Ulf Henricsson

Henricsson was born on 1 February 1942 in Engelbrekt Parish, Stockholm, Sweden.[4] Henricsson graduated from the Military Academy Karlberg in 1969 and was commissioned as an officer at the Göta Life Guards with the rank of fänrik.[5] Henricsson attended the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College from 1979 to 1981 and served as a general staff officer and department chief in the Army Staff from 1981 to 1983. He was then company commander in the Svea Life Guards from 1983 to 1984 and commander of the Ground Operations Department in the staff of the Eastern Military Area from 1984 to 1986. Henricsson served as battalion commander in the Skaraborg Regiment (P 4) from 1986 to 1987 and from 1987 to 1990 he was system leader for Combat Vehicle 90 and the Swedish tank programme in the Army Staff. Henricsson was commanding officer of the Swedish Armoured Troops Combat School (Pansartruppernas stridsskola, PS) from 1990 to 1991 before being appointed brigade commander of the Södermanland Brigade in 1991.[6]

During September 1993 to April 1994 he served as commanding officer of the Nordic battalion (Nordbat 2), part of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), which consisted of the first Swedish battalion (BA01) to be deployed in Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War. The battalion consisted of 840 soldiers[7] in three mechanized infantry companies and one staff and tross company. Together with a Danish tank company (DANSQN) and a Norwegian field hospital (NORMEDCOY), it formed the battalion Nordbat 2. The battalion headquarters was in Živinice outside Tuzla. Its area of responsibility started north in the Posavina corridor 10 kilometres south of Brčko, to some 10 kilometres south of Vareš in central Bosnia.[8]

Henricsson and his soldiers became known for redrawing the rules of international peacekeeping by aggressively protecting civilians, tactics not popular among U.N. officials.[2] His robust approach impressed his UNPROFOR commander Michael Rose, the press corps, his Danish colleagues in Nordbat 2 and the local parties.[9] At home, his robust approach did not go down well with the traditionalists, who accused the Swedish contingent of being trigger-happy and too aggressive.[9] The result on the ground proved the critics wrong, however, and Henricsson's approach was eventually codified in the Swedish peace support operations doctrine published in 1997.[9]

In Vareš, Henricsson and his soldiers saved the lives of 200 men and boys detained in a school. [10] On 2 April 1996, Henricsson testified against Ivica Rajić in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for his involvement in the Stupni Do massacre.[8]

Back in Sweden, Henricsson continued commanding the Södermanland Brigade until 1994 and was then commanding officer of the Eastern Army Division from 1994 to 1999.[6] He was head of the OSSE Department for Regional Stabilisation in Sarajevo from 1999 to 2001.[11] Since 2002, brigadier Henricsson has been head of the Department of Leadership and Management at the Swedish Defence University.[3] On 22 February 2006, Henricsson was appointed as the new head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission effective from 1 April 2006, replacing Brigadier Hagrup Haukland.[12] He left the position on 1 September 2006.