Knud Bartels

Knud Bartels (8 April 1952 in Copenhagen)[2] is a retired Danish general, who served as the Danish Chief of Defence between 2009 and 2011 and was Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2011 to 2015.

Knud Bartels S.K.
Knud Bartels in 2012
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
In office 2 January 2012 – 26 June 2015
Preceded by	Walter E. Gaskin (acting)
Succeeded by	Petr Pavel
Danish Chief of Defence
In office 16 November 2009 – 31 December 2011
Preceded by	Bjørn Bisserup (acting)
Succeeded by	Bjørn Bisserup (acting)
Personal details
Born	8 April 1952 Copenhagen, Denmark
Spouse(s)	Unknown (died) Inge Vansteenkiste
Children	2
Parents	Eyvind Bartels (father)
Occupation	Adjunct Professor at Royal Danish Defence College[1]
Military service
Allegiance	Denmark  NATO
Branch/service	Royal Danish Army
Years of service	1972–2015
Rank	General
Awards	Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog 25 Years Good Service Medal Knight 1 st Class of the French National Order of Merit Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honour

Early life

Bartels was born in Copenhagen in 1955, and is the son of Eyvind Bartels, who served as Danish ambassador in OEEC and later Washington,[3] Knud Bartels, therefore spent much of his childhood abroad, living many years in Paris.[4] He joined the army in 1972, and went to Royal Danish Military Academy the following year.[5] He went on tour on the UN mission to Cypres in 1980, and became Denmark's Permanent Representative on NATO's Military Committee in 2006.[5]

Chief of Defence

He was appointed as Danish Chief of Defence on 16 November 2009 (announced on 10 November).[5] He succeeded admiral Tim Sloth Jørgensen who resigned after being involved in the controversy around a fake Arabic translation of Jæger – i krig med eliten, a book by a former special forces soldier which he tried to suppress.[6]

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee

As Chief of Defence and Denmark's former Permanent Representative on NATO's Military Committee,[5] General Bartels was Denmark's candidate for the post as Chairman of NATO's Military Committee. The new chairman succeeded Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola (Italian Navy) on 1 July 2012. General Bartels' tenure as chief of defence was due to expire on 30 April 2012.

Although other Chiefs of Defence were considered for the top NATO job, in the final week before the vote the other candidates – as is the custom – sensing a lack of majority support for their own candidacy, withdrew from consideration so that the election of General Bartels could be unanimous when the Committee met to vote on Saturday 17 September 2011. The new chairman is appointed for a 3-year term, near the end of which he is normally approved for a one-year extension (serving a total of 4 years as chairman).

Upon his election on 17 September 2011, General Bartels announced that he planned to step-down as Danish Chiefs of Defence on 30 April 2012 in order to prepare to take over as NATO Chairman effective 1 July 2012. However, following the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on 12 November 2011, Italy's new Prime Minister, Mario Monti, announced on 16 November that he had appointed Admiral Di Paola as Italy's new Defense Minister: at the time of this announcement, Admiral Di Paola was in Kabul, Afghanistan on NATO business. The admiral resigned as NATO Chairman on 18 November, turning over to his deputy Lieutenant General Walter Gaskin (U.S. Marine Corps), and flew to Rome.[7] It was then announced that General Bartels would take over in Brussels on 2 January 2012, even though the new Danish government had not yet selected his replacement as Danish chief of defense. He retired on 15 July 2015, after 43 years of service.[8]

Personal life

Bartels is married to Belgian Inge Vansteenkiste, where they have 4 children, 2 from each's former marriage.[9] After his retirement, he was the first person to be given the position of Adjunct Professor at the Royal Danish Defence College.[1]

Awards and decorations

	Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog
	25 Years of Good Service (Denmark)
	The Home Guard 25 years Long Service Medal (Denmark)
	The Reserve Officers Association of Denmark Medal of Honor
	Knight 1 st Class of the French National Order of Merit
	Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honour
	Commander Degree of the Legion of Merit Medal[10]
	Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
	Greek Commendation Medal Star of Merit of Honour
	UN Medal for UNFICYP
	NATO Medal for KFOR

Other Accoutrements
	Freefall Parachutist Badge
	Parachutist Badge (UK)
	CMC Badge

External links

• NATO Biography
• Narrative Curriculum Vitae
• NATO official YouTube channel Video

References

1. Forsvaret. "General Knud Bartels - new adjunct professor at the Defence Academy". fak.dk (in Danish). Forsvarsakademiet. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
2. "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). consilium.europa.eu. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
3. ErBj (17 July 2011). "Eyvind Bartels". denstoredanske.dk (in Danish). Gyldendal. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
4. NATO (25 January 2012). "NATO's Military Committee - General Bartels takes the lead". YouTube. NATO. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
5. Ritzau (10 November 2009). "New Chief of Defence is Knud Bartels". kristeligt-dagblad.dk (in Danish). Kristeligt Dagblad. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
6. Hvilsom, Frank; Vangkilde, Jesper. "Chief of Defence Steps Down". Politikken.dk (in Danish). Politikken. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
7. "NATO News- Chairman of the Military Committee Farewells NATO"; NATO news release 18 November 2011; accessed 19 November 2011.
8. Vinther, Lars Bøgh. "General Bartels på pension". Forsvaret (in Danish). Retrieved 22 September 2015.
9. Holtze, Lea (6 September 2014). "Behind the Tough Exterior is a True Friend". kristeligt-dagblad.dk (in Danish). Kristeligt Dagblad. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
10. Chairman of the Military Committee discusses Euro-Atlantic Security Architecture and the importance of a solid Transatlantic Bond; NATO news release 04 October 2014; accessed 25 February 2015.