Nils Sköld

Lieutenant General Nils Gunnar Sköld (23May 192117March 1996) was a Swedish Army officer. He served as Commanding General of the Eastern Military District and Commandant General in Stockholm from 1974 to 1976 and as Chief of the Army from 1976 to 1984.

Early life Sköld was born on 23 May 1921 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of the politician and former Minister for Defence Per Edvin Sköld and his wife Edit (née Persson). He was also brother to the Marshal of the Realm and the first female National Antiquarian Margareta Biörnstad.

Career Sköld was commissioned as an officer in 1943 and attended the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1948 to 1950.

He was chief of staff at the Western Military District (Milo V) from 1968 to 1969. Sköld was promoted to major general in 1969 and was head of the Army Materiel Administration (armématerielförvaltningen) at the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration and the Technical Staff Corps (Tekniska stabskåren) from 1969 to 1974. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1974 and was military commander at the Eastern Military District (Milo Ö) and the Commandant General in Stockholm from 1974 to 1976. As Chief of the Army he stressed the role of conscription in a major public defense of more traditional kind and laid great emphasis on issues concerning security policy and leadership in war. His defense doctrine was summed up in the concept of "tough guys" ("sega gubbar"), which accounted for an organization where every man was armed, and where a tenacious defense battle could be conducted over the entire Swedish territory.

He was an expert in the 1962 Defense Commission and in the 1965 Defense Investigation. He was interred on 7 May 1996 at the Kungsholm Cemetery in Stockholm.

Dates of rank 1943 – Second Lieutenant 19?? – Lieutenant 1954 – Captain 1960 – Major 1962 – Lieutenant Colonel 1964 – Colonel 1969 – Major General 1974 – Lieutenant General

Awards and decorations

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1960)