[3] While originally composed of former militia groups, today it comprises half of the Swedish Army, thus constituting the basis of the territorial defence of Sweden.

The establishment of the Home Guard was passed into law by the Riksdag on May 29, 1940, after the beginning of World War II, however, units had already been formed by the military before this.

Members of these small units usually consisted of former professional military men who were equipped with rifles, machine guns, ammunition, medicine, uniforms, and had the option of buying additional materials such as skis, sweaters and marching boots.

It has the task of operating over the entire conflict scale, from societal support during great strains in peacetime to armed combat in times of war.

The units of the Home Guard have a response capability that is measured in hours, as opposed to days or weeks.

The personnel is made up of locally recruited volunteers and consists largely of experienced soldiers and officers with a background in mission-based units.

When the Armed Forces are called in to help with forest fires, flooding or missing person searches, it often falls to Home Guard units to support the police and Rescue Services.

Uniform guidelines and materials for courses are determined centrally by the National Home Guard Combat School.

Rapid Response units have more combat tasks compared to the rest of the Home Guard, including escort duties.

The current organisation of the Swedish defence has highly specialised units which requires time to assemble.

Since each operator is stationed in the area they live in, they know the terrain, they notice when something is out of place and thus will likely be the first to detect and respond to an incursion.

By using knowledge of terrain they are to deny, delay or harass the opposing force until friendly specialised units have been mobilised to the given theatre.

After the more specialised troops have been mobilised and deployed, the role shifts to either aiding the unarmed civilian defence force and securing food, medical care and infrastructure for civilians, or fighting the invading force using asymmetric warfare and local knowledge.

With this in mind, one of the primary roles are to protect the mobilisation of the specialised units as well as assisting through local knowledge.

The lower degree of specialisation of the National Defence Force is here a significant strength, as they are by default able to function well in the random groups that would be formed during the initial phases of a surprise attack.

A secondary effect of accurate intelligence is giving political leaders a correct and reliable strategic situational image.

Perhaps they want weapons so they can extort locals, or perhaps they want to steal food deliveries to sell them for extremely high prices.

Although current doctrine states that Home Guard units can act anywhere within the country, local knowledge is one of the strengths of the organization.

In peacetime the Home Guards main task is to help with search and rescue operations, and to provide assistance to civil society in cases of severe emergencies such as natural disasters and the like.

The Home Guard soldier must fulfill the following requirements in order to be object to admittance: Troops are trained regularly and conditions of suitability abilities tested continually.

Typically, the Cadets train one day or evening every or every other week, with 10-12 weekends per year spent in the field.

During training they wear the same type of uniform and equipment as the regular forces, although it may vary between the sections depending on local budget and resources.

Blazon: "On blue cloth in the centre the badge of the National Home Guard; the letter H under three open crowns placed two and one, all in yellow".

[14] In 1996, the Hemvärnets Petrimedalj ("The Home Guard Petri Medal") in silver and bronze (HvPetriSM/BM) of the 8th size was established.

The ribbon of blue moiré pattern with two vertical yellow, two mm wide stripes in the middle.