Military ranks of the Swedish Armed Forces

Military ranks of the Swedish Armed Forces shows the rank system used in the Swedish Armed Forces today, as well as changes during the 20th century due to changes in the personnel structure.

Relative Rank and Grade
Relative rank and grade as used in the Swedish Armed Forces are shown below.

Distribution of personnel vs ranks
Since the end of the Cold War, Sweden has gradually abolished the mass-moblization system based on national service and universal military training of all young males, through a system of selective draft of an increasingly lower proportion of available manpower, to a system based on volunteer enlistment. Concomitant a large reduction of forces and capabilities have occurred, as well as a substantial increase of participation in "hot" international operations. Reflecting these new conditions a new personnel structure was introduces in 2009 (see historical section below), emphasizing junior leadership and specialist competence through the recreation of a NCO Corps. As a result, there is a large surplus of older soldiers of officer rank that either will have to be phased out through early retirement or converted into non-commissioned officers.

Ranks and Insignias
The table below shows ranks according to seniority, with the most senior to the right. OF denotes officers, OR other ranks (as per STANAG 2116). Those ranks were ratified by the supreme commander on October 24, 2008 and became effective as of January 1, 2009. Military ranks of (primarily) Great Britain have been used as a basis for harmonization with NATO.

Translation to English
This table shows the official translations of the Swedish ranks and their abbreviations.

Ranks before 1972
Note that the rank of Fältmarskalk (Field Marshal) was a de jure rank before the reform of 1972, even though it has not been used since 1824.

Historical perspective of relative rank and grade
When an army based on national service (conscription) was introduced in 1901 all commissioned officers had ranks that were senior of the warrant officers (underofficerare) and non-commissioned officers (underbefäl). In a reform 1926 the relative rank of the then senior warrant officer, fanjunkare, was increased to be equal with the junior officer rank underlöjtnant and above the most junior officer rank fänrik. In 1960 the relative rank of the warrant officers were elevated further so that

i. The lowest warrant officer, sergeant, had relative rank just below the lowest officer rank, fänrik.

ii. The second warrant officer rank, fanjunkare, had relative rank between fänrik and löjtnant

iii. The highest warrant officer rank, förvaltare, had relative rank between first lieutenant and captain.

In 1972 the personnel structure changed, reflecting increased responsibilities of warrant and non-commissioned officers, renaming the underofficerare as kompaniofficerare, giving them the same ranks as company grade officers (fänrik, löjtnant, kapten). Underbefäl was renamed plutonsofficerare and given the rank titles of sergeant and fanjunkare, although their relative rank were now placed below fänrik. The commissioned officers were renamed regementsofficerare, beginning with löjtnant. The three-track career system was maintained, as well as three separate messes.

A major change in the personnel structure in 1983 (NBO 1983), merged the three professional corps of platoon officers, company officers, and regimental officers into a one-track career system within a single corps called professional officers (yrkesofficerare). The three messes were also merged to one.

In 2008 the Swedish parliament decided to create a two-track career system with a category called specialistofficerare. When implementing the parliamentary resolution the Chief of Staff decided that some ranks in this category should, like the old underofficerare ranks in 1960-1972, have a relative rank higher than the most junior officers. The current relative ranks are shown in the table below. The one mess system is maintained.