DANCON MARCH

It is a Danish tradition that all Danish military units deployed to NATO or UN service complete a so-called Dancon march.

This tradition began many years ago with the Danish UN force in Cyprus - UNFICYP, where a two-day Dancon march was held in the Troodos mountains.

There is no official military regulation for DANCON marches, so it is up to the commander of a deployed force how they are conducted.

At a minimum, the norm is that the march is over +30 KM, carrying at least 10 KG of equipment, and it is a march not a race! Everyone walks the same distance and carries the same weight regardless of age and gender.

Subsequently, Dancon marches have been held at virtually all NATO & UN missions where Danish units have participated.

This has naturally resulted in a large number of different medals, but common to all of them is that the marches were conducted in a mission area, and foreign personnel have usually been invited to participate on an equal footing with Danes.

These medals may only be worn on Danish uniforms in connection with service abroad!

Some other countries allow their personnel to wear these medals completely officially, including the US Army (AR 600-8-22, Appendix D, Foreign Badges).