Mats Welff

Major General Mats Håkan Ingemar Welff (born 12 July 1947) is a retired Swedish Army officer. Welff began his military career as a second lieutenant in the Swedish Army in 1970 and steadily rose through the ranks. He attended the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College and served in different roles within the military, including commanding the Malmö Brigade and the 1st Nordic Battalion in UNPROFOR in the Balkans. Notably, he commanded the Halland Regiment and Halland Defence District as well as the Southern Army Division. Welff served as the Chief of Home Guard from 2000 to 2002. He retired as a major general in 2002 and subsequently worked as a regional director in the Scania Regional Council from 2002 to 2007.

Early life Welff was born on 12 July 1947 in in Landskrona, Malmöhus County, Sweden, the son of Ingemar Welff, and engineer, and his wife Maj (née Agnell). He grew up in the neighborhood of in Malmö and passed studentexamen in 1966.

Career Welff completed his officer's training at the Military Academy Karlberg in Stockholm in 1970 and was commissioned as an officer in the Swedish Army the same year and was assigned as a second lieutenant in the Göta Life Guards, where he served from 1970 to 1972. serving at the regiment until 1979. From 1993 to 1994, he also served as the commander of the 1st Nordic Battalion (Nordbat 1), which was part of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Macedonia. He then served as the commander of the Halland Regiment and the Defence District Commander of the from 1996 to 1998. He was also the commander of the Southern Army Division from 1998 to 2000,

Welff was promoted to major general and served as the Chief of Home Guard from 1 July 2000, to 30 September 2002. Welff retired from active service in 2002 and then worked as the regional director in the Scania Regional Council from 2002 to 2007. He was chairman of the National Swedish Defence Society (Allmänna försvarsföreningen) in Scania from 2012 to 2017.

Personal life In 1971, Welff married Birgitta Andersson (born 1947), the daughter of foreman Ivar Andersson and Greta (née Andersson).

Dates of rank 1970 – Second lieutenant 1972 – Lieutenant 1973 – Captain 1981 – Major 1986 – Lieutenant colonel 1989 – 1991 – Colonel 1995 – Senior colonel 2000 – Major general

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1992)