Chief of Defence (Denmark)

The Chief of Defence of Denmark (Danish: Forsvarschefen), acting under the statutory responsibility of the Minister of Defence, is the chief of defence and commander of the Royal Danish Army, the Royal Danish Navy and the Royal Danish Air Force.[1] The Chief of Defence is the principal military adviser to the Minister of Defence and the head of the Defence Command.

Chief of the Danish Defence
Forsvarschefen
Coat of arms for the Chief of Defence
Standard of the Chief of Defence
Incumbent
General Flemming Lentfer
since 1 December 2020
Ministry of Defence
AbbreviationFC
Member ofDefence Command of Denmark
Reports to Minister of Defence
AppointerQueen of Denmark
advised by the Minister of Defence
Term lengthFive years
(renewable)
Constituting instrumentLBK Nr. 582 of 24/05/2017 §11–12
Formation27 May 1950
First holderAdmiral Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard
DeputyChief of the Defence Staff
WebsiteOfficial Website
General insignia used by CoD Otto K. Lind

The Chief of Defence is the highest-ranking military officer on active duty in the Danish Armed Forces and has the rank of four-star General (or Admiral if from the Navy) (OF-9),[2] and supervises roughly 93% of all military spending in Denmark.

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 was traditionally rotated evenly between the army, navy and air force. This tradition was 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.[3]

List of Chiefs of Defence
No. Portrait Chief of DefenceTook officeLeft officeTime in officeDefence branchRef
1
Qvistgaard, Erhard Jörgen CarlAdmiral
Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard
(1898–1980)		1 October 195030 September 196211 years, 364 days
Navy		[4]
2
Ramberg, Kurt RudolphGeneral
Kurt Ramberg
(1908–1997)		1 October 196230 November 197210 years, 60 days
Air force		[4]
3
Blixenkrone-Møller, OttoGeneral
Otto Blixenkrone-Møller
(1912–2006)		1 December 197230 April 19774 years, 150 days
Army		[4]
4
Jørgensen, KnudGeneral
Knud Jørgensen
(1919–1990)		1 May 197730 September 19847 years, 152 days
Air force		[4]
5
Lind, Otto KatharusGeneral
Otto K. Lind
(1920–2000)		1 October 198430 November 19851 year, 60 days
Army		[4]
6
Thiede, Sven EigilAdmiral
Sven Eigil Thiede
(1924–2005)		1 December 198531 October 19893 years, 334 days
Navy		[4]
7
Lyng, JörgenGeneral
Jørgen Lyng
(born 1934)		1 November 198931 March 19966 years, 151 days
Army		[4]
8
Garde, Hans JørgenAdmiral
Hans Jørgen Garde
(1939–1996)
[lower-alpha 1]		1 April 19963 August 1996 †124 days
Navy		[4]
–
Hvidt, ChristianLeutenant general
Christian Hvidt
(born 1942)
Acting		3 August 199620 August 199617 days
Air force		[5]
9
Hvidt, ChristianGeneral
Christian Hvidt
(born 1942)		20 August 199630 September 20026 years, 41 days
Air force		[4]
10
Helsø, Hans JesperGeneral
Hans Jesper Helsø
(born 1948)		1 October 200231 July 20085 years, 304 days
Army		[4]
11
Jørgensen, Tim SlothAdmiral
Tim Sloth Jørgensen
(born 1951)		1 August 20084 October 20091 year, 64 days
Navy		[4]
–
Bisserup, BjörnLieutenant General
Bjørn Bisserup
(born 1960)
Acting		5 October 200915 November 200941 days
Army		[4][6]
12
Bartels, KnudGeneral
Knud Bartels
(born 1952)		16 November 20092 January 20122 years, 47 days
Army		[4]
–
Bisserup, BjörnLieutenant General
Bjørn Bisserup
(born 1960)
Acting		2 January 201220 March 201278 days
Army		[7]
13
Bartram, PeterGeneral
Peter Bartram
(born 1961)		20 March 201210 January 20174 years, 296 days
Army		[8][9]
14
Bisserup, BjörnGeneral
Bjørn Bisserup
(born 1960)		10 January 20171 December 20203 years, 326 days
Army		[9][10]
15
Lentfer, FlemmingGeneral
Flemming Lentfer
(born 1964)		1 December 2020Incumbent65 days
Air force		[11]

Timeline
Flemming LentferBjørn BisserupPeter BartramKnud BartelsTim Sloth JørgensenHans Jesper HelsøJørgen LyngOtto K. LindErhard J.C. Qvistgaard

Notes
  1. Died in a plane crash.

References
  1. Frederiksen 2017.
  2. Defence Command Denmark 2017.
  3. /ritzau/ 2016a.
  4. Balsved 2013.
  5. Andersen 1996.
  6. /ritzau/ 2009.
  7. Kongehuset 2012.
  8. Ministry of Defence 2012.
  9. /ritzau/ 2016b.
  10. Therkildsen & Redder 2016.
  11. /ritzau/ 2020.
Bibliography
  • Andersen, Leif (20 August 1996). "Ny forsvarschef" (in Danish). Danske Nyheder. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  • Balsved, Johnny (27 September 2013). "Forsvarschefer". navalhistory.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  • Defence Command Denmark (16 January 2017). "The Chief of Defence". Defence Command Denmark. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  • Frederiksen, Claus Hjort (24 May 2017). Holm, Jon Bach (ed.). "LBK nr 582 af 24/05/2017". retsinformation.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  • Kongehuset (1 January 2012). "Gæsteliste ved Nytårskur og -taffel 1. januar 2012" (in Danish). Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  • Ministry of Defence (20 March 2012). "New Chief of Defence". fmn.dk. Danish Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  • Therkildsen, Thomas Funding; Redder, Hans (6 November 2016). "Her er den nye chef for Forsvaret". tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  • /ritzau/ (5 October 2009). "Bisserup vil ikke være forsvarschef". b.dk (in Danish). Berlingske. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  • /ritzau/ (10 November 2016a). "Her er Danmarks nye forsvarschef". b.dk (in Danish). Berlingske. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  • /ritzau/ (28 October 2016b). "Forsvarschef stopper: Jeg er klar til et karriereskifte". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  • /ritzau/ (9 October 2020). "Flemming Lentfer bliver ny chef for Forsvaret". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
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