Owe Wiktorin

General Owe Erik Axel Wiktorin (born 7 May 1940) is a retired Swedish Air Force officer. Wiktorin was Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces from 1994 to 2000.[1] His time as Supreme Commander was marked by major cutbacks of the Swedish defense.[2][3]

Owe Wiktorin
Birth name	Owe Erik Axel Wiktorin
Born	7 May 1940 Motala, Sweden
Allegiance	Sweden
Service/branch	Swedish Air Force
Years of service	1964–2000
Rank	General
Commands held	Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff Chief of the Defence Staff Southern Military District Supreme Commander
Awards	H. M. The King's Medal

Biography

Wiktorin was born on 7 May 1940 in Motala, Sweden, the son of Erik Wiktorin, a chief accountant, and his wife Esther (née Johnson).[4] Wiktorin was dreaming of becoming a pilot at a young age and he built aircraft models during when growing up in Askersund.[5] He passed his studentexamen in 1961. 191.5 centimeters tall, Wiktorin was almost too long for the fighter's cockpits,[5] but he was accepted was trained as a pilot at the Swedish Air Force Flying School in Ljungbyhed from 1961 to 1962 eventually becoming an officer in the Swedish Air Force in 1964.[4] Wiktorin was an attack pilot at Skaraborg Air Force Wing (F 7) from 1964 to 1969 and attack squadron commander at Skaraborg Air Force Wing from 1969 to 1971.[6] Wiktorin studied the higher course at the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College and served at the Planning Department at the Defence Staff from 1971 to 1973.[6] He then studied at the Air Command and Staff College in the United States from 1979 to 1980.[4]

He was head of the Planning Department at the Defence Staff from 1980 to 1983 and was deputy wing commander at Jämtland Air Force Wing (F 4) from 1983 to 1984 and head of Section 1 of the Air Staff from 1 October 1984 to 1986.[6][7] In 1986 he was promoted to major general and was appointed head of the Planning Management in the Defence Staff as well as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff.[6] In 1991 he became lieutenant general and Chief of the Defence Staff and in 1992 he was appointed military commander of the Southern Military District (Milo S), taking command on 1 October.[8] On 1 July 1994, he was promoted to general and became Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces.[9] When Wiktorin became Supreme Commander in 1994, a massive reorganization of the Swedish defense was carried out when 110 defence agencies were coordinated into one with control from the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm.[6] The military also underwent one of its greatest transformations ever, from the Cold War defence of invasions and major conscript armies to a more downturned flexible response defence.[5] His time as Supreme Commander was also marked by major cutbacks of the Swedish defense.[2] Wiktorin stayed in the position of Supreme Commander until 30 June 2000.[5]

In 1985 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences.[10] On 2 October 1998, Wiktorin became honorary member number 20 of the Lund Academic Officer Society (Lunds Akademiska Officerssällskap).[11] On 6 June 2000 he was awarded the H. M. The King's Medal of the 12th size in gold with chain[12] "for outstanding work for the Swedish defense." Wiktorin was chairman of the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management (Svenska Jägareförbundet) from 2003 to 2007 and then became an honorary member.[13]

Personal life

In 1965, Wiktorin married in Cajs Gårding (born 1943), the daughter of engineer Folke Gårding and Signe (née Domeij).[4] Together they have two sons, Martin and Björn.[6]

Dates of rank

• 1964 – Fänrik
• 19?? – Lieutenant
• 19?? – Captain
• 1975 – Major
• 19?? – Lieutenant Colonel
• 1983 – Colonel
• 19?? – Senior Colonel
• 1986 – Major General
• 1991 – Lieutenant General
• 1994 – General

Awards and decorations

Swedish

• H. M. The King's Medal, 12th size gold medal worn around the neck on a chain of gold (2000)[14]

Foreign

• Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog[5]
• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland[5]
• Commander of the Legion of Honour[5]
• 2nd Class of the Order of the Cross of the Eagle (2 February 2001)[15]

Bibliography

• Wiktorin, Owe (2000). Nya krav - nytt försvar [New requirements - new defense] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarsmakten.
• Wiktorin, Owe (1999). Från pengapolitik till säkerhetspolitik: Centralförbundet Folk och försvars konferens Sälen 24/1 1999 [From monetary policy to security policy: Central Association of People and Defense's conference, Sälen 24 January 1999] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarsmakten.
• Wiktorin, Owe (1998). En förändrad värld - ett förändrat försvar: Centralförbundet Folk och försvars konferens, Sälen 18/1 1998 [A changed world - a changed defense: Central Association of People and Defense's conference, Sälen 18 January 1998] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarsmakten.

References

1. "Tabell: Sveriges överbefälhavare". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 2010-05-10.
2. Wennman, Peter (14 November 1998). "Han har order att lägga ner". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 30 July 2015.
3. Lönegård, Claes (21 March 2011). "Soloåkaren". Fokus (in Swedish) (11). Retrieved 30 July 2015.
4. Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 1190. ISBN 91-1-914072-X.
5. Mortensen, Per (2000-05-06). "DN gratulerar: Stridspilot blir landsvägsriddare". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 April 2017.
6. Bollman, Ellinor (1994). "Owe Wiktorin - vår nye ÖB" [Owe Wiktorin - our new Supreme Commander] (PDF). Flygvapennytt (in Swedish). Stockholm: Flygstaben (3): 6–7. SELIBR 8257600.
7. "Utnämningar & förordnanden" (PDF). Flygvapennytt (in Swedish). Stockholm: Flygstaben (1): 24. 1984. ISSN 0015-4792. SELIBR 8257600.
8. "Utnämningar/förordnanden" (PDF). Flygvapennytt (in Swedish). Stockholm: Flygstaben (2): 39. 1992. ISSN 0015-4792. SELIBR 8257600.
9. "Sammanställning över utnämningar och nya befattningar" (PDF). Flygvapennytt (in Swedish). Stockholm: Flygstaben (1): 34. 1994. SELIBR 8257600.
10. Kjellander, Rune (1996). Kungl Krigsvetenskapsakademien: Svenska krigsmanna sällskapet (till 1805), Kungl Krigsvetenskapsakademien : biografisk matrikel med porträttgalleri 1796-1995 [Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences: Swedish soldier's Society (until 1805), Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences: Biographical roll with portrait gallery from 1796-1995] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Akad. p. 196. ISBN 91-630-4181-2.
11. "Försvarsutställning-98 -Ett vassare försvar-" [Defence Exhibit-98 -An edgier defence-] (PDF). Laoslund.se (in Swedish). Lunds Akademiska Officerssällskap. 2 October 1998. p. 1. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
12. "Owe Wictorin" (in Swedish). Kungahuset.se. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
13. Nilson-Dag, Christina (2007-05-07). "Torsten Mörner ny ordförande i Svenska Jägareförbundet efter Owe Wiktorin" [Torsten Mörner new chairman of the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management after Owe Wiktorin] (in Swedish). Mynewsdesk. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
14. "Sök medaljförläning" (in Swedish). Royal Court of Sweden. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
15. "Owe Erik Axel Wiktorin". Office of the President of the Republic. 2001. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

Further reading

• Christofferson, Lars, ed. (2000). Förändring, utveckling, nytänkande: Owe Wiktorin överbefälhavare 1994-2000 [Change, development, innovation: Owe Wiktorin Supreme Commander 1994-2000] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarsmakten.

External links

• Article on Wiktorin