Chief of Defence (Denmark)
| Chief of Defence of Denmark
Forsvarschefen | |
|---|---|
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Chief of Defence Coat of Arms | |
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Standard of the Chief of Defence | |
| Ministry of Defence | |
| Member of | Defence Command of Denmark |
| Reports to | Defence Minister of Denmark |
| Formation | 27 May 1950 |
| First holder | Admiral Erhard Jørgen Carl Qvistgaard |
| Deputy | Per Ludvigsen |
| Website | Official Website |
The Chief of Defence of Denmark (Danish: Forsvarschefen), under responsibility of the Defence minister, is the Chief of Defence and commander[lower-alpha 1] of the Royal Danish Army, the Royal Danish Navy and the Royal Danish Air Force. The Chief of Defence is the military adviser to the Defence minister and head of the Defence Command.
The Chief of Defence is the highest-ranking military officer in Denmark and has the rank of four-star General (or Admiral if from the Navy) (OF-9),[lower-alpha 2] and supervises roughly 93% of all military spending in Denmark.[1]
The Danish Home Guard and Defence intelligence is directly under the Ministry of Defence, only in times of war will the Home Guard Command be transferred to the Defence Command, and thus come under the authority of the Chief of Defence.
The job is traditionally rotated evenly between the army, navy and air force. This tradition has been abandoned in 2009. There is no fixed length of time associated with the position, the contract however currently has to be renewed every 5 years.[2]
List of Chiefs of Defence
| № | Chief of Defence | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Admiral Erhard Jørgen Carl Qvistgaard | 1 October 1950 | 30 September 1962 | 11 years, 364 days | Navy | |
| 2 | General Kurt Rudolph Ramberg | 1 October 1962 | 30 November 1972 | 10 years, 60 days | Air force | |
| 3 | General Otto Blixenkrone-Møller | 1 December 1972 | 30 April 1977 | 4 years, 150 days | Army | |
| 4 | General Knud Jørgensen | 1 May 1977 | 30 September 1984 | 7 years, 152 days | Air force | |
| 5 | General Otto K. Lind | 1 October 1984 | 30 November 1985 | 1 year, 60 days | Army | |
| 6 | Admiral Sven Eigil Thiede | 1 December 1985 | 31 October 1989 | 3 years, 334 days | Navy | |
| 7 | General Jørgen Lyng | 1 November 1989 | 31 March 1996 | 6 years, 151 days | Army | |
| 8 | Admiral Hans Jørgen Garde [3] | 1 April 1996 | 3 August 1996 † | 124 days | Navy | |
| 9 | General Christian Hvidt | 20 August 1996 | 30 September 2002 | 6 years, 41 days | Air force | |
| 10 | General Hans Jesper Helsø | 1 October 2002 | 31 July 2008 | 5 years, 304 days | Army | |
| 11 | Admiral Tim Sloth Jørgensen | 1 August 2008 | 4 October 2009 | 1 year, 64 days | Navy | |
| – | Lieutenant General Bjørn Bisserup (Acting) | 5 October 2009 | 15 November 2009 | 41 days | Army | |
| 12 | General Knud Bartels | 16 November 2009 | 2 January 2012 | 2 years, 47 days | Army | |
| – | Lieutenant General Bjørn Bisserup (Acting) | 2 January 2012 | 20 March 2012 | 78 days | Army | |
| 13 | General Peter Bartram [4] | 20 March 2012 | Incumbent | 4 years, 262 days | Army | |
| 14 | Lieutenant General Bjørn Bisserup[6] | 10 January 2017[7] | - | - | Army |
Notes
- ↑ Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is the supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Danish Defence.
- ↑ Prince Henrik, Prince consort of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, holds this rank à la suite.
References
- ↑ "Defence Command Denmark". Retrieved May 26, 2014.
- ↑ /ritzau/ (10 November 2016). "Here is Denmark's New Chief of Defence". b.dk (in Danish). Berlingske. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- ↑ Died in a plane crash.
- ↑ http://www.fmn.dk/eng/news/Pages/NewChiefofDefense.aspx
- ↑ Therkildsen, Thomas Funding; Redder, Hans. "Here is the New Chief of Defence". tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ↑ Therkildsen, Thomas Funding; Redder, Hans. "Here is the New Chief of Defence". tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ↑ Ritzau. "Chief of Defence Stopping: I'm ready for a career change". tv2-dk (in Danish). TV2. Retrieved 10 November 2016.