Major General Jan Robert Andreas Andersson (born 22 July 1955) is a retired

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

officer. He served as

Inspector of the Air Force The Inspector of the Air Force () is the commander of the Air Force of the modern-day German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr. The Inspector is responsible for the readiness of personnel and materiel in the German Air Force, in that function reports ...

from 2003 to 2008.

Early life

Andersson was born in

Västervik Västervik is a city status in Sweden, city and the seat of Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden, with 36,747 inhabitants in 2021. Västervik is one of three coastal towns with a notable population size in the province of Småland. Cl ...

, Sweden. He served in the Army Ranger School in

Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...

, Lapland and 19-years-old, on his way home from Kiruna, Andersson flew for the first time. He studied to become an engineer but dropped out and enrolled at the

Swedish Air Force Flying School Swedish Air Force Flying School (), also F 5 Ljungbyhed, or simply F 5, is a former Swedish Air Force training wing with the main base located in Ljungbyhed in southern Sweden. History The moor at Ljungby was adopted for military use in 1658 by t ...

Ljungbyhed Ljungbyhed is a urban areas of Sweden, locality situated in Klippan Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden, with 2,046 inhabitants in 2010. History Ljungbyhed was and is located in Riseberga ''socken'' and was part of the Riseberga ''landskommun'' af ...

Career

After graduating, Andersson was commissioned as an officer and was assigned to

Norrbotten Wing Norrbotten Wing (), also F 21 Luleå, or simply F 21, is a Swedish Air Force wing (air force unit), wing with the main base located in Luleå Airport in northern Sweden. It is one of the three remaining wings in Sweden and currently has two Squa ...

(F 21). In the mid-1980s he was recruited to

Linjeflyg Linjeflyg was a Swedish domestic airline, formed in 1957 as a domestic subsidiary by Scandinavian Airlines System and Airtaco as well as by newspaper publishers Dagens Nyheter AB and Stockholms-Tidningen AB. History Airtaco (founded in August ...

as a commercial pilot but decided to stay in the air force. He underwent the management course at the Swedish National Defence College from 1987 to 1989. He flew

Saab JAS 39 Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen ( ; English: ''Griffin'') is a light single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with rela ...

for the first time on 23 June 1993. He was then chief of tactical evaluation of the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Andersson was commanding officer of the

Skaraborg Wing Skaraborg Wing (), also F 7 Såtenäs, or simply F 7, is a Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Lidköping in south-central Sweden. History The decision to set up the air wing was made in 1936, but disagreements in choosing a l ...

(F 7) from 1998 to 2001. He was then promoted to brigadier general and was appointed chief of staff and Deputy Chief of the Air Force Command in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

as well as Deputy Inspector General of the Air Force on 1 April 2001. Andersson took office as

in the

Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters The Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters (, HKV) is the highest level of command in the Swedish Armed Forces. Established in 1994, its primary task is to command operations, but is also involved in areas such as military strategy, the overall devel ...

on 1 January 2003. He was at the same time promoted to major general. Andersson served in this position until 2008 when he was succeeded by Anders Silwer and appointed military attaché in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He retired from the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

in 2011 and then hold a position as Senior Military Advisor at the Swedish Defence and Security Export Agency (''Försvarsexportmyndigheten'').

Awards and decorations

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences () is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden and was founded on 12 November 1796 by Gustaf Wilhelm af Tibell. The academy is an independent organization and a forum for military (army and air force) and de ...

Medal of Reward in gold, 8th size (12 November 2018)

Honours

*Member of the

(1999) *Chairman of Section III, Air Warfare Studies, of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (2014)

Personal life

Andersson is married to Gunilla, a teacher, and they have two children.

Dates of rank

*1998 –

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

*1 April 2001 – Brigadier general *1 January 2003 – Major general

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersson, Jan 1955 births Living people Swedish Air Force major generals People from Västervik Air attachés for Sweden Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences