Johan Hederstedt

Hederstedt was born in Nässjö parish, Sweden[1] and did his military service at Älvsborg Regiment (I 15) in Borås in 1963. He was educated at the Swedish Infantry Cadet and Officer Candidate School and became fänrik at Älvsborg Regiment after graduating from the Royal Military Academy in 1966.[2] Hederstedt underwent the Higher Staff Course at the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College from 1974 to 1976[3] and held aspirant positions in the central staffs and troop service at Älvsborg Regiment and Northern Småland Regiment (I 12) in Eksjö.[2] Hederstedt was serving at the Defense Staff's Operations Department, responsible of operational planning, from 1976 to 1981.[3] He served as chief of staff of the Swedish UN Battalion of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in Cyprus in 1981.[2] From 1981 to 1982 he was company commander in the Northern Småland Regiment and from 1982 to 1986 he served as the head of the Defense Staff's Quartermaster Department.[2][3] Hederstedt was battalion commander at Bohuslän Regiment (I 17) in Uddevalla from 1986 to 1988[3] when he was promoted to colonel.[2]

Hederstedt was appointed battalion commander of the Swedish UN Battalion of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Lebanon in 1988. In Lebanon, Hederstedt conducted many negotiations on various levels with several of the factions (e.g., PLO, PFLP, Hezbollah, Black September, Amal, etc. and Israeli supported Christian guerrilla parties).[4] He was commanding officer of the Life Guards Brigade (MekIB 1) at Svea Life Guards (I 1) in Kungsängen from 1988 to 1993.[2] Between 1989 and 1992 Hederstedt was also the Course Director for UN Nordic Staff officers courses dealing with guerilla warfare. He also conducted fact-finding trips to troublespots, including Cyprus, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and the Middle East (Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon).[4] Hederstedt was commanding officer of the Western Army Division in Skövde from 1993 to 1996.[2] Hederstedt was promoted to major general in 1996 and was appointed International Operations Commander at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters.[2]

In May 1997, Hederstedt led a Partnership for Peace exercise in Germany with 1,900 officers from 28 countries. In 1997 he also became military adviser to the Minister for Defence Björn von Sydow and in 1998 he was promoted to lieutenant general.[2] Hederstedt accompanied Björn von Sydow on several trips to Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Congo, Uganda where they met with government leaders and members of opposition parties.[4] During the 1990s, Hederstedt was also on the ground monitoring the Balkan conflict. He was responsible for the Swedish participation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo. There he met with the leaders of many guerrilla movements and studied their organisations and command structures. Hederstedt reported to the Swedish government from the ground about the war in 1998 and 1999.[4] Hederstedt was appointed Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces on 1 July 2000 and simultaneously promoted to general.[2]

During his time as Supreme Commander Hederstedt executed the largest transformation of the Swedish Armed Forces in modern time. This included a change from a defence of invasion to a more flexible response defence, a radical change including a strong internationalization of the whole defence.[3] During 2001 Hederstedt was President in the European Union Military Committee. He was in this capacity the chairman of the chiefs of defence of European Union. During this time the European Union military structure and capacity was formed and developed. During his time as Supreme Commander, he developed and set the basics of a new organisational and technical worked based structure of the Swedish defence. The change of the defence also concluded a complete integration of the military services. A total regional logistic solution was also phased out and was replaced by a solution based on a complete overview which created large rationality and further improvement.[3] Hederstedt left the position of Supreme Commander och retired from the military on 31 December 2003.[5]

Hederstedt became partner of Gaia Leadership in 2004. In December 2004 Hederstedt got the mission of the Swedish government to coordinate and organise the aid work in Thailand after the Tsunami disaster. The primarily responsibility was to send home deceased Swedish citizens.[3]

Hederstedt is married to Birgitta, a former planning director of the executive board of the National Board of Health and Welfare and former Regional Director of Halland.[6] Hederstedt has four grownup children from a previous marriage.[3]

• 1966 – Fänrik
• 1968 – Lieutenant
• 1972 – Captain
• 1976 – Major
• 1983 – Lieutenant Colonel
• 1988 – Colonel
• 1993 – Senior Colonel
• 1996 – Major General
• 1998 – Lieutenant General
• 2000 – General

• H. M. The King's Medal, 12th size gold medal worn around the neck on a chain of gold (2005)[7][8]
• 1st Class of the Order of the Cross of the Eagle (5 February 2004)[9]

• Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1998)[10]
• President of the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation[3]
• President of the Swedish Modern Penthalon Federation[3]