The Chief of Defence of Denmark (), acting under the statutory responsibility of the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

, is the

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 ...

and commander of the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army (; ; ) is the land-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures, equipment and training methods ...

, the

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy (, ) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and ...

and the

Royal Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force () (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of the Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Armed Forces. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was made a separate service in 1950. I ...

. The Chief of Defence is the principal military adviser to the Minister of Defence and the head of the Defence Command. The Chief of Defence is the highest-ranking military officer on active duty in the Danish Armed Forces and has the rank of four-star

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

(or

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

if from the Navy) (OF-9), and supervises roughly 93% of all military spending in Denmark. The

Danish Home Guard The Danish Home Guard () (HJV) is the fourth service of the Danish Armed Forces. It was formerly concerned only with the defence of Danish territory, but since 2006, it has also supported the Danish military efforts in Afghanistan and Kosovo. Th ...

and

Defence intelligence Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies (MI6, GCHQ and MI5) in that it is an ...

is directly under the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, only in times of war will the Home Guard Command be transferred to the Defence Command, and thus come under the authority of the Chief of Defence. The job was traditionally rotated evenly between the army, navy and air force. This tradition was abandoned in 2012. There is no fixed length of time associated with the position, the contract however currently has to be renewed every 5 years.

List of officeholders

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2, ! rowspan=2, Portrait ! rowspan=2, Name
! colspan=3, Term of office ! rowspan=2, Defence branch ! rowspan=2, , - ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office , - , 1 , EJC Qvistgaard

Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard
, 1 October 1950 , 30 September 1962 , ,

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, , - , 2 , General Kurt Rudolph Ramberg

, 1 October 1962 , 30 November 1972 , ,

Air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, , - , 3 , , General

, 1 December 1972 , 30 April 1977 , ,

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, , - , 4 , , General

, 1 May 1977 , 30 September 1984 , , Air force , , - , 5 ,

, General
Otto K. Lind
, 1 October 1984 , 30 November 1985 , , Army , , - , 6 , Admiral Sven Eigil Thiede

, Admiral

, 1 December 1985 , 31 October 1989 , , Navy , , - , 7 , , General

Jørgen Lyng Jørgen Lyng (born 7 March 1934), is a retired Danish general and a former Chief of Defence (Denmark), Chief of Defence of Denmark. As a young soldier Lyng received training from Special Air Service, SAS, this training among other, enabled him t ...

, 1 November 1989 , 31 March 1996 , , Army , , - , 8 , , Admiral
Hans Jørgen Garde
, 1 April 1996 , 3 August 1996 † , , Navy , , - , style="background:#e6e6aa;", – , rowspan=2, Official Christian Hvidt portrait

, rowspan=2, General

, style="background:#e6e6aa;", 3 August 1996 , style="background:#e6e6aa;", 20 August 1996 , style="background:#e6e6aa;", , rowspan=2, Air force , style="background:#e6e6aa;", , - , 9 , 20 August 1996 , 30 September 2002 , , , - , 10 , , General

Hans Jesper Helsø Hans Jesper Helsø (born July 9, 1948), is a former Danish Chief of Defence (Denmark), Chief of Defence. Helsø served his conscription in 1968 and initially became sergeant and officer of the reserve. In 1974 he becomes lieutenant and served th ...

, 1 October 2002 , 31 July 2008 , , Army , , - , 11 ,

, Admiral
Tim Sloth Jørgensen
, 1 August 2008 , 4 October 2009 , , Navy , , -style="background:#e6e6aa;" , – , , Lieutenant general
Bjørn Bisserup
, 5 October 2009 , 15 November 2009 , , Army , , - , 12 , General Knud Bartels NATO

, General
Knud Bartels
, 16 November 2009 , 2 January 2012 , , Army , , -style="background:#e6e6aa;" , – , , Lieutenant general
Bjørn Bisserup
, 2 January 2012 , 20 March 2012 , , Army , , - , 13 , Peter Bertram

, General
Peter Bartram
, 20 March 2012 , 10 January 2017 , , Army , , - , 14 , , General
Bjørn Bisserup
, 10 January 2017 , 1 December 2020 , , Army , , - , 15 , , General
Flemming Lentfer
, 1 December 2020 , 3 April 2024 , , Air force , , - , style="background:#e6e6aa;", – , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, General

, style="background:#e6e6aa;", 3 April 2024 , style="background:#e6e6aa;", 1 June 2025 , style="background:#e6e6aa;", , rowspan=2, Army , style="background:#e6e6aa;", , - , 16 , 1 June 2025 , ''Incumbent'' , ,

Timeline

Notes

References

;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chief Of Defence (Denmark) Military of Denmark

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Chiefs of staff (Denmark)