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 ...

Jens Gunnar Peter Nykvist (born 23 August 1968) is a

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. Nykvist senior commands include commanding officer of the 1st Submarine Flotilla 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 ...

. He served as the Chief of Navy from 2016 to 2020. Nykvist currently serves in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Career

Nykvist was born 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. Nykvist enlisted at Berga Naval Base south of

in 1987 and began his career on the submarine in 1988. He has served aboard three different submarine classes: ''Sjöormen'', ''Västergötland'' and ''Gotland''. Nykvist has been commanding officer of the submarines and . Nykvist was stationed at the

Naval Base Point Loma Naval Base Point Loma (NBPL) is located in Point Loma, a neighborhood of San Diego, California. It was established on 1 October 1998 when Navy facilities in the Point Loma area of San Diego were consolidated under Commander, Navy Region Southwest ...

from 2005 to 2007 when the submarine HSwMS ''Gotland'' was leased by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Back in Sweden, Nykvist studied at the

Swedish National Defence College The Swedish Defence University ( sv, Försvarshögskolan, FHS) is situated on Drottning Kristinas väg 37 in Östermalm, Stockholm City Centre, next to the campus of the Royal Institute of Technology. History Today's Swedish Defence University ...

in Stockholm from 2007 to 2009 and then served as Chief of Staff at the Submarine Flotilla. In 2011 he served in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters as Assistant Chief of Staff at the Joint Strategy and Operational Staff. In 2013 he graduated from the Naval Command College at the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Nykvist then became head of naval operations at the J3 Department of the Joint Strategy and Operational Staff. On 1 December 2013 he was promoted to captain and was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Submarine Flotilla. Nykvist was then the EU Naval Force Chief of Staff during

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the E ...

in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

from April until September 2015 and back in Sweden he continued being the commander of the 1st Submarine Flotilla until 2016. On 4 May 2016, Nykvist was appointed Chief of Navy and was promoted to rear admiral. He held the position for almost four years when he was succeeded by Rear Admiral

Ewa Skoog Haslum Rear Admiral Ewa Ann-Sofi Skoog Haslum née ''Skoog'' (born 26 March 1968) is a Swedish Navy officer. She currently serves as Chief of Navy. Early life Skoog was born on 26 March 1968 in Hov Parish, Kristianstad County, Sweden, and she grew ...

on 1 February 2020. Nykvist is from 1 February 2020 posted to the

. From September 2020, Nykvist serves as Swedish Military Representative to the EU and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. In March 2022, Nykvist was appointed co-chair of the NATO Partner Interoperability Advocacy Group. Nykvist also holds an MA in international relations from

Salve Regina University Salve Regina University is a private Roman Catholic university in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was founded in 1934 by the Sisters of Mercy and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. The university enrolls mo ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, USA.

Personal life

Nykvist is married to Ulrika and together they have two children.

Dates of rank

*2013 –

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 ...

*2016 –

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

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 * ESDP_Medal_EU_NAVFOR_ATALANTA_ribbon_bar

European Security and Defence Policy Service Medal – EUNAVFOR ATALANTA * Naval Cross of Merit (''Merivoimien ansioristin'')

Honours

*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 ...

(2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nykvist, Jens Living people 1968 births Swedish Navy rear admirals Members of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences Military personnel from Stockholm