Chief of Army (Sweden)

Chief of Army (Swedish language: Arméchef, AC ) is the most senior appointment in the Swedish Army.

History

Until 1975 the Swedish monarch was the formal head of the army. In 1937, the staff agency "Chief of the Army" (Swedish language: 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 Ministry (Swedish language: Lantförsvaret ). At his side, the CA had an army staff to assist the CA in his duties.

Following a larger reorganization of the Swedish Armed Forces in 1994, CA ceased to exist as an independent agency. Instead, the post Chief of Army Staff (Swedish language: chefen för arméledningen ) was created at the then newly instituted Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters (Swedish language: Högkvarteret , HKV). In 1998, the Swedish Armed Forces was again reorganized. Most of the duties of the Chief of Army Staff were transferred to the newly instituted post of "Inspector General of the Army" (Swedish language: generalinspektören för armén ). The post is similar to that of the "Inspector General of the Swedish Navy" (Swedish language: generalinspektören för marinen ) and the "Inspector General of the Swedish Air Force" (Swedish language: generalinspektören för flygvapnet ).

On 1 January 2014, the "Chief of Army" (Swedish language: arméchefen , AC) position was reinstated in the Swedish Armed Forces. The position has not the same duties as before 1994, but has the duties to lead troops in the army, and to be their principal representative by taking care of the traditions of the Swedish Armed Forces.

Chiefs of Army

No	Image	Name	Took office	Left office
1		Oscar Nygren (acting)	1 July 1936	1 October 1937
2		Per Sylvan	1937	1940
3		Ivar Holmquist	1 October 1940	31 March 1944
4		Archibald Douglas	1944	1948
5		Carl August Ehrensvärd	1948	1957
6		Thord Bonde	1957	1963
7		Curt Göransson	1963	1969
8		Carl Eric Almgren	1969	1976
9		Nils Sköld	1976	1984
10		Erik Bengtsson	1984	1990
11		Åke Sagrén	1990	1994

Chiefs of Army Staff

No	Image	Name	Took office	Left office
12		Åke Sagrén	1994	1996
13		Mertil Melin	1996	1998

Inspectors General of the Army

No	Image	Name	Took office	Left office
14		Paul Degerlund	1998	2000
15		Alf Sandqvist	2000	2003

Inspectors of the Army

No	Image	Name	Took office	Left office
16		Alf Sandqvist	2003	2005
17		Sverker Göranson	2005	2007
18		Berndt Grundevik	13 December 2007	13 September 2012
19		Anders Brännström	13 September 2012	]20 December 2013

Chiefs of Army

No	Image	Chief of Army (Arméchef)	Took office	Left office
20		Anders Brännström	20 December 2013	2016
21		Karl Engelbrektson	1 June 2016	Incumbent