CAMP NYMINDEGAB, Denmark -- 
Capt. Matthew Nelson, 177th Information Aggressor Squadron, Kansas Air National Guard, trained alongside the Polish Army, Danish military, and other U.S. military personnel through the Military Reserve Exchange Program at the Danish Home Guard School in Camp Nymindegab, Denmark, June 26 – July 5, 2025. The MREP provides Guard and Reserve members unique engagement opportunities to strengthen their leadership and build on the knowledge of other foreign reserve forces through an exchange with participating nations.
Camp Nymindegab, once a critical radar and anti-aircraft artillery station for the Nazi regime, controlled a vital corridor used by British and Allied aircraft during World War II. The radars, facing toward Norway, in conjunction with the Norwegian radars facing the opposite direction, created a “wall” protecting German assets in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea.
“The Nazis occupied this town they built for five years, before Hitler died and the war ended. At that time (1945), the Danish Home Guard became officially recognized by the town as a necessary preventative to a second occupation,” explained Nelson. “It is an entirely unpaid (minus a few dozen administrators) force, made entirely of volunteers. You can think of it kind of as a cross between our National Guard, and a local volunteer firefighter service.”
The Danish government now uses Camp Nymindegab as a training ground for the Home Guard. The school offers various professional military education courses, their version of basic training, and the Platoon Leadership Development Course, which Nelson participated in.
His class consisted of seven U.S. Army Soldiers, six U.S. Air Force Airmen, two Polish Army officers, and five members of the Danish military. The training emphasized personal influence over traditional command structures seen in the military.
“The Danish Home Guard, due to its lack of formal military structure, its fluctuating ranks (going from enlisted to officer and back, depending on your current role), and the unpaid/volunteer nature of it, focuses largely on personal over positional power,” stated Nelson. “The whole idea of ‘catching more flies with honey than vinegar’ kept coming to mind.
“It was about influential leadership, really, above all else. How do you motivate somebody when you don’t have the power to command them to do something? They keep reiterating how leadership and command were NOT the same thing. They wanted to teach us how to lead, not how to command.”
A day at Camp Nymindegab during the MREP began with a multinational formation where representatives from each participating nation delivered a speech. In addition to the U.S., Polish, and Danish military members in Nelson’s class, the Home Guard school was also hosting students from Lithuania, Estonia, Norway, and Latvia.
After the formation, where commands were given in Danish, the Danish flag was raised, melodies were sang, and participants were released to their respective classrooms.
Nelson explained how analogies using animals were a common theme throughout the course.
“There was also a good deal of talk about wolves and giraffes, and the importance of understanding a Danish term known as wolvsprog, which means to speak like a wolf. This type of communication was described as ineffective and harmful, as it is demanding, mercurial, unforgiving, and shortsighted.
“Contrasted from wolves are giraffes, whose means of discourse are aptly called girafsprog. The giraffe epitomizes calmness, equanimity, and balance. These two animals were contrasted during their lesson on conflict management, where we were taught to think like a giraffe.
“This analogy served as another salient cultural contrast, underscoring how differences in culture amount to so much more than what you wear or what time you have dinner, but how you see the world and the creatures in it.”
Nelson applied for MREP in late fall of 2024 and received his selection notification in February 2025. He described the administrative process as being extremely easy and has charged other 184th Wing Airmen to support the Military Reserve Exchange Program in the future.
“The benefits of a multinational setting cannot be overstated, either…being embedded with and bonding with soldiers from an allied military, broadens the mind and perspective in permanent ways,” concluded Nelson.
