, first chief of a combined intelligence service, 1950–1963 The current name and basic organization dates from 1 October 1967, when
Defence Staff's Intelligence Department (), was detached from
Defence Staff () by decree of the Ministry of Defence, as a separate authority of its own, located directly under the Ministry of Defence. The origin can be traced back to the
General Staff's Intelligence Section () created 1911 and the
Naval Staff's Intelligence Section () created 1920s & served in World War I & II. During the reconstruction of the Danish military following Denmark's joining of
NATO, these two intelligence services were merged on 1 October 1950, as Defence Staff's Intelligence Section as a department under the newly erected combined military staff, the Defence Staff. The origin of the Danish military intelligence is uncertain. 1911 appears in one of the few histories of the Danish military intelligence. However 1903 has also been suggested as the year of the establishment of the military intelligence. During the
Cold War, the military intelligence as well as the intelligence section of the police spied against and recorded the activities of the Danish left wing, communists and pacifists, among the later organisations and personalities in the Danish chapter of the War Resisters' International, the Danish Campaign against Nuclear Weapons and the
Conscientious Objectors' Union. This is documented in the
Danish Judge Advocate General's Corps:
Report on the occasion of the examination by the Judge Advocates of certain matters related to Defence Intelligence Service and 'Conscientious Objectors' Union'
etc. in the period 1970-1978 (1999). In August 2020
Lars Findsen was relieved of duty "for the time being" and two other employees were also suspended after it was revealed the intelligence agency had broken laws and misled the intelligence watchdog. The agency had been spying on Danish citizens from 2014 to 2020. On 13 December 2021, five days after Findsen's arrest a commission tasked with investigating the allegations leading to the suspensions cleared the intelligence agency and its employees of any wrongdoing.
Defence minister Trine Bramsen said an investigation would be launched into the claims. leading to wide backlash among EU countries and demands for explanation from Danish and American governments. As of August 2022 two of those charged had their charges dismissed, while Findsen remains charged and suspended. ==Organisation==