General Staff Corps (, Gst) was an administrative corps within 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 ...

between 1937 and 1990 and consisted of

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

officers chosen for duty in the Defence Staff and Army Staff. It replaced the earlier

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

History

The General Staff Corps was established on 1 July 1937. Besides adjutants and staff adjutants, it consisted of: 1

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 ...

(also Chief of the Army Staff), 1 colonel, 5 lieutenant colonels, 12 majors and 34

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. In order to gain entry into the General Staff Corps, first priority was to be top of the class at the then Royal Swedish Army Staff College and after that, 2.5 years of employment as a general staff

officer candidate Officer candidate or officer aspirant (OA) is a rank in some militaries of the world that is an appointed position while a person is in training to become an Officer (armed forces), officer. More often than not, an officer candidate was a civilia ...

in positions at different departments within the staff. Only after successful officer candidate service with approved credentials, the person concerned was able to assume the prestigious general staff insignia, which consisted of a pair of crossed batons. The officers in the

, which were considered to be exceptionally good, were placed in the General Staff Corps. The administrative corps' of the

were abolished by the end of January 1990, and then also the General Staff Corps.

Commanding officers

The commanding officer of the General Staff Corps was also Chief of the Army Staff.

References

{{Reflist Military administrative corps of Sweden Corps of the Swedish Army Military units and formations established in 1937 Military units and formations disestablished in 1990 Disbanded units and formations of Sweden