Åke Mangård

Major General Åke Mangård (21 January 1917 – 24 March 1998) was a Swedish Air Force officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Göta Wing (F 9) from 1959 to 1960, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from 1960 to 1961 and commanding officer of the Fourth Air Group from 1964 to 1966. After retiring from the military in 1966, Mangård worked for North American Aviation in Los Angeles and for SKF in Gothenburg, Tokyo and Madrid. He settled in Madrid where he lived until his death in 1998.

Early life Mangård was born on 21 January 1917 in Västerås, Sweden, the son of Carl Mangård, an editor, and his wife Märtha (née Isaacsson). His brother was the judge Nils Mangård who late became chairman of the National Board for Consumer Complaints. He passed studentexamen in Västerås in 1936 and started his flight training at the Swedish Air Force Flying School in Ljungbyhed where he graduated at the top of his class as a fighter pilot.

Career Mangård was commissioned into the Swedish Air Force as a second lieutenant in 1939. He did not leave Ljungbyhed but stayed another couple of years and trained to become a flight instructor. In 1970, Mangård started working for SKF in Gothenburg. He then worked for SKF in Tokyo from 1971 to 1974 and in Madrid from 1974 to 1985 when he retired. Knight of the Order of Vasa Stockholm Defense Committee's silver medal (Stockholms försvarskommittés silvermedalj)

Foreign Portuguese Order of Military Merit French Air Force Aeronautical Badge Turkish Air Force Aeronautical Badge

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1959)