Jarmo Ilmari Lindberg (born 10 June 1959) is a retired Finnish general and former
Chief of Defence from 2014 to 2019. Lindberg began his career as a fighter pilot, and was eventually promoted to Commander of the Finnish Air Force (in 2008) and then Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics and Armaments in the Defence Command (in 2012).
Career
Lindberg graduated from the Kuusaa gymnasium in
Kouvola
Kouvola () is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lappeenranta and northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is ...
in 1978 and completed his mandatory military service in
Training Air Wing, Finnish Air Force
The Training Air Wing ( fi, Lentosotakoulu, abbr. ''LentoSK'', sv, Flygkrigsskolan) was the Finnish Air Force pilot jet aircraft training school. It is located at Kauhava Airport in Kauhava, in Southern Ostrobothnia. The unit trains pilots for ...
in
Kauhava
Kauhava is a town and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, northwest of Helsinki and by the main railway from Helsinki to Oulu. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The pop ...
, and was active as a hobby pilot.
[Karjalainen, Hannu: Nopeasti ja korkealle. Savon Sanomat, 9.6.2009, s. 22.][Esko, Heikkinen: Harrastus auttoi huipulle. Ilmailu, 2015, 78. vsk, nro 1/2015, s. 26–29. Suomen Ilmailuliitto ry. ISSN 0019-252X.] In the 1970s he received the nickname "Charles" Lindberg, after the famous aviator
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
. He maintains an active Twitter account by that name.
In 1979, Lindberg enrolled in the flight cadet course and graduated in 1982, receiving a promotion to ''luutnantti'' (Lieutenant). He flew as an officer pilot, instructor and demo pilot in Karelia Air Command in 1982–87, flying Soviet
MiG–21BIS 1988 fighter planes,
and was promoted to flight commander in 1989. In 1993–94, Lindberg was the Chief of Pilot Training in the Finnish Air Force headquarters in Tikkakoski,
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...
. In 1995, American
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...
s were purchased to become the frontline fighter jets for the Finnish Air Force, replacing Saab Drakens and MiGs. Lindberg attended a seven-month US Navy F/A–18 Hornet training course in
Naval Air Station Lemoore
Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County, California, Kings County and Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, California, Lemoore Station, a censu ...
, California,
and participated in the acquisition, introduction and maintenance of the Hornets.
In 1995–1999 Lindberg was the Commander of Fighter Squadron 21 in
Satakunta Air Command. In 1999 Lindberg was promoted to the Air Force Command, working as a Deputy Chief of Staff Air Force Operations and Chief of Plans and Ops (A5/A3). After working as Assistant Chief of Finnish Defence Staff (Ops Division) in the Defence Command in Helsinki, he again served as a commander in
Lapland Air Command,
Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Perà ...
in 2005.
In 2005, he received promotion to brigadier general, and worked as the Deputy Chief of Operations in 2005–2008. In 2008–2012 he was the Commander of the Finnish Air Force, strongly promoting international cooperation. In 2012–2014, he returned to the Defence Command as Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics and Armaments. In 2014, General
Ari Puheloinen reached statutory retirement age, and Lindberg was appointed as the
Chief of Defence i.e. commander of the
Finnish Defence Forces
The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (whic ...
. He served in the position until August 2019, when he transferred to the reserve.
Promotions
* Lieutenant 1982
* First Lieutenant 1984
* Captain 1987
* Major 1992
* Lieutenant Colonel 1995
* Colonel 2001
* Brigadier General 2005
* Major General 2008
* Lieutenant General 2011
* General 2014
Honors
*
Grand Cross, Order of the White Rose of Finland
*
Cross of Liberty, 1st Class, Order of the Cross of Liberty
*
![FIN Military Merit Medal BAR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/FIN_Military_Merit_Medal_BAR.svg)
Military merit medal (''Sotilasansiomitali'')
*
Commander Degree, Legion of Merit (United States)
* Honorary doctorate,
University of Turku
sv, Ã…bo universitet
, latin_name = Universitas Aboensis
, image_name = University of Turku.svg
, motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle''
, established = 1920
, type ...
Criticism
In 2016, the National Audit Office (NAO) officially criticized Lindberg for frequently attending hunting and fishing events organized by military suppliers and contractors. Lindberg had spent 25 days a year on these trips. Many of them were without any official programme, and travel was paid by the organizer, which goes against the regulations of the FDF. NAO also found a liability in that this sort of culture for breaching regulations could spread to the rest of the organization; some evidence of other generals behaving similarly was found. Nevertheless, Assistant
Parliamentary Ombudsman Parliamentary Ombudsman ( fi, Eduskunnan oikeusasiamies, sv, Riksdagens ombudsman, is, Umboðsmaður Alþingis, da, Folketingets Ombudsmand, no, Sivilombudet) is the name of the principal ombudsman institutions in Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Nor ...
Maija Sakslin reviewed the case and decided not to prosecute, finding Lindberg's attendance of these social events acceptable.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindberg, Jarmo
Chiefs of Staff (Finnish Defence Forces)
1959 births
Living people
Finnish Air Force personnel
Finnish generals