Micael Bydén

General Micael Bydén
Bydén in 2016.
Birth name	Per Micael Bydén
Born	13 June 1964 Gnarp, Sweden
Allegiance	Sweden
Service/branch	Swedish Air Force
Years of service	1985–present
Rank	General
Commands held	Chief of Air Force (2012–15) Supreme Commander (2015–)

General Per Micael Bydén (born 13 June 1964) is the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, appointed on 11 September 2015. He was earlier senior commander in the Swedish Air Force. Bydén served as the Chief of Air Force between 2012 and 2015.

Biography

Bydén was born in Gnarp, Sweden, the son of Alvar and Gun Bydén.^[1] He did his mandatory military service at Älvsborg Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 4) in Gothenburg in 1982^[2] and then attended the Coastal Artillery and Navy Officers Academy in Gothenburg and Karlskrona from 1983 to 1985 and was commissioned as second lieutenant in the naval mine and boat service at Härnösands Coastal Artillery Regiment the same year.^[3] He completed the Air Force's basic pilot flight training at the Royal Air Force Flight Academy in Ljungbyhed from 1986 to 1987 and was then a fighter pilot at F 21 Luleå from 1989 to 1996. He flew SK 61, SK 60, AJS/SF/SH/JA 37 as well as HKP 6 totaling 1500 flight hours. Bydén completed the Royal Swedish Air Force Academy's (Flygvapnets krigsskola) general course in Uppsala from 1990 to 1991 and the higher course in 1992.^[3]

In 1991, Bydén was promoted to lieutenant and 1992 to captain and 1996 to major. He completed the Swedish National Defence College' tactical course in Stockholm from 1995 to 1996 and was Deputy Squadron Commander at F 21 Luleå from 1996 to 1997. Bydén completed the Swedish National Defence College' avanced command course from 1997 to 1999 and served as Assistant Air Attaché at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C. from 1999 to 2001.^[3] Bydén was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 2001 and served as Air Attaché at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C. from 2001 to 2002 and then as staff officer at the Air Force Branch at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm from 2002 to 2003. Bydén was commanding officer of the Swedish Air Force Flying Training School (Flygvapnets flygskola) in Linköping from 2003 to 2005 and deputy commanding officer of the Swedish Armed Forces Helicopter Wing (Helikopterflottiljen) in Linköping from 2005 to 2008.^[3]

He was promoted to colonel in 2006 and served as commanding officer of the Helicopter Wing from 2008 to 2009. Bydén was promoted to brigadier general in 2009 and served as head of the Air Force Training and Development Staff at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm from 2009 to 2011. In 2010 he completed the civil/military command course at Solbacka.^[3] Bydén was Chief of Staff of the Regional Command North of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan in 2011 before becoming the Inspector of the Air Force (renamned Chief of Air Force in 2014) and Air Component with the rank of major general in January 2012,^[3] a position he stayed in until being appointed Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces on 11 September 2015. He took office and was promoted to general on 1 October 2015.^[4]

Personal life

Bydén is married to Anita Carlman and together they have three children.^[3] He lived in Södertälje.^[5]

Awards and decorations

Bydén's awards:^[3]

• Medal for Zealous and Devoted service of the Realm (Medaljen för nit och redlighet i rikets tjänst)
• Swedish Armed Forces Conscript Medal
• Swedish Armed Forces Medal for International Service (Försvarsmaktens medalj för internationella insatser)
• National Association of the Air Force Associations Badge of Merit in Gold (Flygvapenföreningarnas Riksförbunds förtjänsttecken i guld)
• National Association of the Air Force Associations Badge of Merit (Flygvapenföreningarnas Riksförbunds förtjänsttecken)
• Helicopter Wing Gold Medal of Merit (Helikopterflottiljens förtjänstmedalj i guld)
• Home Guard's Silver Medal (Hemvärnets silvermedalj)
• Swedish Association of Reserve Officers Badge of Merit in Silver (Förbundet Sveriges Reservofficerares förtjänsttecken i silver)
• Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit with star
• Silver Cross of Honour of the Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr
• Grand Officer of the Order of Aeronautical Merit
• Officer of the Legion of Merit
• NATO's ISAF Medal

References

1. Tärnudd, Carole (2011-12-19). "Sunt Gnarpförnuft leder nye flygvapenchefen" [Common Gnarp sense leads the new Air Force Chief of Staff] (in Swedish). Helahalsingland.se. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
2. "Micael Bydén tillträder som Sveriges nya ÖB" [Micael Bydén take over as Sweden's new Supreme Commander] (in Swedish). Delegation of Sweden to NATO. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
3. "Supreme Commander General Micael Bydén" (PDF) (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. Retrieved 1 December 2016."Överbefälhavare General Micael Bydén" (PDF) (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
4. "Micael Bydén ny ÖB" [Micael Bydén new Supreme Commander] (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
5. Lagerkvist, Stina (11 September 2015). "Nye ÖB refererar till Södertälje i jobbet" [New Supreme Commander Nye refers to Södertälje at work]. Länstidningen Södertälje (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 December 2016.

External links

• Bydén's CV