Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces
| Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces Överbefälhavaren |
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Command sign of the Supreme Commander
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| Swedish Armed Forces | |
| Reports to | The Government (in practice through the Minister for Defence) |
| Residence | Karlberg Palace |
| Seat | Lidingövägen 24, , Sweden |
| Nominator | Minister for Defence |
| Appointer | The Government |
| Constituting instrument |
Förordning (2007:1266) med instruktion för Försvarsmakten (current ordinance) |
| Precursor | None; there was no single career officer in charge of the all the forces before the creation of this position (all senior service commanders reported directly to the King and his Council). |
| Formation | 8 December 1939 |
| First holder | Olof Thörnell |
| Deputy | The Director-General |
| Website | Official website |
The Supreme Commander (Swedish: 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, though normally through the Minister for Defence. The primary responsibilities and duties of the Supreme Commander (and the charter for the Armed Forces) are prescribed in an ordinance issued by the Government.
The Supreme Commander 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). An exception was made 2009-2014 when Håkan Syrén was chairman of the European Union Military Committee.
The present Supreme Commander, General Micael Bydén, took office on 1 October 2015.
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 and Charles XII. 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.
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Wikipedia