Major General Bernt Nils Sune Östh (born 20 December 1936) was a

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

officer. Östh served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1990 to 1994 and as chief of the Joint Staff (''Gemensamma staben'') at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters from 1994 to 1997.

Early life

Östh was born on 20 December 1936 in

Värnamo Värnamo (), historically known as Wernamo, is a town in Jönköping County in the south of Sweden. It is situated on the river Lagan (Sweden), Lagan just north of the lake Vidöstern. It is the seat of Värnamo Municipality and has 19,822 inhab ...

Parish,

Jönköping County Jönköping County () is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in September 2017. The capita ...

, Sweden, the son of Martin Östh and his wife Astrid (née Willstrand). He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in 1956.

Career

Östh was commissioned as an officer in the

in 1959 with the rank of second lieutenant. He served as a combat control officer at

Norrbotten Wing Norrbotten Wing (), also F 21 Luleå, or simply F 21, is a Swedish Air Force wing (air force unit), wing with the main base located in Luleå Airport in northern Sweden. It is one of the three remaining wings in Sweden and currently has two Squa ...

(F 21) from 1959 to 1964 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1961, and served in the Air Staff from 1964 to 1965. Östh attended the ''Stridsledningslinjen'' ("Combat Control Program") at the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College from 1966 to 1968 and was promoted to captain in 1967. He was then posted to the Operations Command 3 in the Defence Staff from 1969 to 1972 when he was promoted to major. Östh was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1972 and was posted to the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College as a teacher of strategy between 1972 and 1975, and he served in ''Flygvapnets Södertörnsskolor'' (F 18) from 1975 to 1977, as head of the Swedish Air Force Tactical Command School (''Flygvapnets stridsledningsskola'', StrilS). He was head of the Operations Department in the Air Staff from 1977 to 1980 when he was promoted to colonel. In 1979, Östh attended the Swedish National Defence College. He was then head of the Study and Research Coordination in the Central Planning Unit (''Enheten för centralplanering'') at the

Defence Materiel Administration The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (, FMV) is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It is located in Stockholm. D ...

from 1980 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1984 he served as commanding officer of ''Flygvapnets Södertörnsskolor'' (F 18). Östh attended the Swedish National Defence College in 1984. On 1 April 1984, Östh was promoted to senior colonel and was appointed head of the Planning Section 3 (''Planeringssektion 3'') in the Defence Staff. He then served as Chief of Staff of Bergslagen Military District from 1989 to 1990. He was promoted to major general and appointed Chief of the Air Staff from 1 October 1990. Östh served in this position until 1994. His assumed the position of Chief of the Joint Staff (''Gemensamma staben'') at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters on 1 July 1994. He served in this position until 1997. Östh served as the last Chief of the Air Staff before the Air Staff was disbanded in 1994. On 16 January 2019, Östh was present and gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Air Staff.

Personal life

In 1961, Östh married Margaretha Johansson (born 1936), the daughter of Birger Johansson and Wendela (née Lundberg).

Dates of rank

*1959 – Second lieutenant *1961 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

*1967 –

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

*1972 –

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

*1972 – Lieutenant colonel *1980 –

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

*1 April 1984 –

Senior colonel __NOTOC__ Senior colonel is an officer rank usually placed between a regular colonel and a British brigadier or American brigadier general. Use Most western militaries tend to equate a senior colonel as being on the level of a "brigadier general ...

*1 October 1990 – Major general

Awards and decorations

Swedish_Air_Force_Volunteers_Association_Medal_of_Merit_ribbon

Swedish Air Force Volunteers Association Medal of Merit The Swedish Air Force Volunteers Association Medal of Merit ( or ''Flygvapenfrivilligas förtjänstmedalj'') is a Swedish reward medal established in 1962 by the Swedish Air Force Volunteers Association. The medal is awarded for exceptionally mer ...

in silver (1988)

Honours

*Member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences () 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 military (army and air force) and de ...

(1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Östh, Bernt 1936 births Living people Swedish Air Force major generals People from Värnamo Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences