Historical ranks of the Swedish Armed Forces Ranks 1901 - 1925 . With the introduction of the conscript system to replace the Swedish allotment system there were initially no changes in the rank structure . Överbefäl " Officerare " Underbefäl " Underofficerare " " Manskap " Conscripted personnel . Conscripts served 8 – 9 months in the infantry and 12 months the cavalry and artillery . They were given the ranks of " menig " ( private ) . Later conscripts could also be trained for and given corporal ranks . Employed personnel . Employed personnel were divided into two groups , " överbefäl " and " underbefäl " . " Överbefäl " consisted of " Officerare " ( Officers ) who had a " studentexamen " ( high school degree ) and two years training at the Karlberg Military Academy . " Underbefäl " were divided into two groups , " underofficerare " and " manskap " ( enlisted men ) . The category " manskap " consisted of the ordinary privates and corporals . The status of the " underofficerare " was lowered with the introduction of consription for several reasons . The old system had consisted of the allotment regiments and enlisted troops . The enlisted troops had a much lower status than the allotment soldiers and the new conscription system copied more features from the enlisted part of the army than the allotment part . Earlier , the " underofficerare " were educated in their own national school and the allotment " underofficerare " were recruited directly , i . e . they did not have to serve as privates or corporals before they could advance to " underofficerare " . In the conscription army this practice was ended and like to enlisted troops pre 1901 the " underofficerare " were all recruited from the " manskap " category . For the enlisted men the start of the military career was as a private after they had signed a three - year contract . The first year was a training year ( " volontärskola " ) after which the most able privates could apply ( applications were accepted once a year ) for corporal school ( " korpralskola " ) . Those who were not admitted to the corporal school continued to serve as privates or lance corporal s ( " vicekorpral " ) , if they had special skills such as farrier . After their three - year service was finished they could enlist for additional periods , but if they had not been promoted before 28 years of age , they had to quit . Usually , soldiers who had failed to be accepted to corporal school after their first term ( i . e . been rejected three times ) would choose to serve for one or two years more at most , since the pay and conditions of privates were poor . The main reason such individuals did not quit directly after three years was that after five years of service ( later shortened to four ) the privates were eligible for extra benefits , e . g . , priority for employment in post offices , government - owned railways , police , etc . Those who were accepted to corporal school were promoted to " vicekorpral " and after one year of training promoted to " korpral " . Advancement to corporal meant that one had to serve one additional year ( i . e . , four years if the corporal did not re enlist ) . Corporals could apply to " furirskola " , a one year training after which they were promoted to " furir " . " Korpral " and " furir " worked as instructors and squad leader s and had a mandatory retirement age of 32 . Enlisted personnel did not receive pension after their service but they were entitled to severance pay upon discharge . A " furir ' who had graduated the " furirskola " with high marks could apply for " underofficersskola " , after which they were promoted to sergeant . After two years as sergeant they were given a " fullmakt " ( warrant ) and were guaranteed employment until retirement , after which they received pension . " Underofficerare " were responsible for the training of the conscripts and recruits and could also work as platoon leader s or deputy platoon leaders . Ranks 1926 - 1952 . Officerare Fältmarskalk General Generallöjtnant Generalmajor Överste Överstelöjtnant Major Kapten Löjtnant Underlöjtnant ( to 1937 ) Fänrik Underofficerare Förvaltare ( from 1936 ) Fanjunkare Sergeant Manskap " Underbefäl " " Menig " Employed personnel . In a reform 1926 the " Underofficer " kategory was split from " underbefäl " to form their own corps . A centralised education was reintroduced with " Armens underofficersskola " ( warrant officer school of the Army ) replacing the local education of " underofficerare " which had taken place since the introduction of the conscript army . In addition to military subjects , the school also gave the students a civilian secondary education . The " tjänsteställning " ( seniority ) of " fanjunkare " was raised to that equal of " underlöjtnant " . When " Förvaltare " was introduced in 1936 the rank was given a " tjänsteställning " equal to " löjtnant " . Thus many of the grievances regarding the lowered status in 1901 were addressed . Conscripted personnel . During World War II , there was a serious shortage of officers because of drastic cuts in the 1920s . It was therefore decided to introduce conscript warrant officers ( underofficerare ) . Later conscript officers were introduced with a ranks of fänrik to kapten . In 1949 the possibility to work as " underbefäl " ( manskap higher than menig ) on similar terms as officers and warrant officers was introduced . That is , not all corporals had to re - enlist regularly and quit while in their 30s but could work until retirement . Ranks 1953 - 1972 . Officerare Fältmarskalk General Generallöjtnant Generalmajor Överste ( with higher pay ) Överste Överstelöjtnant Major Kapten Löjtnant Fänrik Underofficerare Förvaltare Fanjunkare Sergeant Underbefäl Rustmästare ( from 1957 ) Överfurir Furir Korpral Vicekorpral Menig Employed personnel . In 1953 the enlistment system was abolished . Instead of starting a military career by enlisting for three years as a private , one was employed as junior NCO in the new " underbefäl " corps directly after the conscript service with the rank of " korpral " . ( this option was not open to all conscripts ) In a reform 1960 the " tjänsteställning " of " förvaltare " was increased to that between " kapten " and " löjtnant " and " förvaltare " were given the possibility to become company commander s . Ranks 1972 - 1983 . Regementsofficerare General Generallöjtnant Generalmajor Överste av 1 graden Överste Överstelöjtnant Major Kapten Löjtnant Kompaniofficerare Kapten Löjtnant Fänrik Plutonsofficerare Fanjunkare Sergeant Gruppbefäl Överfurir Furir Korpral Menig Employed personnel . In 1972 , the three corps were renamed ; officers who had studied at the Military Academy were now known as " regementsofficerare " and started at the rank of " löjtnant " instead of " fänrik " . The Army Warrant Officer School ( " Armens Underofficersskola " ) was renamed " Armens Kompaniofficersskola " ( Army Company Officer School ) and those who were trained there started with a rank of " fänrik " and were joined together with the former " underofficerare " in the category " Kompaniofficerare " ( Company officers ) . The former warrant officers were given ranks " fänrik " to " kapten " based on their time in service . " Kompaniofficerare " had the same rank insignia and " tjänsteställning " as ordinary officers , however they could not advance further in rank . Someone who had been a Sergeant for more than 7 years became " Kapten " but could not be promoted to Major . The " tjänsteställning " of the ranks " sergeant " and " fanjunkare " was reduced and the ranks were given to former " underbefäl " with long time in service in a new category " Plutonsofficerare " . Junior " underbefäl " were called " gruppbefäl " and used the ranks previously used by " underbefäl " . There was still several separate corps with different educational background , different duties and they did not use the same mess , even though they in some cases shared the same rank . Ranks 1983 - 2008 . Yrkesofficerare General Generallöjtnant Generalmajor Brigadgeneral ( from 2000 ) Överste av 1 graden ( no new appointments since 2000 ) Överste Överstelöjtnant Major Kapten Löjtnant Fänrik Värnpliktigt befäl Fanjunkare Sergeant Överfurir Furir Korpral Menig Employed personnel . In 1983 the Consolidated Officer System was introduced , in which the different corps were merged to one ( " Yrkesofficerare " ) and former " plutonsofficerare " were also given officer ranks . The separate paths were abolished and all officers had the same education and training and started as " fänrik " . Conscripted personnel . Conscript NCOs were continued and since all holders of the ranks were conscripts the name was changed to " Värnpliktigt befäl " ( Värnplikt = conscription ) No new conscript officers were trained after 1994 .