Chief of Army (Sweden)

The Chief of Army (Swedish: arméchef, lit. 'Army Chief', AC) is the most senior appointment in the Swedish Army. The position Chief of Army was introduced in 1937 and the current form in 2014.

Chief of Army
Arméchef (Swedish)
Flag of the Chief of Army
Incumbent Major General Jonny Lindfors since 18 June 2023
Swedish Army
Type	Branch chief
Abbreviation	AC
Reports to	Chief of Armed Forces Training & Procurement[1]
Seat	Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters, Stockholm, Sweden
Nominator	The Minister of Defence
Appointer	The Government
Constituting instrument	FIB 2020:5, Chapter 13 a
Formation	1937
First holder	Oscar Nygren
Deputy	Deputy chief

History

In 1937, the staff agency "Chief of the Army" (Swedish: Chefen för armén, CA) was created to lead the army in peace time. The CA would under the King in Council exercise the highest military leadership of the Land Defense (Swedish: Lantförsvaret). At his side, the CA had an Army Staff to assist the CA in his duties.^[2] Before 1937 the Chief of the General Staff was considered to be the Chief of Army, but he was not usually to the rank of chief, but formally only the king's chief of staff in his capacity as Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces. The oldest general was chairman of the special preparatory body called the Generals Commission (Generalskommissionen).^[3]

Following a larger reorganization of the Swedish Armed Forces in 1994, the staff agency Chief of the Army ceased to exist as an independent agency. Instead, the post Chief of Army Command (Swedish: Chefen för arméledningen) was created at the then newly instituted Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters. In 1998, the Swedish Armed Forces was again reorganized. Most of the duties of the Chief of Army Command were transferred to the newly instituted post of "Inspector General of the Army" (Swedish: generalinspektören för armén). The post is similar to that of the "Inspector General of the Swedish Navy" (Swedish: Generalinspektören för marinen) and the "Inspector General of the Swedish Air Force" (Swedish: Generalinspektören för flygvapnet).^[4] It was later renamed to "Inspector of the Army" (Swedish: Arméinspektören) on 1 January 2003.^[5] The position of Inspector of the Army had previously been used in from 1942 to 1949 for the head of the Army Inspectorate (Arméinspektionen).

On 1 January 2014, the "Chief of Army" (Swedish: Arméchefen, AC) position was reinstated in the Swedish Armed Forces. The position has not the same duties as before.^[6]

Tasks

Tasks of the Chief of Army:^[7]

• Lead the units which the Chief of Swedish Armed Forces Training and Development has distributed
• To the Chief of Swedish Armed Forces Training and Development propose the development of the units' abilities
• Being the foremost representative of the units
• Represent the units and the area of ability in international contacts

Heraldry

The command flag of the Chief of Army is drawn by Brita Grep and embroidered by hand by the Kedja studio, Heraldica. Blazon: "Fessed in yellow and blue; on yellow two blue batons of command with sets of yellow crowns placed two and one in saltire, on blue two yellow swords in saltire."^[8]

List of chiefs

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Supreme Commander	Ref.
Chief of the Army (Chefen för armén)
–		Nygren, OscarLieutenant general Oscar Nygren (1872–1960) Acting	1 July 1936	1 October 1937	1 year, 92 days	–	[9]
–		Thörnell, OlofLieutenant general Olof Thörnell (1877–1977) Acting	15 July 1937	17 July 1937	2 days	–	[10]
–		Lyström, AxelLieutenant general Axel Lyström (1873–1945) Acting	19 July 1937	2 August 1937	14 days	–	[10]
–		Lilliehöök, LennartLieutenant general Lennart Lilliehöök (1872–1950) Acting	3 August 1937	14 August 1937	11 days	–	[10]
1		Sylvan, PerLieutenant general Per Sylvan (1875–1945)	1 October 1937	1 October 1940	3 years, 0 days	Olof Thörnell[lower-alpha 1]	-
–		Osterman, OscarMajor general Oscar Osterman (1874–1956) Acting	10 October 1938 13 October 1938	10 October 1938 14 October 1938	3 days	–	[11]
–		Gyllenstierna, GöranMajor general Göran Gyllenstierna (1876–1968) Acting	11 October 1938 15 October 1938	12 October 1938 22 October 1938	10 days	–	[11]
–		Gyllenstierna, GöranMajor general Göran Gyllenstierna (1876–1968) Acting	16 July 1939	15 August 1939	30 days	–	[12]
2		Holmquist, IvarLieutenant general Ivar Holmquist (1879–1954)	1 October 1940	31 March 1944	3 years, 182 days	Olof Thörnell	[13]
3		Douglas, ArchibaldLieutenant general Archibald Douglas (1883–1960)	1 April 1944	30 September 1948	4 years, 182 days	Helge Jung	[14][15]
4		Ehrensvärd, Carl AugustLieutenant general Carl August Ehrensvärd (1892–1974)	1 October 1948	30 September 1957	8 years, 364 days	Helge Jung Nils Swedlund	[16][17]
5		Bonde, ThordLieutenant general Thord Bonde (1900–1969)	1 October 1957	30 September 1963	5 years, 364 days	Nils Swedlund Torsten Rapp	[17][18]
6		Göransson, CurtLieutenant general Curt Göransson (1909–1996)	1 October 1963	30 September 1969	5 years, 364 days	Torsten Rapp	[18][19]
7		Almgren, Carl EricLieutenant general Carl Eric Almgren (1913–2001)	1 October 1969	1 October 1976	7 years, 0 days	Torsten Rapp Stig Synnergren	[20][21]
8		Sköld, NilsLieutenant general Nils Sköld (1921–1996)	1 October 1976	31 March 1984	7 years, 182 days	Stig Synnergren Lennart Ljung	[22][23]
9		Bengtsson, Erik G.Lieutenant general Erik G. Bengtsson (born 1928)	1 April 1984	1 April 1990	6 years, 0 days	Lennart Ljung Bengt Gustafsson	[24][25]
10		Sagrén, ÅkeLieutenant general Åke Sagrén (1935–2022)	1 April 1990	30 June 1994	4 years, 90 days	Bengt Gustafsson	[25][26]
Chief of Army Command (Chef för arméledningen)
10		Sagrén, ÅkeLieutenant general Åke Sagrén (1935–2022)	1 July 1994	30 March 1996	1 year, 273 days	Owe Wiktorin	[26]
11		Melin, MertilLieutenant general Mertil Melin (1935–2023)	1 April 1996	1998	1–2 years	Owe Wiktorin	[27]
Inspector General of the Army (Generalinspektör för armén)
12		Degerlund, PaulMajor general Paul Degerlund (born 1948)	1998	30 June 2000	1–2 years	Owe Wiktorin	-
13		Sandqvist, AlfMajor general Alf Sandqvist (born 1945)	1 July 2000	31 December 2002	2 years, 183 days	Johan Hederstedt	[5]
Inspector of the Army (Arméinspektör)
13		Sandqvist, AlfMajor general Alf Sandqvist (born 1945)	1 January 2003	31 May 2005	2 years, 150 days	Johan Hederstedt Håkan Syrén	[5]
14		Göranson, SverkerMajor general Sverker Göranson (born 1954)	31 May 2005	1 November 2007	2 years, 154 days	Håkan Syrén	-
15		Grundevik, BerndtMajor general Berndt Grundevik (born 1956)	1 November 2007	13 September 2012	4 years, 317 days	Håkan Syrén Sverker Göranson	[28][29]
16		Brännström, AndersMajor general Anders Brännström (born 1957)	13 September 2012	20 December 2013	1 year, 98 days	Sverker Göranson	[29]
Chief of Army (Arméchef)
16		Brännström, AndersMajor general Anders Brännström (born 1957)	20 December 2013	1 June 2016	2 years, 164 days	Sverker Göranson Micael Bydén	[30]
17		Engelbrektson, KarlMajor general Karl Engelbrektson (born 1962)	1 June 2016	17 June 2023	7 years, 16 days	Micael Bydén	[30][31]
18		Lindfors, JonnyMajor general Jonny Lindfors (born 1975)	18 June 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 134 days	Micael Bydén	[31]

List of deputy chiefs

Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Prime Minister	Ref.
Deputy Chief of Army (Ställföreträdande arméchef)
	Ståhlberg, FredrikBrigadier general Fredrik Ståhlberg (born 1966)	September 2017	31 January 2020	2–3 years	Micael Bydén	[32][33]
	Swaan Wrede, LauraBrigadier general Laura Swaan Wrede (born 1964)	31 March 2020	30 September 2022	2 years, 183 days	Micael Bydén	[34]
	Svensson, AndersBrigadier general Anders Svensson [sv] (born 1965)	1 October 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 29 days	Micael Bydén	[35]

See also

• Chief of Air Force
• Chief of Navy

Footnotes

1. From 8 December 1939.

References

Notes

1. "Försvarsmaktens interna bestämmelser med arbetsordning för Försvarsmakten (FMArbo) - FIB 2020:5" (PDF). FÖRSVARSMAKTENS INTERNA BESTÄMMELSER (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. 16 December 2020. p. 5. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
2. Wallberg 1987
3. Försvarets traditioner i framtiden med översiktlig historik från 1500-talet (PDF) (in Swedish). Statens försvarshistoriska museer TradN. 2015. p. 12. ISBN 9789197859554. SELIBR 17552963. Archived from the original on 2016-08-17.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
4. Nordgren 1998
5. "Försvarsgrensinspektörer till Högkvarteret" (PDF). Flygvapennytt (in Swedish) (4). Stockholm: Flygstaben: 40. 2002. SELIBR 8257600.
6. "Nya namn på nya poster" [New names for new positions] (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
7. "Försvarets författningssamling: FFS 2013:4" (PDF). Försvarets Författningssamling (in Swedish). Stockholm: TF-redaktionen, Försvarets materielverk: 18. 2013-12-23. ISSN 0347-7576. SELIBR 3683131.
8. Braunstein 2004, p. 106
9. Cronenberg 1990–1991, p. 704
10. SvD 1937, p. 4A.
11. SvD 1938, p. 4A.
12. SvD 1939, p. 4A.
13. Wikland 1971–1973, p. 288
14. SvD 1944, p. 6A.
15. "VI DISKUTERAR: Generalens testamente". Expressen (in Swedish). 30 September 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
16. "Ny chef för armén". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). No. 63. 5 March 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
17. "Ehrensvärd". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 23 February 1957. p. 4A. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
18. Grafström 1963, p. 15
19. Skoglund 2009, p. 48
20. Jarmar 2005, p. 91
21. Tunberger 1976, p. 17
22. DN 1981, p. 8.
23. Lidén 1983, p. 7
24. SvD 1984, p. 17.
25. Olofson 1990, p. Del 1/7
26. "Sammanställning över utnämningar och nya befattningar" (PDF). Flygvapennytt (in Swedish) (1). Stockholm: Flygstaben: 34. 1994. SELIBR 8257600.
27. "Vår nye armechef" [Our new Chief of Army] (PDF). Flygvapennytt (in Swedish) (4). Stockholm: Flygstaben: 2. 1995. SELIBR 8257600. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
28. "Chefsbyten i Försvarsmakten" (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
29. "Från hemvärnsrekryt till arméinspektör" [From Home Guard recruit to Army Inspector] (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
30. "Ny arméchef utsedd" [New Chief of Army appointed] (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
31. "PÅ NY POST" (PDF). Försvarets forum: Personaltidning för fast anställda och reservofficerare i svenska försvarsmakten (in Swedish) (3). Stockholm: Försvarets forum: 9. 2023. SELIBR 4109339.
32. Owetz 2020, p. 11
33. "Fredrik Ståhlberg". LinkedIn. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
34. "PÅ NY POST" (PDF). Försvarets forum: Personaltidning för fast anställda och reservofficerare i svenska försvarsmakten (in Swedish) (2). Stockholm: Försvarets forum: 8. 2020. SELIBR 4109339.
35. "PÅ NY POST" (PDF). Försvarets forum: Personaltidning för fast anställda och reservofficerare i svenska försvarsmakten (in Swedish) (5). Stockholm: Försvarets forum: 9. 2022. SELIBR 4109339.

Print

• Braunstein, Christian (2004). Svenska försvarsmaktens fälttecken efter millennieskiftet [The flags and standards of the Swedish armed forces after the turn of the millennium] (PDF). Skrift / Statens försvarshistoriska museer, 1101-7023 ; 7 [dvs 8] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statens försvarshistoriska museer. p. 106. ISBN 91-971584-7-X. SELIBR 9815350. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-05-22. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
• Cronenberg, Arvid (1990–1991). "Oscar E Nygren". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 27. National Archives of Sweden. p. 704. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
• Jarmar, Håkan (2005). Wedin, Lars; Åselius, Gunnar (eds.). "Torsten Rapp som ÖB: En studie av maktens fördelning inom det militära försvaret under 1960-talet". Militärhistorisk tidskrift. 2005 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Militärhistoriska avdelningen, Försvarshögskolan. ISSN 0283-8400. SELIBR 10098614.
• Owetz, Josefine (2020). "Fredrik Ståhlberg ny vicerektor vid FHS" (PDF). Officerstidningen (in Swedish) (1). Stockholm: Officerarnas riksförbund. SELIBR 3614713. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
• Skoglund, Claës (2009). Det bästa försvarsbeslut som aldrig kom till stånd: ett kontrafaktiskt uppslag (PDF). Publikation / Försvaret och det kalla kriget (FOKK), 1652-5388 ; 17 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibliotek. ISBN 9789185789573. SELIBR 11704940. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2018.
• Wikland, Erik (1971–1973). "C A F Ivar Holmquist". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 19. National Archives of Sweden. p. 288. Retrieved 2017-04-25.

Newspapers

• Grafström, Bengt (16 August 1963). "400 000 gick upp i rök på en halvtimme". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 May 2020.
• Lidén, Erik (26 August 1983). "ÖB kvar - armén får ny chef". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
• Olofson, Sune (27 March 1990). "Militären stöder Gorbatjov". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
• Tunberger, Johan (24 September 1976). "Arméchefen inför sin avgång: Byråkratiseringen tilltar oroväckande". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
• "Ledningen möbleras om". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). No. 312. 17 November 1981. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
• "Armén" [The Army]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 1937-07-15. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
• "Armén" [The Army]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 1938-10-09. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
• "Armén" [The Army]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 1939-06-23. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
• "GENERAL JUNG Ö. B., general A. Douglas arméchef". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 2 January 1944. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
• "Nye arméchefen på studiebesök på SvD". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 1 March 1984. Retrieved 1 September 2022.

Web

• Nordgren, Annika; et al. (24 February 1998). "Motion till riksdagen 1997/98:Fö3" (in Swedish). Riksdag. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
• Wallberg, Evabritta (1987-01-13). "5. Arméstaben > Förteckning" (in Swedish). National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved 2015-07-28.