# Chief of the Royal Danish Army

The Chief of the Army Command is the service chief of the Royal Danish Army. The current chief is Major general Peter Harling Boysen.

## History

From the time that absolutism was instituted in 1660 until around 1800, the Monarch had absolute control of the military. Commands of armies could be delegated to designated generals in times of war. As such, general commands would occasionally be established in Norway and the Duchies. During the Scanian War and the Great Northern War there were a total of 19 Supreme Generals, as the commanders served at the King's pleasure.
In the beginning of the English Wars, Crown Prince Frederick established general commands throughout Denmark. Initially, they had limited power and were planned to be disbanded after the war, it was however decided to keep them. Following the ascension of Christian VIII, the general commands' power and authority were expanded to exceed real military control. This led to a change in the overall command structure, as the field commanders and chiefs of the general commands held the same authority. This problem came to light during the First Schleswig War and the appointment of Hans Hedemann as the commander of the field army (Danish: Nørrejyske Armékorps). Since Hedemann did not have any control within general command areas, there were often conflicts between him and the chiefs of those commands. On 27 March 1849, Gerhard Christoph von Krogh who earlier had replaced Hedemann, was named supreme commander of "the entire active Army and over the fortifications and batteries in Jutland, on Als and on Funen as well as army magazines and depots set up in those areas". Additionally, it was stipulated that "the active army in all respects was to be independent of the General Commands, which [...] were to assist the army when it was either wholly or partly in the General Command District. While this arrangement ensured there would be no conflict between the supreme commander and the general commands, there were still no unified peacetime commander.
From 1855, there were 3 general commands; 1st General Command responsible for Zealand and surrounding islands, 2nd General Command for North Jutland, Funen and Schleswig, and 3rd General Command for Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg. Following the loss of the duchies in the Second Schleswig War, 3rd General Command was disbanded and 2nd General Command area was reduced. In the 1905 Defence Agreement, it was decided that the chief of the 1st General Command would act as Army Commander-in-Chief in case of war.
With the 1922 Defence Agreement, the Army was subjugated to large cuts. As a result, 1st and 2nd General Command were merged to create the General Command, and thereby creating the first unified peacetime army commander.
With the creation of the Defence Staff and Chief of Defence, the General Command was replaced by the Army Command. After the Army Command was subjugated to the Defence Command in 1976, the Army Command was replaced by the Army Staff. In 1982, the title of Chief of the Army was changed to become Inspector of the Army. Following the 1988 Defence Commission, it was decided that the Army Staff and the positions of Inspector would be removed and then create the Army Operational Command. Following the Danish Defence Agreement 2013–17, the Army Operational Command was disbanded and reorganised into the Army Staff. As part of the Danish Defence Agreement 2018–23, the Danish name was changed Army Command.

## List of chiefs
### Supreme Generals (1848–1932)
#### First Schleswig War

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| 1 | | Major general Gerhard Christoph von Krogh (1785–1860) | 27 March 1849 | 12 April 1849 | 16 days | |
| 2 | | Major general Frederik Bülow [da] (1791–1858) | 12 April 1849 | 24 May 1849 | 42 days | |
| (1) | | Major general Gerhard Christoph von Krogh (1785–1860) | 24 May 1849 | 2 July 1850 | 1 year, 39 days | |

#### Second Schleswig War

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| 1 | | de Meza, ChristianChristian de Meza (1792–1865) | 25 December 1863 | 6 February 1864 | 43 days | |
| – | | Lüttichau, MathiasMathias Lüttichau (1795–1870) Acting | 6 February 1864 | 28 February 1864 | 23 days | |
| 2 | | Gerlach, GeorgGeorg Gerlach (1797–1865) | 29 February 1864 | 4 July 1864 | 125 days | |
| 3 | | Steinmann, PeterPeter Frederik Steinmann (1812–1894) | 4 July 1864 | 1 November 1864 | 150 days | |

#### World War I

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| 1 | | Lieutenant general Vilhelm Gørtz [da] (1852–1939) | 1 August 1914 | 3 August 1917 | 3 years, 2 days | |
| 2 | | Lieutenant general August Tuxen [da] (1853–1929) | 6 August 1917 | 5 May 1918 | 272 days | [23][24] [25] |
| 3 | | Lieutenant general Ellis Wolff [da] (1856–1938) | 5 May 1918 | 31 March 1919 | 330 days | |

### Chief of the General Command (1923–1926)

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| 1 | | Wolff, EllisLieutenant general Ellis Wolff [da] (1856–1938) | 1 April 1923 | 19 October 1926 | 3 years, 183 days | |
| 2 | | Nyholm, AndersLieutenant general Anders Gjedde Nyholm (1861–1939) | 20 October 1926 | 31 July 1931 | 4 years, 303 days | |
| 3 | | With, ErikLieutenant general Erik With [da] (1869–1959) | 1 August 1931 | 1 December 1939 | 8 years, 122 days | |
| 4 | | Prior, WilliamLieutenant general William Wain Prior (1876–1946) | 1 December 1939 | 28 August 1941 | 1 year, 270 days | [31][33] [34] |
| 5 | | Gørtz, EbbeLieutenant general Ebbe Gørtz [da] (1886–1976) | 29 August 1941 | 30 September 1950 | 9 years, 32 days | |

### Chief of the Army Command (1950–1970)

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| 1 | | Gørtz, EbbeLieutenant general Ebbe Gørtz [da] (1886–1976) | 1 October 1950 | 3 July 1951 | 275 days | |
| 2 | | Møller, ErikLieutenant general Erik C.V. Møller [da] (1896–1972) | 4 July 1951 | 30 June 1957 | 5 years, 362 days | |
| 3 | | Hjalf, ViggoLieutenant general Viggo Hjalf [da] (1900–1985) | 1 July 1957 | 30 June 1960 | 2 years, 365 days | |
| 4 | | Jacobsen, ValdemarLieutenant general Valdemar Jacobsen (1902–1987) | 1 July 1960 | 31 July 1967 | 7 years, 30 days | |
| 5 | | Blixenkrone-Møller, OttoLieutenant general Otto Blixenkrone-Møller [da] (1912–2006) | 1 August 1967 | 31 December 1969 | 2 years, 152 days | |

### Chief of the Army Staff (1970–1990)

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| Chief of the Army (Chefen for Hæren) |||||||
| 1 | | Blixenkrone-Møller, OttoLieutenant general Otto Blixenkrone-Møller [da] (1912–2006) | 1 January 1970 | 30 November 1972 | 2 years | |
| 2 | | Vegger, ChristianMajor general Christian Vegger [da] (1915–1992) | 1 December 1972 | 1976 | 3–4 years | |
| 3 | | Boysen, HaraldMajor general Harald Martin Hermann Boysen (1922–2019) | 1976 | 30 June 1982 | 5–6 years | |
| Inspector of the Army (Inspektøren for Hæren) |||||||
| 1 | | Boysen, HaraldMajor general Harald Martin Hermann Boysen (1922–2019) | 1 July 1982 | 1987 | 4–5 years | |
| 2 | | Essemann, J.Major general Jørgen Christian Essemann (born 1933) | 1987 | 1990 | 2–3 years | |
| 3 | | Hillingsø, KjeldMajor general Kjeld Hillingsø (born 1935) | 1990 | 31 December 1990 | 0 years | |

### Chief of the Army Operational Command (1991–2014)

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| 1 | | Hillingsø, KjeldMajor general Kjeld Hillingsø (born 1935) | 1 January 1991 | 1993 | 1–2 years | |
| 2 | | Kandborg, Ole LarsenMajor general Ole Larsen Kandborg (born 1941) | 1993 | 1997 | 3–4 years | |
| 3 | | Grüner, GustavMajor general Gustav Grüner (born 1944) | 1997 | 1998 | 0–1 years | |
| 4 | | Helsø, Hans JesperMajor general Hans Jesper Helsø (born 1948) | 1998 | 27 September 2000 | 1–2 years | |
| 5 | | Scharling, JanMajor general Jan Scharling (born 1946) | 27 September 2000 | 27 September 2002 | 2 years, 0 days | |
| 6 | | Kiærskou, PoulMajor general Poul Kiærskou [da] (born 1954) | 27 September 2002 | 14 January 2009 | 6 years, 109 days | |
| 7 | | Bundsgaard, Niels HenrikMajor general Niels Henrik Bundsgaard (born 1957) | 15 January 2009 | 30 June 2010 | 1 year, 166 days | |
| 8 | | Rokos, AgnerMajor general Agner Rokos [da] (born 1958) | 1 July 2010 | 31 March 2013 | 2 years, 273 days | |
| 9 | | Ludvigsen, PerMajor general Per Ludvigsen [da] (born 1957) | 1 April 2013 | 1 October 2014 | 1 year, 183 days | |

### Chief of the Army Staff (2014–2018)

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| 1 | | Mathiesen, Hans-ChristianMajor general Hans-Christian Mathiesen (born 1965) | 1 October 2014 | 24 October 2018 | 4 years, 23 days | [53][54] [55] |
| – | | Christensen, Keld RobertColonel Keld Robert Christensen (born 1963) Acting | 24 October 2018 | 31 December 2018 | 68 days | |

### Chief of the Army Command (2019–present)

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
| – | | Christensen, Keld RobertColonel Keld Robert Christensen (born 1963) Acting | 1 January 2019 | 31 January 2019 | 30 days | |
| – | | Pedersen, KennethMajor general Kenneth Pedersen [da] (born 1968) Acting | 31 January 2019 | 1 September 2019 | 213 days | |
| 1 | | Lollesgaard, MichaelMajor general Michael Lollesgaard [de] (born 1960) | 1 September 2019 | 1 April 2021 | 1 year, 212 days | |
| – | | Nielsen, GunnerBrigadier general Gunner Arpe Nielsen [da] (born 1967) Acting | 1 April 2021 | 15 May 2021 | 44 days | |
| 2 | | Nielsen, GunnerMajor general Gunner Arpe Nielsen [da] (born 1967) | 15 May 2021 | 1 May 2024 | 2 years, 352 days | |
| 3 | | Major general Peter Harling Boysen (born 1963) | 1 May 2024 | Incumbent | 175 days | |