Nils Sköld

Nils Gunnar Sköld (23May 1921 – 17March 1996) was a Swedish military officer with the rank of lieutenant general. He was Chief of Army from 1976 to 1984.

Biography
Sköld was born in Stockholm, Sweden and was the son of the politician and former Minister for Defence Per Edvin Sköld and Edit, née Persson. He was also brother to the Marshal of the Realm Per Sköld and the first female National Antiquarian Margareta Biörnstad. He became an officer in 1943 and attended the War College from 1948 to 1950. Sköld became a captain of the General Staff in 1954 and served at the Army Staff Organization Department the same year. He served at the Defence Staff's Planning Department in 1957 and was company commander of the Swedish UN battalion in Gaza in 1959. Sköld served at the Norrbotten Regiment (I 19) the same year and was promoted to major in 1960 and was also teacher of strategy at the War College in 1960. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1962 and served at the Norrbotten Regiment (I 19) in 1963. Sköld was promoted to colonel of the General Staff in 1964 and served as section chief at the Defence Staff from 1964 to 1967 and was after that regimental commander of Hälsingland Regiment (I 14) from 1967 to 1968.

He was chief of staff at the Western Military Area (Milo V) from 1968 to 1969. Sköld was promoted to major general in 1969 and was head of the Army Materiel Administration (armématerielförvaltningen) at the Defence Materiel Administration and the Technical Staff Corps from 1969 to 1974. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1974 and was military commander at the Eastern Military Area (Milo Ö) and the chief commandant in Stockholm from 1974 to 1976. Sköld was then Chief of Army from 1976 to 1984.

Other work
Sköld became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 1960. He was an expert in the 1962 Defense Commission and in the 1965 Defense Investigation. Sköld was a member of the 1969 Defense Research Investigation. He was an expert at the Ministry of Defence from 1984 to 1987 and chairman of the Friends of the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology from 1986.

Personal life
In 1945, Sköld married Inger Rutqvist (born 1924), the daughter of the timber dealer John Rutqvist and Elma, née Wikström. He was the father of Per-Olov (born 1949) and Ingemar (born 1953). Sköld died in 1996 and was buried at Kungsholms Church in Stockholm.

Awards and decorations

 * Knight of the Order of the Sword
 * United Nations Emergency Force Medal