Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces
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The Supreme Commander (Swedish: Överbefälhavaren, ÖB) is the highest military officer in Sweden and the Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces in both peace-time and war-time. The Supreme Commander is normally the only active officer to hold the highest rank of the services (being a four-star General or Admiral).
In earlier times, the King commanded the forces himself (not seldom on location during war campaigns). This remained the case formally until the constitutional reform of 1975. In 1936 however, the office of Supreme Commander was designed to be created as necessary at war-time, and on December 1, 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 answered to the King until 1975, and after that to the Government.
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, the present, 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.
Lately there has also been some debate aiming to change the name of the office, and officially acknowledge that the Prime Minister is actually Supreme Commander during peace-time. This would bring the Swedish system closer to that of most other Western countries, but nothing has yet been decided on the matter.
[edit] List of Supreme Commanders of the Swedish Armed Forces
| # | 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 | 31 December 2009 (date of expiration) |
