Hans Jesper Helsø (born July 9, 1948), is a former Danish

Chief of Defence The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...

. Helsø served his conscription in 1968 and initially became sergeant and officer of the reserve. In 1974 he becomes lieutenant and served the following four years at

King's Artillery Regiment The King's Artillery Regiment ( da, Kongens Artilleriregiment, KAR) was an artillery regiment of the Royal Danish Army. History The ''Kongens Artilleriregiment'' was formed on 1 August 1982 by merging Kronens Artilleriregiment from Sjælsmark bar ...

. In 1982-83 he is - as a captain - at the General Staff Course in the United States. In 1990 he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel and come back to the artillery as Head of Department for a few years. After a short staff service at the Army Operational Command, he became Head of the

between 1994 and 1996. In 2000-02, he is Chief of the Army Operational Command, and then Chief of Operations and Planning Staffs until his appointment as Chief of Defence. In August 2008 Helsø reached the army's age-limit and was replaced by Tim Sloth Jørgensen. His service has been supplemented with a few international missions; first in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1979 and then

UNPROFOR The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...

in the Balkans in 1995. In 2002 - a few months before planned - Helsø had to step in as Chief of Defence as a result of Christian Hvidt's early resignation. His period as Chief of Defence is marked by the Defence moving from being a mobilization defense to be a conscription based professional defense, in which overseas missions form a significant part of the effort. The planning of this change occurred in the Defence's own management and is described in the episode ''K-notatet'' in the TV series ''Magtens Billeder''. After his time as Chief of Defense Helsø engaged in organizations related to the military, including as a member of Soldier Scholarship Award Committee and on the board of the YMCA Soldiers Mission. Helsø is married and has four children.

Awards and decorations

References

General Hans Jesper Helsø's CV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helso, Hans Jesper Living people 1948 births Danish generals Helso, H