Jørgen Lyng (born 7 March 1934), is a retired Danish general and a former

Chief of Defence A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked Officer (armed forces), commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national ...

of Denmark. As a young soldier Lyng received training from SAS, this training among other, enabled him to help establish and complete training for

Jægerkorpset The Jaeger Corps also known as the Huntsmen Corps () is an elite special operations force of the Danish Armed Forces part of Special Operations Command, formerly of the Royal Danish Army, based at Aalborg Air Base. History The Jaeger Corps tr ...

. He was made Chief of Defence in 1989, only a week before the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

. In 1990, he order HDMS Olfert Fischer to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, in order to participate in the

First Gulf War The Gulf War (1990–1991) was an armed conflict between Iraq and a multinational military coalition led by the United States, triggered by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Persian Gulf War may also refer to: * Shatt al-Arab conflict ...

, thereby starting Denmark's more active foreign policy. This led to the creation of the

Danish International Brigade The Danish International Brigade (), short DIB (also sometimes known as the ''Danish Reaction Brigade'') was a Denmark, Danish military brigade. The political decision to form this brigade was conceived in the Danish Defence agreement 1992–1995 ...

in 1993 and participation in the NATO led in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the

Operation Bøllebank The Operation Bøllebank (English: ''Operation Bully Bashing'') is the name given to the military confrontation between Bosnian Serb military forces and Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish combat units composing the United Nations Protection Forc ...

became the first combat operation conducted by Danish Armed Forces since World War II. Since his retirement, Lyng received criticism for failing to cut spending of the Danish forces after the fall and the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, likewise his retirement party received criticism for its frivolous spending, which featured gun salutes from the navy, overhead flights by the Air Force, and entertainment by the

Guard Hussar Regiment Mounted Squadron The Guard Hussar Regiment Mounted Squadron (army), Squadron (, HESK), is part of the Guard Hussar Regiment (Denmark), Guard Hussar Regiment of the Royal Danish Army. The squadron provides mounted escorts for the Danish royal family and carries ou ...

for the 600 party guests.

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyng, Jørgen 1934 births Danish generals People from Aalborg 20th-century Danish military personnel Living people