Knud Bartels

Knud Bartels (born 8 April 1952) is a retired Danish general, who served as the Danish Chief of Defence between 2009 and 2011 and was Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2011 to 2015.

Early life Bartels was born in Copenhagen in 1952, and is the son of Eyvind Bartels, who served as Danish ambassador in OEEC and later Washington, Knud Bartels, therefore spent much of his childhood abroad, living many years in Paris. He joined the army in 1972, and went to Royal Danish Military Academy the following year. He succeeded admiral Tim Sloth Jørgensen who resigned after being involved in the controversy around a fake Arabic translation of Jæger – i krig med eliten, a book by a former special forces soldier which he tried to suppress.

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee As Chief of Defence and Denmark's former Permanent Representative on NATO's Military Committee, It was then announced that General Bartels would take over in Brussels on 2 January 2012, even though the new Danish government had not yet selected his replacement as Danish chief of defense. He retired on 15 July 2015, after 43 years of service.

Personal life Bartels is married to Belgian Inge Vansteenkiste, where they have 4 children, 2 from each's former marriage. After his retirement, he was the first person to be given the position of adjunct professor at the Royal Danish Defence College.

Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit

Greek Commendation Medal Star of Merit of Honour

UN Medal for UNFICYP

NATO Medal for KFOR