Chief of the Army Staff (Sweden)

The Chief of the Army Staff^[1] (Swedish: Chefen för arméstaben, CAst, or Arméstabschef) is the professional head of the Swedish Army Staff. The post was created in 1936 with colonel Helge Jung as the first incumbent. The post disappeared in 1994 and was reintroduced in 2019 when the new Army Staff was established.

Chief of the Army Staff
Chefen för arméstaben
Incumbent Colonel Stefan Jansson since 1 June 2022
Ministry of Defence
Type	Chief of the Army Staff
Abbreviation	CAst
Reports to	Chief of Army
Seat	Östermalmsgatan 87, Stockholm (1937–1981) Lidingövägen 24, Stockholm (1981–1994) Enköping (2019–)
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	1937, 2019
First holder	Colonel Helge Jung (1937) Colonel Dag Lidén (2019)
Final holder	Major General Lennart Rönnberg
Abolished	1994
Unofficial names	Arméstabschef
Deputy	Vice Chief of the Army Staff

History

The Chief of the Army Staff was from 1937 to 1994 the second most senior member of the Swedish Army after the Chief of the Army and headed the Army Staff. The position was initially held by a colonel (1937–1943) and later by a major general (1943–1994). The Chief of the Army Staff was also Chief of the General Staff Corps.^[2] When the Army Staff was disbanded in 1994, the office was eliminated. In 2019, the Army Staff was re-established and a Chief of the Army Staff was appointed again, this time held by a colonel.

Chiefs of the Army Staff

Chiefs of the Army Staff (1937–1994)

No.	Portrait	Chief of the Army Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Prime Minister	Ref.
-		Klercker, Ernst afMajor general[a] Ernst af Klercker (1881–1955) Acting	1 August 1936	30 June 1937	333 days	Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp Per Albin Hansson	[3][4]
1		Jung, HelgeMajor general[b] Helge Jung (1886–1978)	1 July 1937	30 September 1940	3 years, 91 days	Per Albin Hansson	-
2		Högberg, FolkeMajor general Folke Högberg (1884–1972)	1 October 1940	30 September 1942	1 year, 364 days	Per Albin Hansson	[5]
3		Tottie, HenryColonel Henry Tottie (1888–1952)	1942	1943	0–1 years	Per Albin Hansson	-
4		Gadd, HugoMajor general Hugo Gadd (1885–1968)	1943	1946	2–3 years	Per Albin Hansson	-
5		Backlund, IvarMajor general Ivar Backlund (1892–1969)	1946	1948	2–3 years	Tage Erlander	-
6		Tamm, VikingMajor general Viking Tamm (1896–1975)	1948	1953	4–5 years	Tage Erlander	-
7		Carpelan, BertMajor general Bert Carpelan (1895–1981)	1953	1957	3–4 years	Tage Erlander	-
8		Åkerman, GustavMajor general Gustav Åkerman (1901–1988)	1957	1961	3–4 years	Tage Erlander	-
9		Mohlin, ArneMajor general Arne Mohlin (1909–1992)	1961	1963	1–2 years	Tage Erlander	-
10		Synnergren, StigMajor general Stig Synnergren (1915–2004)	1963	1966	2–3 years	Tage Erlander	-
11		Ljung, OveMajor general Ove Ljung (1918–1997)	1966	1968	1–2 years	Tage Erlander	-
-		Holm, Karl EricMajor general Karl Eric Holm (1919–2016) Acting	1966	1968	1–2 years	Tage Erlander	-
12		Holm, Karl EricMajor general Karl Eric Holm (1919–2016)	1968	1972	3–4 years	Tage Erlander Olof Palme	-
13		Ljung, LennartMajor general Lennart Ljung (1921–1990)	1972	1974	1–2 years	Olof Palme	-
-		Hökmark, GöstaMajor general Gösta Hökmark (1920–1993) Acting	1973	1976	2–3 years	Olof Palme	[6]
14		Hökmark, GöstaMajor general Gösta Hökmark (1920–1993)	1976	31 March 1979	2–3 years	Olof Palme Thorbjörn Fälldin Ola Ullsten	[6][7]
15		Lugn, RobertMajor general Robert Lugn (1923–2016)	1 April 1979	1983	3–4 years	Ola Ullsten Thorbjörn Fälldin Olof Palme	[7]
16		Larsson, KristerMajor general Krister Larsson (1934–2022)	1983	1988	4–5 years	Olof Palme Ingvar Carlsson	-
17		Sjöö, CurtMajor general Curt Sjöö (born 1937)	1988	1990	1–2 years	Ingvar Carlsson	-
18		Rönnberg, LennartMajor general Lennart Rönnberg (1938–2022)	1990	1994	3–4 years	Ingvar Carlsson Carl Bildt	-

Chiefs of the Army Staff (2019–present)

No.	Portrait	Chief of the Army Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Prime Minister	Ref.
1		Lidén, DagColonel Dag Lidén [sv] (born 1961)	1 January 2019	31 May 2022	3 years, 150 days	Stefan Löfven Magdalena Andersson	[8][c]
2		Jansson, StefanColonel Stefan Jansson [sv] (born 1967)	1 June 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 168 days	Magdalena Andersson	[10]

Vice Chiefs of the Army Staff

Swedish: Souschef

No.	Portrait	Vice/Deputy Chief of the Army Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Prime Minister	Ref.
1		Möller, GunnarColonel Gunnar Möller [sv] (1897–1953)	1942	1944	1–2 years	Per Albin Hansson	[11]
2		Lindquist, RolfColonel Rolf Lindquist [sv] (1895–1944)	1 April 1944	24 November 1944[d]	237 days	Per Albin Hansson	[12]
3		Carpelan, BertColonel Bert Carpelan (1895–1981)	1 February 1945	1947	1–2 years	Per Albin Hansson Tage Erlander	[13]
4		Norberg, AdolfColonel Adolf Norberg [sv] (1900–1988)	1947	1948	0–1 years	Tage Erlander	-
5		Flach, MilesColonel Miles Flach [sv] (1902–1974)	1949	1950	0–1 years	Tage Erlander	[14]

Footnotes

1. af Klercker was colonel when taking office on 1 August 1936 and was promoted to major general on 19 March 1937 while still in office.^[3]
2. Jung was colonel when taking office on 1 July 1937 and was promoted to major general in 1938 while still in office.
3. In the middle of 2021, Lidén's position as Chief of Army Staff was extended until further notice, however, until 30 June 2022 at the latest.^[9]
4. Perished aboard SS Hansa on his way to Gotland.

References

1. Gullberg 1977, p. 134.
2. "Riksdagsskrivelse 1936:327" (in Swedish). Riksdag. 16 June 1936. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
3. Wikland 1975–1977, p. 298.
4. FL 1936, p. 8.
5. Broomé 1971–1973, p. 659.
6. GP 1976, p. 11.
7. Wennerholm 2015, p. 153.
8. Owetz 2018, p. 13.
9. Försvarets forum 2021, p. 9.
10. Försvarets forum 2022, p. 8.
11. Dahl & Bohman 1949, p. 377.
12. DN 1944, p. 9.
13. SvD 1946, p. 10.
14. TBT 1949, p. 5.

Print

• Broomé, Bertil (1971–1973). "Folke Högberg". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 19. National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
• Dahl, Torsten; Bohman, Nils, eds. (1949). Svenska män och kvinnor: biografisk uppslagsbok. 5 Lindorm-O (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. SELIBR 53804.
• Gullberg, Ingvar E. (1977). Svensk-engelsk fackordbok för näringsliv, förvaltning, undervisning och forskning [A Swedish-English dictionary of technical terms used in business, industry, administration, education and research] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Norstedt. ISBN 91-1-775052-0. SELIBR 8345587.
• Owetz, Josefine (December 2018). "Stort rekryteringsbehov inom nya arméstaben" (PDF). Officerstidningen (in Swedish) (8). Stockholm: Officerarnas riksförbund. SELIBR 3614713.
• Wennerholm, Bertil, ed. (2015). Så kom JAS-projektet till: vittnesseminarium kring beslutsprocessen om JAS 39 1979-1983 : 11 november 2013. Forskningsprojektet Försvaret och det kalla kriget (FOKK), 1652-5388 ; 45 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Forskningsprojektet Försvaret och det kalla kriget (FoKK. ISBN 9789198049886. SELIBR 18205009.
• "PÅ NY POST" (PDF). Försvarets forum: personaltidning för fast anställda och reservofficerare i svenska försvarsmakten (in Swedish) (3). Stockholm: Försvarets forum. 2021. SELIBR 4109339.
• "PÅ NY POST" (PDF). Försvarets forum: personaltidning för fast anställda och reservofficerare i svenska försvarsmakten (in Swedish) (3). Stockholm: Försvarets forum. 2022. SELIBR 4109339.
• Wikland, Erik (1975–1977). "A Ernst W Klercker, af". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 21. National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
• "Hökmark ny arméstabschef". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). No. 56. 1976-02-27. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
• "Varje försvarsgren har fått sin chef". Falu Länstidning (in Swedish). No. 78. Stockholm. TT. 1936-07-01. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
• "Två nya regementschefer". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). No. 27. 1944-01-29. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
• "Data om saknade passagerare". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). No. 322. 1944-11-25. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
• "Nya generaler...". Trelleborgstidningen (in Swedish). No. 41. Stockholm. TT. 1949-02-19. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
• "Översteporträtt". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). No. 37. 1946-02-07. Retrieved 26 May 2020.