of 0.39 km², at 205 m elevation. Located just outside the capital city, it is a popular site for recreation, including swimming and fishing during summe ...

in Oslo. This inspection came to be as a result of "a complaint from one or more persons" "who felt they were under surveillance". On 27 August 2013, the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee (the EOS Committee) made an unannounced inspection of the Intelligence Service's facilities at

Havnelageret Havnelageret (also known as Oslo Havnelager) is a commercial building located at Langkaia 1 in Oslo, Norway. It houses Norwegian Defence Estates Agency as tenants. History The building was erected in the period 1916-20 and designed by archite ...

in Oslo. On 29 August 2013 '' Dagbladet'' said that according to their sources the Intelligence Service had stored personal information about more than 400 Norwegians—including diplomats and bureaucrats—who either were sources for the intelligence service or people the service wanted to recruit as future sources. The inspection at Havnelageret was followed upNy inspeksjon hos E-tjenesten
"... EOS-utvalget tilbake i lokalene for å følge opp ..." by an announced inspection on 4 September 2013.

Organization

The service has operated, or still operates, the following stations, all of them located north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

: * Andøya (

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county): former SOSUS station, suspected ACINT station *

Fauske or is a municipality located in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fauske. Some of the villages in Fauske include Nystad, Venset, Straumsn ...

(Nordland county): suspected FISINT ( TELINT) and ELINT station *

Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...

( Finnmark county): suspected ELINT and NUCINT station * Vardø (Finnmark county): the GLOBUS radar, suspected ELINT station * Vadsø (Finnmark county): SIGINT ( COMINT) station Kirkenes, Vardø, and Vadsø are close to the Russian border near Severomorsk in the Murmansk district on the Kola Peninsula, the home of the former Soviet Northern Fleet and now its Russian equivalent. The agency uses at least one ELINT ship—F/S ''

Marjata Several Norwegian government vessels have been named FS ''Marjata'': * FS Marjata (1951), in service with Norwegian government 1965-1976 and then to navy as HNoMS ''Vadsø'' * FS Marjata (1975), in service with Norwegian government 1976-1995, la ...

''.

E 14

E 14 (Norway) (Seksjon for spesiell innhenting) is/was a highly classified section within the Intelligence Service, focusing on covert missions abroad. For a period, the section was led by Ola Kaldager. Agents include the late

Trond André Bolle Trond André Bolle (5 July 1968 – 27 June 2010) was a Norwegian military officer and a commando of Marinejegerkommandoen (Norwegian Navy Special Operations Command, NORNAVSOC), with the rank of '' orlogskaptein''. He was awarded the War Cros ...

Leaders

* Vice Admiral

Nils Andreas Stensønes Nils Andreas Stensønes (born 24 August 1964) is a Norwegian military officer who serves as the Head of the Norwegian Intelligence Service since October 2020. He served as Chief of the Navy from August 2017 to October 2020. In September 2020, he ...

(3 November 2020–Present) * General Morten Haga Lunde (2016–2020) * General

Kjell Grandhagen Kjell Grandhagen (7 October 1954 – 3 May 2019) was a Norwegian military officer. He was born in Oslo. He served as head of the Norwegian Military Academy from 1996 to 1999. From 2002 to 2003 he headed the 6th Division, with the rank of major ...

(2010–2015) * Colonel

Johan Berg Johan Berg (12 May 1917 – September 1981) was a Norwegian military officer. Career Berg was born in Stange to Sigvart Berg and Borghild Evenrud. He graduated as military officer in 1939. From 1939 to 1940 he served as lieutenant with the 6th ...

(1966–?) * Vilhelm Evang (1946–1965)

References

External links

Norwegian Intelligence Service official homepage

ow the E Service wants out of the mysteriousnessbr>
*http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2001/04/25/254089.html {{authority control Military of Norway, Intelligence Service National Intelligence Service