Flottiljamiral

Rear admiral (lower half), abbreviated RAdm (Swedish: Flottiljamiral, Fljam; lit.'flotilla admiral') is a one-star flag officer in the Swedish Navy. Rear admiral (lower half) ranks above captain and below rear admiral. The rank is equivalent to brigadier general in the Swedish Army, Swedish Air Force and the Swedish Amphibious Corps.[3]

Rear admiral (lower half)
Flottiljamiral
Flag of the rear admiral (lower half), Swedish Navy.
Shoulder mark of a Swedish one-star rear admiral (lower half).
Sleeve insignia of a Swedish one-star rear admiral (lower half).
Country Sweden
Service branchSwedish Navy
AbbreviationFljam (Swedish),[1] RAdm (English)[2]
RankOne-star[lower-alpha 1]
NATO rank codeOF-06
Non-NATO rankO-7
Formation2000
Next higher rankRear admiral
Next lower rankCaptain[lower-alpha 2]
Equivalent ranksBrigadier general

History

In 1972, the so-called employment reform (tjänstställningsreformen) was implemented. In connection with the Swedish Armed Forces' increasing involvement in international operations with UN battalions and observers, it became increasingly clear that the Swedish service system did not quite correspond to what was common in other countries. A Swedish captain had basically the same training and service as a major in other countries' defense forces. In many cases, a Swedish colonel had tasks that in other armed forces were performed by brigadier generals. During the 1960s, this was solved many times by the Swedish officers being given a higher rank during their service abroad. The Supreme Commander suggested to the Swedish government that the Swedish service system should be changed, so that the captains would receive the rank of major and the majors would receive the rank of lieutenant colonel. He further proposed that a new general, brigadier general, be introduced. The government approved the Supreme Commander's proposal regarding captains and majors. No new general rank was introduced. The motivation for the government not following the Supreme Commander's proposal in this respect was that it did not want to contribute to an increase in the number of generals and admirals in the Swedish Armed Forces. However, the government decided to introduce the rank of kommendör av 1. graden (senior captain) for the navy and överste av 1. graden (senior colonel) for the army. The reform was implemented on 1 July 1972.[4]

During the 1990s, the Swedish government raised the issue of introducing a rank for professional officers called flotilla admiral and brigadier general, respectively, and stated there, among other things, the following. For a few years, the Swedish Armed Forces had in various ways announced that they wished to change the current rank level system for professional officers. The idea was that the rank of kommendör av 1. graden and överste av 1. graden would be abolished and instead replaced with the rank of rear admiral (lower half) and brigadier general. The reason for this was stated to be that then almost only Sweden did not have this rank. The increased international cooperation was thus considered to have been made more difficult. Denmark, Norway and Finland had recently introduced the brigadier general's rank. The government stated in the same bill that the issue should be prepared further before a position was taken on the proposal. In 1999, the government stated that the said rank should now be introduced and intended to make changes to the bill (1994:642) with instructions for the Swedish Armed Forces and the Officers Ordinance (1994:882) with effect from 1 July 2000.[5]

The rank was finally introduced in 2000 and replaced the old rank of kommendör av 1. graden. Anyone who, according to older regulations, held the rank of kommendör av 1. graden would continue to hold that rank until otherwise decided. Thus, the rank of kommendör av 1. graden was placed between the rank of rear admiral and the rank of captain.[3]

In everyday speech, rear admirals (lower half) are addressed as admirals.[6]

Promotion

Unlike rear admirals, vice admirals, major generals and lieutenant generals, which are appointed by the government, rear admirals (lower half) are appointed by the Swedish Armed Forces themselves.[7] The Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, or the person he or she decides, decides on promotion to rear admiral (lower half) according to Chapter 9, Section 1 of FFS 2018:7 (Swedish Armed Forces' regulations on promotion and constitution).[8]

Uniform

Shoulder mark

The shoulder mark of a Swedish rear admiral (lower half) contains a 45 mm galloon m/51 and one[lower-alpha 3] 25 mm star m/30 in silver embroidery on a white background.[9]

Sleeve insignia

A flag officer wears on the sleeves a 45 mm galloon (GALON M/51 45MM K) and a rank insignia (GRADBETECKNING M/02 TILL ÄRM FLOTTAN) (round loop, the Amphibious Corps has a pointed loop in form of a grenade). For a rear admiral (lower half), the loop is directly attached to the 45 mm gallon.[10]

Peaked cap

A flag officer wears as embellishments a gold embroidered oak leaf wreath (known as scrambled egg) on the visor of the peaked cap (skärmmössa m/48). It also fitted with a hat badge (mössmärke m/78 off för flottan) and with a strap in form of a golden braid.[11]

Side cap and winter hat

An officer wears a hat badge (mössmärke m/78 off) for the navy and another (mössmärke m/87 off) for amphibious units on the side cap (båtmössa m/48) and on the winter hat (vintermössa m/87).[12]

Personal flags

The command flag of a rear admiral (lower half) (and a brigadier general) is a double swallowtailed Swedish flag. In the first blue field 1 five-pointed white star.[13]

A flag officer who holds the position of Supreme Commander, Chief of Operations, Chief of Navy, Chief of Maritime Component Command or naval force commander, may carry an admiral flag on a car in which the commander in question travels in uniform. On airplanes/helicopters, rear admirals (lower half) (flag officers) may carry a command sign in the form of an image of an admiral flag.[14]

Footnotes

  1. Rear admiral was a one-star rank in the Swedish Armed Forces rank structure until 1972.
  2. Senior captain is the actually the next lower rank but its obsolete since the introduction of the rear admiral (lower half) rank in 2000.[3]
  3. One star on the shoulder mark was used for a rear admiral between 1878 and 1972.
  4. This one star flag was used for a rear admiral between 1905 and 1972.

References

Notes

  1. FFS 2019:6 2019, p. 3
  2. FM gemensamma identitet 2013, p. 66
  3. SFS 2000:556 2000, p. 2
  4. Palmgren 2016, p. 61
  5. "Regeringens proposition 1999/2000:30: Det nya försvaret" (in Swedish). Government of Sweden. 18 November 1999. pp. 111–112. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  6. Handbok: parad 6: traditionsvård : H PARAD 6 2016 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarsmakten. 2017. p. 31. SELIBR 22459606.
  7. "Förordning om ändring i förordningen (2000:555) med instruktion för Försvarsmakten" (PDF) (in Swedish). Swedish Code of Statutes. 20 June 2005. p. 2. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  8. FFS 2018:7 2018, p. 11
  9. Laestadius 2015, pp. 460–461
  10. Laestadius 2015, pp. 449–450
  11. Laestadius 2015, pp. 422–424
  12. Laestadius 2015, p. 424
  13. Braunstein 2004, p. 111
  14. Reglemente: parad 2: flaggor, fälttecken & heraldik : R PARAD 2 2017 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarsmakten. 2017. p. 22, 68. SELIBR 21483386.
  15. Handbok: parad 4: marinen : R PARAD 4 2017 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarsmakten. 2017. p. 14. SELIBR 21485968.

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