Haakon Stephen Bruun-Hanssen (born 8 July 1960, in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

) is a Norwegian officer with the rank of

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 ...

and Inspector General of the Navy. He was appointed head of the operational headquarters of the Norwegian Armed Forces and

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 ...

from 2013 to 2020. He retired in August 2020, and

Eirik Kristoffersen Eirik Johan Kristoffersen (born 3 April 1969) is a Norwegian Army General who serves as the head of the Norwegian Armed Forces. He is a former Chief of the Norwegian Army and Norwegian Home Guard, and Chief of the Forsvarets Spesialkommando, Ar ...

was appointed as his replacement.

Military career

In 1980, Bruun-Hanssen started his military career with an officer course at KNM Harald Haarfarge and in 1981 he graduated as a second lieutenant after completion of Officer School of the Norwegian Navy. He studied at the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

in Laksevaag 1983. From 1987 to 1995 he served in the Submarine branch. From 1991 he served as

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

on the submarines ''Kobben'' of the ''Kobben'' class and of the ''Ula'' class. He has completed Naval Staff College, 1st Class, Dutch Staff College 2nd class, and all Total Defense courses at the Defence Academy. Haakon Bruun-Hanssen has been a staff officer at the Naval staff, and worked at Strategic plan office at the same place. In the years 2003-06 he was chief of the Naval operation centre at the Armed Forces' joint operational headquarters in Jåtta in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

. From 2006 to 2008 Bruun-Hanssen served as Chief of Staff of the Naval Staff, later as the Inspector General of the Navy. In 2011 Haakon Bruun-Hanssen was appointed to the post of Chief of the Armed Forces Joint Headquarters in Bodø. He has never participated in actual combat, but has been in staff management for Norwegian military units in combat. 21 June 2013, he was appointed

. He succeeded

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 ...

Harald Sunde in the autumn of 2013, after Sunde retired as chief of defence a few months before the end of his term and retirement. At the announcement of Bruun-Hanssen's appointment, Bruun-Hanssen stated that he would continue the renewal of the defense forces in the same direction as done in the last ten years. Bruun-Hanssen was at the appointment the first Chief of Defence from the Navy since 1994, when Admiral Torolf Rein stepped down as Chief of Defence after five years. In 2013, there were five applicants for the position. He assumed office 19 November 2013.

Awards

Bruun-Hanssen holds The Defence Service Medal with Laurel Branch, Defence Medal with one star and The Royal Norwegian Navy's Prowess Medal with three stars. In 2009 Bruun-Hanssen was appointed Grand Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

. In April 2011 Bruun-Hanssen was awarded the American decoration

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruun-Hanssen, Haakon 1960 births Living people Royal Norwegian Naval Academy alumni Royal Norwegian Navy admirals Chiefs of Defence (Norway) Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic