Lena Persson Herlitz

Major General Lena Maria Persson Herlitz née Persson (born 12 August 1967) is a Swedish Amphibious Corps officer. Persson Herlitz began her military career in 1991 with the Älvsborg Coastal Artillery Regiment. After officer training, she served in the 5th Amphibious Battalion, including a deployment to Bosnia and Herzegovina (1997–1998). She later worked as adjutant to the regimental commander and became a company commander after completing staff training. In 2006, she joined the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST), focusing on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and later Afghanistan, where she led the Swedish National Intelligence Cell in Kabul. She also served as aide-de-camp to Crown Princess Victoria and commanded the Swedish contingent in Kosovo in 2010.

She held several leadership roles, including deputy chief of staff within the Maritime Component Command, and served as a UN military advisor in Afghanistan in 2012. In 2013, she became commander of SWEDINT, which under her leadership became the first NATO-certified training center of its kind. After serving as military adviser at the Ministry of Defence, she became head of Training at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters (2017), then Deputy Chief (2019) and later Chief (2020) of the Policy and Plans Department, being promoted to brigadier general and subsequently major general. She also served on the Defence Board. From June 2023 to April 2025, she headed the Swedish delegation to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) in Korea before being succeeded by Major General Fredrik Ståhlberg.

Career Persson Herlitz began her military career in Älvsborg Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 4) in Gothenburg in 1991. In 1989, all positions within the Swedish Armed Forces were opened for women, and the military interest in combination with the search for a challenge made her enlist in 1991. She came to serve in a mobile barrier company. In 1993–1994, she attended officer training at the Swedish Navy Officers’ College (Marinens officershögskola, MOHS). From 1995 to 1996 she was placed in the 5th Amphibious Battalion as an instructor for command and communication systems. From 1997 to 1998 Persson Herlitz served in the Swedish battalion BA09 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There she served as deputy chief of staff platoon; also driver and gunner of a 12.7 mm machine gun with one of the platoon's Patria Pasi armoured personnel carriers. Back in Sweden, she served as platoon commander in the 5th Amphibious Battalion. From 2008, Persson Herlitz served one month a year as Aide-de-camp to Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden. In January 2010, Persson Herlitz was appointed commander of KS21, the Swedish contingent within Kosovo Force (KFOR) in Kosovo. She served there until October 2010, and in November the same year she was appointed head of M3 PLANS, Deputy Chief of Staff within the Maritime Component Command at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm. In March 2012, Persson Herlitz was deployed again to Afghanistan, this time as military advisor for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in Kabul. She left this position in December the same year. SWEDINT is the Swedish Armed Forces' competence centers for integrated multinational staff training. During this time, SWEDINT became the first training center in the world to become NATO certified. There she worked mainly with issues with defence planning and international cooperation. On 1 June 2023, she succeeded Major General Anders Callert as head of the Swedish delegation to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) in Korea. On 28 April 2025, after almost two years in Korea, she was succeeded by Major General Major General Fredrik Ståhlberg.

The Swedish Armed Forces placed Persson Herlitz at the disposal of the Chief of the Defence Staff from 23 September 2025. On 1 November 2025, she assumed the position as head of the Defence Staff's Support Unit (Försvarsstabens stödenhet, FST STÖD). On 1 December 2025, Persson Herlitz was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary General Intelligence at the Joint Intelligence and Security Division at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. She will assume her new role after the summer of 2026.

Dates of rank 1994 – Second lieutenant 19?? – Lieutenant 19?? – Captain 2003 – Major 2006 – Lieutenant colonel 2013 – Colonel 2019 – Brigadier general 2020 – Major general

Awards and decorations

Swedish

50x50px H. M. The King's Medal, 8th size gold (silver-gilt) medal worn on the chest suspended by the Order of the Seraphim ribbon (2014)

Foreign

Medal of Honor of the Army of the Czech Republic