| Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| |
| Deputy | The Director-General |
| Nominated by | Minister for Defence |
| Appointed by | The Government |
| Incumbent | General Sverker Göranson |
| Personal details | |
| Residence | Karlberg Palace |
| Website | Official website |
Current Swedish Supreme Commander of Sweden General Micael Bydén. Since 2015.
The Supreme Commander (Swedish language: Överbefälhavaren
- 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 Supreme Commander is the agency head of the Swedish Armed Forces and formally reports to the Government of Sweden.
The Supreme Commander is, apart from the honorary ranks held by King of Sweden and in the past other members of the Swedish Royal Family, by unwritten convention normally the only military officer to hold the highest rank of the services (a four-star General or Admiral).
The present Supreme Commander, General Sverker Göranson, took office on 25 March 2009.
Historical background[]
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 and Charles XII. This remained the case formally until the 1930s. In 1936, a Supreme Commander other than the King 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. 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 1975, and after that to the Government.
Although the Minister for Defence heads the Ministry of Defence, the Minister cannot as a general rule issue directives in his/her own right to the Supreme Commander or any other agency director-general in the defence portfolio due to the Swedish prohibition on ministerial rule, unless such authority is provided for in specific statutory provisions.
List of Officeholders[]
Every time a new Supreme Commander 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 Supreme Commanders 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.
| # | Rank and name | Branch | Term began | Term ended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Olof Thörnell | Army | 8 December 1939 | 31 March 1944 |
| 2 | General Helge Jung | Army | 1 April 1944 | 31 March 1951 |
| 3 | General Nils Swedlund | Army | 1 April 1951 | 30 September 1961 |
| 4 | General Torsten Rapp | Air Force | 1 October 1961 | 30 September 1970 |
| 5 | General Stig Synnergren | Army | 1 October 1970 | 30 September 1978 |
| 6 | General Lennart Ljung | Army | 1 October 1978 | 30 September 1986 |
| 7 | General Bengt Gustafsson | Army | 1 October 1986 | 30 June 1994 |
| 8 | General Owe Wiktorin | Air Force | 1 July 1994 | 30 June 2000 |
| 9 | General Johan Hederstedt | Army | 1 July 2000 | 31 December 2003 |
| 10 | General Håkan Syrén | Navy | 1 January 2004 | 24 March 2009 |
| 11 | General Sverker Göranson | Army | 25 March 2009 | 30 September 2015 |
| 12 | General Micael Bydén. | Air Force | 1 October 2015 | Incumbent |
Timeline[]
See also[]
- Lord High Admiral of Sweden (historical antecedent)
- Lord High Constable of Sweden (historical antecedent)
References[]
External links[]
The original article can be found at Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces and the edit history here.