Major General Dan ''Jonny'' Mattias Lindfors (born 25 February 1975) is a

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 ...

officer. Lindfors has served as commander of the Kings Guards Battalion in the Life Guards, of

Norrbotten Regiment The Norrbotten Regiment (), designation I 19, is a Swedish Army arctic armoured, light infantry and commando regiment that traces its origins back to the 19th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province of Norrb ...

, and as

Assistant Chief of Armed Forces Training & Procurement The Assistant Chief of Armed Forces Training & Procurement (, C PROD FPE/C FÖRBPROD, sometimes as ''Chefen för förbandsproduktion'') or Chief of Training () was a Two-star rank, two-star role within the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters#Trainin ...

. He assumed the position of Chief of Army on 18 June 2023.

Early life

Lindfors was born on 25 February 1975 in in

Jukkasjärvi Jukkasjärvi (; Sami: ''Čohkkiras'') is a locality situated in Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 548 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated at 321 meters elevation. The name is of Northern Sami origin, where ''Čohkkirasjávri'' ...

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County (, Meänkieli/, ) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf ...

, Sweden. He grew up 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 ...

in a family of

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

s. Lindfors wanted to be a fire engineer, sports teacher or architect as a youngster. He chose the military after his

mandatory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

Västernorrland Regiment The Västernorrland Regiment (), designation I 21, is a Swedish Army infantry unit which operated in various forms the years 1869–1983, 1991–2000 and from 2022. It is located in Sollefteå Garrison in Sollefteå with a detachment in Östersun ...

(I 21) in

Sollefteå Sollefteå () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Sollefteå Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. History The earliest written account on Sollefteå is found in a script dating back to 1270. During this time the name ...

Career

Lindfors was commissioned as an officer in 1998 and was assigned a second lieutenant to

Västerbotten Regiment The Västerbotten Regiment (), designations I 19, I XIX, I 20 and I 20/Fo 61, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province of Västerbott ...

(I 20) in

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

but was transferred to

Lapland Ranger Regiment The Lapland Ranger Regiment (), designations I 22, I 22/Fo 66 and I 22/GJ 66, was a Swedish Army light infantry regiment, one of the few new formations raised in the 20th century. The regiment was garrisoned in Lapland (Sweden), Lapland. The unit ...

(I 22) in

in connection with the Defence Act of 1997 which meant that I 20 was disbanded. He served in the

Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO-led international NATO peacekeeping, peacekeeping force and military of Kosovo. KFOR is the third security responder, after the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule of Law (European ...

(KFOR) in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

in 2001 and during the early 2010s, Lindfors served as major and commander of the 14th Military Police Company in the Life Guards in

Kungsängen Kungsängen () is a locality and the seat of Upplands-Bro Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It b ...

. He served in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in 2011. Lindfors has undergone higher staff training at the Swedish National Defence College, has a master's degree in military science, and has attended the Danish Defence Chief's Security Policy Course. Lindfors served in the Training & Procurement Staff at 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 ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and in the role was responsible for the planning of the war units' organization and growth until 1 October 2016 when he, as a lieutenant colonel, took up the post as commander of the Kings Guards Battalion (''Livbataljonen'') in the Life Guards. He left this post on 5 June 2017. Lindfors then attended the

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census ...

, United States for a year. On his return home in 2018, he was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the

from 1 October 2018. He was then at the disposal of the

Chief of Armed Forces Training & Procurement The Chief of Armed Forces Training & Procurement (, C PROD, sometimes as ''Chefen för produktionsledningen'' or ''Produktionschefen'') was a three-star role within the Swedish Armed Forces, responsible the Training & Procurement Staff. The Chi ...

at the

from 18 January 2021. He was promoted in 2021 to brigadier general and was appointed

in the Training & Procurement Staff in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters from 16 March 2021. As Assistant Chief of Armed Forces Training & Procurement, his task was to distribute both resources and assignments to

military branch Military branch (also service branch or armed service) is according to common standard a subdivision of the national armed forces of a sovereign nation or state. Types of branches Unified armed forces The Canadian Armed Forces is the unifie ...

es and units. Since 1 January 2023, Lindfors is at the disposal of the Chief of the Defence Staff. Lindfors succeeded Major General

Karl Engelbrektson Generalmajor (Sweden), Major General Karl Lorentz Engelbrekt Engelbrektson (born 12 February 1962) is a retired Swedish Army officer. He completed the Advanced Course at the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College in 1988 and later joined the Värmlan ...

as Chief of Army on 18 June 2023. At the same time, he was promoted to major general. 48 years old when he took office, he is the youngest person to hold the post of army chief in Sweden.

Personal life

Lindfors is married and has two children.

Dates of rank

*1998 – Second lieutenant *???? –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

*???? –

Captain 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 ...

*???? –

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

*???? – Lieutenant colonel *2018 –

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 ...

*16 March 2021 – Brigadier general *1 July 2023 – Major general

Awards and decorations

Swedish

* Swedish Armed Forces Conscript Medal * FMintBM_bar_-_no_2

Swedish Armed Forces International Service Medal The Swedish Armed Forces International Service Medal (, FMintBM) is a Swedish reward medal instituted by the Swedish Armed Forces in 1991. The medal regulations has been revised twice, in 1994 and 2012. The medal is awarded after at least 30 days ...

Medal of Merit * Swedish Reserve Officers Federation Merit Badge (''Förbundet Sveriges Reservofficerares förtjänsttecken'') *

Commemorative Medal

Foreign

Cross for the Four Day Marches The Cross for the Four Day Marches () is an official Dutch decoration awarded for successful participation in the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen, International Four Days Marches (''Vierdaagse'' in Dutch) held annually at Nijmegen, The ...

NATO Medal The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium. Ba ...

for

NATO Non-Article 5 medal for ISAF

Honours

*Member of the

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 ...

(2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindfors, Jonny 1975 births Living people Swedish Army major generals Chiefs of Army (Sweden) People from Jukkasjärvi Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences