Lena Persson Herlitz

Major General Lena Maria Persson Herlitz (born 12 August 1967) is a Swedish Amphibious Corps officer. She currently serves as Chief of Policy and Plans Department at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm.

Lena Persson Herlitz
Colonel Persson Herlitz in 2013.
Birth name	Lena Maria Persson Herlitz
Born	12 August 1967
Allegiance	Sweden
Service/branch	Swedish Navy (Amphibious Corps)
Years of service	1991–present
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Swedish National Intelligence Cell Afghanistan Desk, MUST KS 21 M3 PLANS, Dep COS, Maritime Component Command Swedish Armed Forces International Centre Policy and Plans Department
Battles/wars	Kosovo War War in Afghanistan

Career

Persson Herlitz began her military career in Älvsborg Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 4) in Gothenburg in 1991.[1]

From 2004 to 2006, she attended the Swedish Defence University.[2] From 2008, Persson Herlitz served one month a year as Aide-de-camp to Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden.[3]

From August 2007 to April 2008, Persson Herlitz served as commander of the Swedish National Intelligence Cell in Afghanistan. Back in Sweden, she was appointed head of the Afghanistan Desk at the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST) in May 2008.[2] She served in this position until December 2009. In January 2010, Persson Herlitz was appointed commander of KS21, the Swedish contingent within Kosovo Force (KFOR) in Kosovo. She served there until October 2010, and in November the same year she was appointed head of M3 PLANS, Dep COS within the Maritime Component Command at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm. In March 2012, Persson Herlitz was deployed again to Afghanistan, this time as military advisor for United Nations in Kabul. She left this position in December the same year.[2]

On 1 January 2013, Persson Herlitz took command over the Swedish Armed Forces International Centre (SWEDINT).[4] She then served as military advisor at the Ministry of Defence from October 2014 to March 2017. In April 2017, Persson Herlitz assumed the position of head of Training Department at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters.[2]

On 1 February 2019, Persson Herlitz was appointed Deputy Chief of Policy and Plans Department in the Defence Staff (Ledningsstabens inriktningsavdelning, LEDS INRI) and promoted to Brigadier General.[5] She also served as military strategic operations manager. On 13 August 2020, the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces appointed Persson Herlitz to Chief of Policy and Plans Department. She will take up her new post on 10 September 2020 and will be promoted to Major General in connection with this. She will also be part of the Defence Board (Försvarsmaktsledningen, FML). She was succeeded on the Deputy Chief of Policy and Plans Department post by Brigadier General Johan Pekkari.[1]

Dates of rank

• 19?? – Fänrik
• 19?? – Lieutenant
• 19?? – Captain
• 19?? – Major
• 20?? – Lieutenant Colonel
• 2013 – Colonel
• 2019 – Brigadier General
• 2020 – Major General

Awards and decorations

• H. M. The King's Medal, 8th size gold (silver-gilt) medal worn on the chest suspended by the Order of the Seraphim ribbon (2014)[6]
• Swedish Armed Forces Conscript Medal
• Swedish Armed Forces International Service Medal (with award numeral 4)

References

1. "Lena Persson Herlitz ny chef inriktningsavdelningen" (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
2. "Lena Persson Herlitz". LinkedIn. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
3. Sandberg, Mattias; Petersson, Claes (21 September 2011). "Militärerna tar hand om gåvor & blommor". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 August 2020.
4. "Change of Command at SWEDINT". Swedish Armed Forces. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
5. "PÅ NY POST" (PDF). Försvarets forum: personaltidning för fast anställda och reservofficerare i svenska försvarsmakten (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarets forum (1): 9. 2019. SELIBR 4109339. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
6. "Sök ordens- och medaljförläningar" (in Swedish). Royal Court of Sweden. Retrieved 18 August 2020.