Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Anders Lennart Grenstad (born 2 July 1958) is a retired

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

officer. He served in the Swedish Navy for 39 years. Grenstad's senior commands include

Inspector of the Navy The Inspector of the Navy (german: Inspekteur der Marine) is the commander of the Navy of the modern-day German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr. Since the various bodies responsible for the high command of the German Navy were merged in 2012, the In ...

, commanding officer of the Naval Tactical Command/Maritime Component Command, head of the Swedish delegation to the NNSC, Deputy Chief of Joint Operations and as head of the Swedish Veterans' Unit.

Career

Grenstad was born on 2 July 1958 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, the son of captain Lennart Grenstad and his wife Barbro (née Nilsson).

Career

Grenstad was commissioned as a naval officer in 1980 after graduating from the

Royal Swedish Naval Academy The Royal Swedish Naval Academy ( sv, Kungliga Sjökrigsskolan, KSS) was a school for officer training for the Swedish Navy, which operated in various forms between the years 1756 and 1987. History 1683–1791 In 1683, when the charter was issue ...

at Näsby Castle. Before that, Grenstad had completed a

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

trip with during 1977/1978. During his career as a naval officer he has held positions as corvette commander and commanding officer of the 3rd Surface Warfare Flotilla in

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Swed ...

. Grenstad did his staff course at the

Military Academy Karlberg Military Academy Karlberg ( sv, Militärhögskolan Karlberg, MHS K) is a Swedish military academy, since its inauguration in 1792 in operation in the Karlberg Palace in Solna, just north of central Stockholm. It is thus the oldest military academ ...

between 1994 and 1996. From January to April 2005 he was commanding officer of the

Naval Base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

at the

Karlskrona naval base The Karlskrona naval base ( sv, Karlskrona örlogsbas) is the largest naval base of the Swedish Navy. Located in Blekinge in southern Sweden, the base has close ties with the city of Karlskrona. It has an exceptionally well-sheltered location: arc ...

. On 1 July 2005, Grenstad was appointed

and was in this position also the commanding officer of the Naval Tactical Command from 2005 to 2007 and the

Maritime Component Command Maritime Component Command ( sv, Marinens taktiska stab, MTS) was a part of the Joint Forces Command of the Swedish Armed Forces. The staff was located at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm and is headed by the Chief of Navy. Th ...

from 2007 to 2011. He left the post on 24 February 2011 and took a position on 1 April 2011 as commanding officer of the Swedish delegation to the

Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) was established by the Korean Armistice Agreement signed 27 July 1953, declaring an armistice in the Korean War. It is, with the Military Armistice Commission, part of the mechanism regulating the r ...

(NNSC) in the

Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in ha ...

between

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He left the post in 2013 On 25 November 2013, Grenstad was assigned to the

Chief of Policy and Plans Department The Chief of Policy and Plans Department ( sv, Chefen för ledningsstabens inriktningsavdelning, C LEDS INRI) is the head of the Policy and Plans Department in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters#Defence Staff, Defence Staff at the Swedish Armed ...

at the

Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters The Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters ( sv, Högkvarteret, HKV) is the highest level of command in the Swedish Armed Forces. Established in 1994, its primary task is to command operations, but is also involved in areas such as military strategy, ...

. On 1 March 2014, Grenstad assumed the position of Deputy Chief of Joint Operations. During this time, in October 2014, the Swedish Navy carried out an in response to a foreign submarine incursion into Swedish territorial waters. On 1 February 2016, became Acting Chief of Joint Operations and he served in this position until 1 June 2016 when he assumed the position of director of the Swedish Armed Forces Veterans' Unit. He there in this position until he again was appointed Commanding Officer of the Swedish delegation to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) on 1 March 2017.

Personal life

On 21 July 1981, Grenstad got engaged to Anja van den Berg, a flight attendant from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and daughter of Frans van den Berg and his wife Annie (née Kitzen). They were married on 17 December 1982 in

Zevenbergen Zevenbergen is a Dutch city which is a part of the municipality of Moerdijk. Zevenbergen is located in the northwest of the province of North Brabant near Breda. History Zevenbergen (literal translation: Seven Mountains) is presumably named aft ...

, Netherlands. The civil wedding took place in Zevenbergen and then the church wedding with bridal mass took place in the Catholic monastery chapel Het Begijnhof in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

. They have two children. A daughter was born on 6 December 1983 at

birthing center.

Dates of rank

*1980 –

Sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

*1983 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

*1988 –

Lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

*1998 –

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

*2002 –

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

*2005 –

Rear admiral (lower half) A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only t ...

*2005 –

Rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Awards and decorations

Swedish

For Zealous and Devoted Service of the Realm ribbon

For Zealous and Devoted Service of the Realm For Zealous and Devoted Service of the Realm ( sv, För nit och redlighet i rikets tjänst) is a reward medal awarded to one who has been a Swedish State employee for 30 years and has shown "zealous and devoted service". As an alternative to the m ...

FMGUSM - Försvarsmaktens grundutbildningsmedalj (Sverige)

Swedish Armed Forces Conscript Medal Swedish Armed Forces Basic Training Medal ( sv, Försvarsmaktens grundutbildningsmedalj, FMGUSM), previously the Swedish Armed Forces Conscript Medal ( sv, Försvarsmaktens värnpliktsmedalj, FMvplSM) is a Swedish reward medal instituted by the Sw ...

Swedish Armed Forces International Service Medal The Swedish Armed Forces International Service Medal ( sv, Försvarsmaktens medalj för internationella insatser, FMintBM) is a Swedish reward medal instituted by the Swedish Armed Forces in 1991. The medal regulations has been revised twice, in 1 ...

* National Association of Naval Volunteer Corps Medal of Merit in silver (''Sjövärnskårernas Riksförbunds förtjänstmedalj i silver'') (2009) *

Coastal Ranger Association Medal of Merit (''Förbundet Kustjägarnas förtjänstmedalj'') in silver (13 December 2016)

Foreign

Commander of the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

Officer of the Legion of Merit * Ordre_national_du_Merite_Officier_ribbon

Officer of the National Order of Merit * Cheon-Su_Security_Medal_Ribbon

Order of National Security Merit The Order of National Security Merit (Hangul: 보국훈장) is one of South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land b ...

, Cheon-Su Medal * POL_Złoty_Medal_Wojska_Polskiego_BAR

Polish Army Medal The Polish Army Medal ( pl, Medal Wojska Polskiego) was established by Poland on 3 September 1999 to recognize service to the Polish Army by foreign civilians and military personnel. The medal is presented in three grades Gold, Silver, and Bronze b ...

in gold *

Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) The Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) ( eng, Meritorious Service Medal (Military)) is a decoration awarded to members of the Singapore Armed Forces for exceptionally distinguished performance or extraordinary service, or the furtherance of links wi ...

(2007) * Medal for Operations Abroad, Korea. Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC)

Honours

*Inspector of naval academic association Sjöholm *Member of the

Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences The Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Örlogsmannasällskapet, KÖMS), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. The Society is an independent organization and a forum for navy and defence i ...

(2000) *Member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Krigsvetenskapsakademien) is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden and was founded on 12 November 1796 by Gustaf Wilhelm af Tibell. The academy is an independent organization and a forum for m ...

(9 April 2007) *Chairman of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (26 September 2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grenstad, Anders Living people 1958 births Swedish Navy rear admirals Military personnel from Stockholm Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences Commanders of the Legion of Merit