Chief of Defence (Sweden)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox official post

The Chief of Defence, formerly the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed ForcesTemplate:Efn (Template:Langx; acronym: ÖB) is the highest ranked professional military officer in the Swedish Armed Forces, and is by NATO terminology the Swedish chief of defence equivalent. The Chief of Defence is the agency head of the Swedish Armed Forces and formally reports to the Government of Sweden, though normally through the Minister for Defence.<ref name="Supreme Commander">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn The primary responsibilities and duties of the Chief of Defence (and the charter for the Armed Forces) are prescribed in an ordinance issued by the Government.<ref name="Förordning (2007:1266) med instruktion för Försvarsmakten">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Chief of Defence is, apart from the honorary ranks held by the King of Sweden and in the past other members of the Swedish royal family, by unwritten convention normally the only professional military officer on active duty to hold the highest rank (a four-star General or Admiral).<ref name="ÖB i historien">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An exception was made 2009-2014 when Håkan Syrén was chairman of the European Union Military Committee.

The present Chief of Defence, General Michael Claesson, took office on 1 October 2024.

HistoryEdit

Before the modern era, the King was expected to command the forces himself; not seldom on location during war campaigns as shown by Gustavus Adolphus, Charles X, Charles XI, Charles XII and Gustav III. This remained the case formally until the 20th century. From the late 19th century onwards, there were no service chiefs of the Army or Navy; all senior service commanders reported directly to the King in Council. Apart from a single Minister for Defence created in 1919 by merging the position of ministers of the land forces and naval forces, no joint command structure existed.<ref name="ÖB i historien"/>

In 1936, a Supreme Commander was intended to be appointed in war-time-only, and on 1 December 1939, during World War II, the first Supreme Commander, General Olof Thörnell, was appointed.<ref name="ÖB i historien"/> In 1942 it was decided to keep this office even after the end of the war. The Supreme Commander would in wartime formally report to the King in Council until the enactment of the new Instrument of Government in 1974, and after 1 January 1975 to the Government.<ref name="ÖB i historien"/>

HeraldryEdit

The coat of arms of the Chief of Defence was used from 1991 to 1993. It has since 1993 been used by the Swedish Armed Forces and was used from 1994 to 2001 by the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters. Blazon: "Azure, lesser coat of arms of Sweden, three open crowns or placed two and one. The shield surmounting an erect sword of the last colour".<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Försvarsmakten vapen bra.svg

Coat of arms of the Chief of Defence used 1991 to 1993.

The command flag of the Chief of Defence is drawn by Brita Grep and embroidered by hand by the Kedja studio, Heraldica. Blazon: "Fessed in blue and yellow; on blue three open yellow crowns placed two and one, on yellow two blue batons of command with sets of open yellow crowns placed two and one in saltire."<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Överbefälhavarens befälstecken MM 25330.jpg

Command flag of the Chief of Defence.
Kommandotecken Överbefälhavaren.svg

Command sign of the Chief of Defence.

List of Chiefs of DefenceEdit

TimelineEdit

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:10 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1935 till:2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1935

Define $now = 2024

Colors =

 id:ar	        value:green             legend: Army
 id:ma         value:darkblue          legend: Navy
 id:fv         value:skyblue           legend: Air_Force
 id:time	value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)

Legend = orientation:vertical position:right

LineData =

 layer:back
 width:0.1
 color:time
 at:1935
 at:1940
 at:1945
 at:1950
 at:1955
 at:1960
 at:1965
 at:1970
 at:1975
 at:1980
 at:1985
 at:1990
 at:1995
 at:2000
 at:2005
 at:2010
 at:2015
 at:2020
 at:2025
 at:2030

BarData =

barset:PM
bar:thörnell
bar:jung
bar:swedlund
bar:rapp
bar:synnergren
bar:ljung
bar:gustafsson
bar:wiktorin
bar:hederstedt
bar:syren
bar:göranson
bar:bydén
bar:claesson

PlotData=

 width:6 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
 barset:PM

bar:thörnell     from: 1939 till: 1944  color:ar       text:Thörnell
bar:jung         from: 1944 till: 1951  color:ar       text:Jung
bar:swedlund     from: 1951 till: 1961  color:ar       text:Swedlund
bar:rapp         from: 1961 till: 1970  color:fv       text:Rapp
bar:synnergren   from: 1970 till: 1978  color:ar       text:Synnergren
bar:ljung        from: 1978 till: 1986  color:ar       text:Ljung
bar:gustafsson   from: 1986 till: 1994  color:ar       text:Gustafsson
bar:wiktorin     from: 1994 till: 2000  color:fv       text:Wiktorin
bar:hederstedt   from: 2000 till: 2004  color:ar       text:Hederstedt
bar:syren        from: 2004 till: 2009  color:ma       text:Syrén
bar:göranson     from: 2009 till: 2015  color:ar       text:Göranson
bar:bydén        from: 2015 till: 2024  color:fv       text:Bydén
bar:claesson     from: 2024 till: $now  color:ar       text:Claesson

</timeline>

Every time a new Chief of Defence is to be appointed, there is some debate between the different services. Some feel that some kind of rotational system would be appropriate. In actuality, most Chiefs of Defence have come from the Army, and only one, Håkan Syrén, from the Navy. Because he is a general of the Amphibious Corps, there has to this day not been a single admiral to hold the office.

List of Deputy Supreme CommandersEdit

Until 30 June 1994, the Chief of the Defence Staff was the second most senior member of the Swedish Armed Forces. When the Swedish Armed Forces was reorganized on 1 July 1994, the Chief of the Defence Staff position was abolished. Lieutenant General Percurt Green became the first Deputy Chief of Defence who took office on 1 July 1994. He also held the post of head of the Joint Operations Command (Operationsledningen, OpL).<ref name="Braconier (1994), p. 8">Template:Harvnb</ref>

In conjunction with the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters reorganization in 1998, a special position was created as Deputy Chief of Defence to relieve the Chief of Defence. The Deputy Chief of Defence led the Headquarters work through coordination of the operations. He also exercised employer responsibility for the staff in the Headquarters. In order to coordinate the operations he had a Coordination Department.<ref name="Johansson (1998)">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Deputy Chief of Defence also acted as the Deputy Agency Executive (Ställföreträdande myndighetschef).<ref name="Flygvapennytt (1998), p. 4">Template:Cite journal</ref> A formal position of head of the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters was established in 2002.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

From 1 October 2005, the post of Deputy Chief of Defence became the Director General of the Swedish Armed Forces held by a civil servant.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

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