Chief of the Army Command | |
---|---|
Chef for Hærkommandoen | |
since 1 May 2024 | |
Royal Danish Army | |
Member of | Defence Command of Denmark |
Reports to | Chief of Defence |
Term length | No fixed length |
Precursor | Chief of the Army Operational Command |
Formation | 1 April 1923 (historical) 1 October 2014 (current) |
First holder | Ellis Wolff as Chief of the General Command |
Deputy | Deputy Chief of the Army Command |
Salary | kr. 90,000[a] per month (US$ 14,308) |
Website | www2.forsvaret.dk/haerstaben |
The Chief of the Army Command is the service chief of the Royal Danish Army. The current chief is Major general Peter Harling Boysen.
From the time that absolutism was instituted in 1660 until around 1800, the Monarch had absolute control of the military.[2] Commands of armies could be delegated to designated generals in times of war. As such, general commands would occasionally be established in Norway and the Duchies.[2] During the Scanian War and the Great Northern War there were a total of 19 Supreme Generals, as the commanders served at the King's pleasure.[3]
In the beginning of the English Wars, Crown Prince Frederick established general commands throughout Denmark.[b] Initially, they had limited power and were planned to be disbanded after the war, it was however decided to keep them.[4] Following the ascension of Christian VIII, the general commands' power and authority were expanded to exceed real military control.[5] This led to a change in the overall command structure, as the field commanders and chiefs of the general commands held the same authority. This problem came to light during the First Schleswig War and the appointment of Hans Hedemann as the commander of the field army (Danish: Nørrejyske Armékorps).[6] Since Hedemann did not have any control within general command areas, there were often conflicts between him and the chiefs of those commands.[7] On 27 March 1849, Gerhard Christoph von Krogh who earlier had replaced Hedemann, was named supreme commander of "the entire active Army and over the fortifications and batteries in Jutland, on Als and on Funen as well as army magazines and depots set up in those areas".[7] Additionally, it was stipulated that "the active army in all respects was to be independent of the General Commands, which [...] were to assist the army when it was either wholly or partly in the General Command District.[7] While this arrangement ensured there would be no conflict between the supreme commander and the general commands, there were still no unified peacetime commander.
From 1855, there were 3 general commands; 1st General Command responsible for Zealand and surrounding islands, 2nd General Command for North Jutland, Funen and Schleswig, and 3rd General Command for Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg.[8] Following the loss of the duchies in the Second Schleswig War, 3rd General Command was disbanded and 2nd General Command area was reduced.[8] In the 1905 Defence Agreement, it was decided that the chief of the 1st General Command would act as Army Commander-in-Chief in case of war.[8]
With the 1922 Defence Agreement, the Army was subjugated to large cuts. As a result, 1st and 2nd General Command were merged to create the General Command, and thereby creating the first unified peacetime army commander.[5][9]
With the creation of the Defence Staff and Chief of Defence, the General Command was replaced by the Army Command.[10] After the Army Command was subjugated to the Defence Command in 1976, the Army Command was replaced by the Army Staff.[10] In 1982, the title of Chief of the Army was changed to become Inspector of the Army.[11] Following the 1988 Defence Commission, it was decided that the Army Staff and the positions of Inspector would be removed and then create the Army Operational Command.[12][13] Following the Danish Defence Agreement 2013–17, the Army Operational Command was disbanded and reorganised into the Army Staff. As part of the Danish Defence Agreement 2018–23, the Danish name was changed Army Command.[14]
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | Major general Gerhard Christoph von Krogh (1785–1860) |
27 March 1849 | 12 April 1849 | 16 days | [15] | |
2 | Major general Frederik Bülow (1791–1858) |
12 April 1849 | 24 May 1849 | 42 days | [16] | |
(1) | Major general Gerhard Christoph von Krogh (1785–1860) |
24 May 1849 | 2 July 1850 | 1 year, 39 days | [17] |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | Christian de Meza (1792–1865) | 25 December 1863 | 6 February 1864 | 43 days | [18] | |
– | Mathias Lüttichau (1795–1870) Acting | 6 February 1864 | 28 February 1864 | 23 days | [19] | |
2 | Georg Gerlach (1797–1865) | 29 February 1864 | 4 July 1864 | 125 days | [20] | |
3 | Peter Frederik Steinmann (1812–1894) | 4 July 1864 | 1 November 1864 | 150 days | [21] |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | Lieutenant general Vilhelm Gørtz (1852–1939) |
1 August 1914 | 3 August 1917 | 3 years, 2 days | [22][23] | |
2 | Lieutenant general August Tuxen (1853–1929) |
6 August 1917 | 5 May 1918 | 272 days | [23][24] [25] | |
3 | Lieutenant general Ellis Wolff (1856–1938) |
5 May 1918 | 31 March 1919 | 330 days | [23][26] |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | Ellis Wolff (1856–1938) | Lieutenant general1 April 1923 | 19 October 1926 | 3 years, 183 days | [27][28] | |
2 | Anders Gjedde Nyholm (1861–1939) | Lieutenant general20 October 1926 | 31 July 1931 | 4 years, 303 days | [29][30] | |
3 | Erik With (1869–1959) | Lieutenant general1 August 1931 | 1 December 1939 | 8 years, 122 days | [31][32] | |
4 | William Wain Prior (1876–1946) | Lieutenant general1 December 1939 | 28 August 1941 | 1 year, 270 days | [31][33] [34] | |
5 | Ebbe Gørtz (1886–1976) | Lieutenant general29 August 1941 | 30 September 1950 | 9 years, 32 days | [35] |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | Ebbe Gørtz (1886–1976) | Lieutenant general1 October 1950 | 3 July 1951 | 275 days | [35] | |
2 | Erik C.V. Møller (1896–1972) | Lieutenant general4 July 1951 | 30 June 1957 | 5 years, 362 days | [36] | |
3 | Viggo Hjalf (1900–1985) | Lieutenant general1 July 1957 | 30 June 1960 | 2 years, 365 days | [37] | |
4 | Valdemar Jacobsen (1902–1987) | Lieutenant general1 July 1960 | 31 July 1967 | 7 years, 30 days | [38][39] | |
5 | Otto Blixenkrone-Møller (1912–2006) | Lieutenant general1 August 1967 | 31 December 1969 | 2 years, 152 days | [40] |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
Chief of the Army (Chefen for Hæren) | ||||||
1 | Otto Blixenkrone-Møller (1912–2006) | Lieutenant general1 January 1970 | 30 November 1972 | 2 years | [40] | |
2 | Christian Vegger (1915–1992) | Major general1 December 1972 | 1976 | 3–4 years | [41] | |
3 | Harald Martin Hermann Boysen (1922–2019) | Major general1976 | 30 June 1982 | 5–6 years | [42] | |
Inspector of the Army (Inspektøren for Hæren) | ||||||
1 | Harald Martin Hermann Boysen (1922–2019) | Major general1 July 1982 | 1987 | 4–5 years | [42] | |
2 | Jørgen Christian Essemann (born 1933) | Major general1987 | 1990 | 2–3 years | [43] | |
3 | Kjeld Hillingsø (born 1935) | Major general1990 | 31 December 1990 | 0 years | [44] |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | Kjeld Hillingsø (born 1935) | Major general1 January 1991 | 1993 | 1–2 years | [44] | |
2 | Ole Larsen Kandborg (born 1941) | Major general1993 | 1997 | 3–4 years | [45] | |
3 | Gustav Grüner (born 1944) | Major general1997 | 1998 | 0–1 years | [46] | |
4 | Hans Jesper Helsø (born 1948) | Major general1998 | 27 September 2000 | 1–2 years | [47] | |
5 | Jan Scharling (born 1946) | Major general27 September 2000 | 27 September 2002 | 2 years, 0 days | [47] | |
6 | Poul Kiærskou (born 1954) | Major general27 September 2002 | 14 January 2009 | 6 years, 109 days | [48][49] | |
7 | Niels Henrik Bundsgaard (born 1957) | Major general15 January 2009 | 30 June 2010 | 1 year, 166 days | [50] | |
8 | Agner Rokos (born 1958) | Major general1 July 2010 | 31 March 2013 | 2 years, 273 days | [51] | |
9 | Per Ludvigsen (born 1957) | Major general1 April 2013 | 1 October 2014 | 1 year, 183 days | [52] |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
1 | Hans-Christian Mathiesen (born 1965) | Major general1 October 2014 | 24 October 2018 | 4 years, 23 days | [53][54] [55] | |
– | Keld Robert Christensen (born 1963) Acting | Colonel24 October 2018 | 31 December 2018 | 68 days | [55][56] |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
– | Keld Robert Christensen (born 1963) Acting | Colonel1 January 2019 | 31 January 2019 | 30 days | [55][57] | |
– | Kenneth Pedersen (born 1968) Acting | Major general31 January 2019 | 1 September 2019 | 213 days | [58] | |
1 | Michael Lollesgaard (born 1960) | Major general1 September 2019 | 1 April 2021 | 1 year, 212 days | [59][60] | |
– | Gunner Arpe Nielsen (born 1967) Acting | Brigadier general1 April 2021 | 15 May 2021 | 44 days | [60] | |
2 | Gunner Arpe Nielsen (born 1967) | Major general15 May 2021 | 1 May 2024 | 2 years, 352 days | [61] | |
3 | Major general Peter Harling Boysen (born 1963) |
1 May 2024 | Incumbent | 205 days | [62] |