During the last ten years, the Danish Army has been restructured from a force exclusively dedicated to territorial defence to an army able to project its influence anywhere in the world.

The most significant change so far has been the formation of the Danish Reaction Brigade. This Brigade is available not only for local defence tasks, but also for peacekeeping or humanitarian operations under the auspices of the UN and crisis response operations as part of the NATO Allied Command Europe Reaction Corps (ARRC).

Other units on higher readiness are the Light Recce Squadron, CIMIC COY, UAV plus a number of smaller units which all have high standards of training and readiness and are “earmarked” for international operations. At lower readiness, but also deployable are the Danish Division units.
At the moment the Army is represented by approximately 1000 soldiers in a number of international operations. The three main operations are ISAF in Afghanistan, IRAK, and KFOR in the former Yugoslavia.

Participation in a new international peacekeeping operation in Sudan is under consideration. Cooperation with Poland and Germany within the Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE) is also central for the army.
In March 2004, in order to reflect the new security environment and meet the new requirements from NATO, the Danish Government presented its plan for a complete restructuring of the Danish Army, calling for a more deployable Army, equipped with material of high standards and world climate capabilities.

Conscription would remain fundamental to this, but with a new purpose aimed at homeland security. Suitable volunteers will be selected to undergo an advanced additional nine-month training, preparing them to serve as regular or part time soldiers in deployable units.

It is foreseen that the Army should be able to participate in international operations with 1500 - 2000 soldiers continuously.