Swedish Army rank insignia
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Contents |
[edit] Regular, reserve and conscript officer insignia
| NATO Code1 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | Student Officer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troop formation | General Officers Generalspersoner |
Regiment Grade Regementsbefäl |
Company Grade Kompanibefäl |
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| Rank in Swedish | General | Generallöjtnant | Generalmajor | Brigadgeneral | Överste 1. gr2 | Överste | Överstelöjtnant | Major | Kapten | Löjtnant | Fänrik 4 | Kadett 2 året 3 |
Kadett 1 året 3 |
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| British equivalent | General | Lieutenant General |
Major General | Brigadier General |
Brigadier | Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel |
Major | Captain | Lieutenant | Second Lieutenant |
Cadet | ||
| Abbreviation | Gen | GenLt | GenMj | BrigGen | Öv 1.gr | Öv | Övlt | Mj | Kn | Lt | Fk | |||
- 1 Sweden is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The translations to British Army ranks have been taken from an official Swedish Armed Forces publication[1] and NATO rank codes have been extrapolated from those the British Army assigns to the equivalent rank.
- 2 Since 1 June 2000, no one can be appointed Öv 1.gr (Överste av första graden). The rank of Brigadgeneral has replaced it. However, those already appointed Överste av första graden were not automatically promoted, thus the rank will cease to exist when all holding it are retired (or promoted).
- 3 A Cadet (Swedish: has the same formal rank as a Sergeant. Because of this they're often refered to as chevron sergeants (Swedish vinkelsergeanter), due to their insignia.
- 4 Conscripts doing their national service as company grade students (kompanibefälselever) are appointed Second Lieutenant (Swedish Värnpliktig Fänrik) after basic service (usually 15 months).
[edit] Enlisted and conscript insignia
| NATO Code 1 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troop formation | Platoon Grade Plutonsbefäl |
Squad Leaders Gruppbefäl |
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No insignia3 | |||||||
| Rank in Swedish | Fanjunkare2 | Sergeant | Överfurir2 | Furir | Korpral | Menig | ||||||
| British equivalent | Warrant Officer 2nd Class |
Staff Sergeant | Sergeant | Corporal | Lance-Corporal | Private | ||||||
| Abbreviation | Fj | Sg | ÖFu | Fu | Krp | |||||||
- 1 Sweden is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The translations to British Army ranks have been taken taken from an official Swedish Armed Forces publication[1] and NATO rank codes have been extrapolated from those the British Army assigns to the equivalent rank.
- 2 No permanent appointments to these ranks are currently made. Those already appointed retain their rank and temporary appointments are made for international missions.
- 3 Instead of rank insignia, privates wear the insignia of their branch (armour, infantry etc) on the left collar of the battle dress uniform (BDU). All personel, regardless of rank wear the branch insignia on the right collar. Lance-Corporal and above wear their respective rank insignia on the left collar. (See picture to the right)
[edit] Undergoing changes
Currently the Swedish army is moving towards a system wherein conscripts are either privates, specialists, or squad leaders. Until this is fully in place the current rank structure is worthy of some interest.
[edit] Conscript Officers
Until the middle of the 1990s conscripts serving for 15 months in the army became conscript officers with the rank of "fänrik" (2nd Lieutenant) without receiving a formal commission. The final 3 months of their service was called "kadettskola" (cadet academy) and was designed to provide a solid grounding in company level tactics. Training in the Swedish Army was concentrated towards the wartime organization, as no field units existed prior to mobilisation.
[edit] Ranks based on service time
Conscripts in the army served either 7.5, 10, 12 or 15 months. Privates served 7.5, specialists and squad leaders served 10 (squad leaders received the rank of furir, or sergeant (now corporal). Conscripts serving 12 months received the rank of staff sergeant and normally commanded units of half-platoon size. Conscript officers were normally 2IC of platoons or commanded them. They also served as company quartermasters (commanding the headquarters and support platoons), FIST commanders and pararanger squad leaders.
This system was made obsolete with the introduction of the term-based conscription service in 2006. Currently, every conscript is serving 11 months, regardless of rank/command responsibility.
[edit] Swedish Army ranks abroad
When serving abroad (on UN duty, or, later, as part of other peacekeeping/peaceforcing operations, such as ISAF), it was and is common practice to drop one level to ensure the high quality of the units. Conscript officers are seldom seen to lead platoons on international operations.
[edit] Överfurir and Fanjunkare
Överfurir and Fanjunkare, as is mentioned, remains an active rank which cannot presently be permanently appointed. However current appointees retain their rank until such time as they are promoted and in addition the ranks are in active use for temporary appointments on international missions. A specific instance where överfurir is used is Military Police (MP) team leaders which have completed the Swedish civilian national police academy. (See example in the photograph to the right).
[edit] Officer command structure
As regards commissioned officers in the Swedish Army, 2nd Lieutenants are to serve as platoon leaders or 2IC of platoons, Lieutenants as platoon leaders and, sometimes, as 2IC of a company. Captains command companies and fill most staff positions at battalion level. Majors are to serve as battalion commanders and battalion 2IC as well as on staff positions at brigade level. Above the rank of major things become more fluid. Colonels, however, commanded brigades.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links and references
- ^ a b The Facts 2005 (PDF). Swedish Armed Forces.
