This article traces how NATO membership influenced the Danish Army by tracking Danish defence laws and their implementation. As Denmark had virtually no armed forces after the war, rebuilding became closely intertwined with and all-reliant on NATO membership, both in terms of force structure and equipment acquired through the Mutual Defence Assistance Programme.Politicians continuously stressed the importance of NATO for Danish defence. Materially, however, domestic policy influenced Danish rearmament by keeping defence expenditures low and falling short on NATO goals. This was met with criticism from both Danish military and allied leaders, who sought to imprint their wish for more forces and equipment on political leadership. One can say they failed, although it is also entirely possible to imagine an even smaller army without NATO pressure for at least a minimal contribution. The article identifies a movement from an ideal of a fairly coherent Danish territorial defence to a reality of more fragmented pieces made to fit, and heavily reliant upon, NATO reinforcements