Boden Garrison ( sv, Bodens garnison) is a major

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, located in and around Boden in

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares border ...

. The garrison has during the 20th century been, and still is, the largest garrison in Sweden, consisting of several units of the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the armed forces of Sweden, tasked with the defense of the country as well as with promoting Sweden's wider interests, supporting internati ...

as well as

Boden Fortress Boden Fortress ( sv, Bodens fästning) is a modern fortification, fortress consisting of several major and minor forts and fortifications surrounding the city of Boden, Sweden, Boden, Norrbotten, in northern Sweden. The fortress was originally int ...

History

Before the decision to construct

, there was no permanently stationed military unit in Boden. The main military presence were the four tenement soldiers of Bodens kompani (Boden Company)—part of

Norrbotten Regiment The Norrbotten Regiment ( sv, Norrbottens regemente), designation I 19, is a Swedish Army arctic armoured, light infantry and commando regiment that traces its origins back to the 19th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited fr ...

(I 19)—that lived in the locality. To provide men for the fortress, several units were either created in, or moved to the newly built garrison. The first unit garrisoned in Boden was Boden Engineer Corps, and engineering battalion, in 1905 (even though the official move was not made until in 1908). Soon to follow were infantry and artillery units that had wartime stationing in and around the fortress, and other supporting units. From 1910 and on, the garrison was developed from a pure fortress garrison to a training centre for troops serving in the whole of upper

Norrland Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administr ...

. More than 60 percent of Norrbotten Regiment were to be used for the field army in case of mobilisation right before the First World War. On 1 January 1914, 709 permanently employed soldiers and officers were stationed in Boden, and 4,710 conscripts were trained in the garrison during the year, this in a locality with a population of 4,952. During the Second World War, the mission of Norrbotten Regiment changed from manning the fortress to guarding the northern borders, and the infantry unit supposed to protect the fortress was instead

Värmland Regiment The Värmland Regiment ( sv, Värmlands regemente), designations I 22, I 2 and I 2/Fo 52, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traces its origins back to the 16th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province o ...

that would be transported from southwestern Sweden up to Boden in case of mobilisation. A further move from fortress garrison was taken in 1957 when the armoured unit

Norrbotten Armoured Battalion The Norrbotten Armoured Battalion ( sv, Norrbottens pansarbataljon), designation Pbat/I 19 or P 5, is a Swedish Army armoured battalion, one of the few new formations raised in the 20th century. It is still in active service, and is currently gar ...

was created. The first air unit was stationed in Boden already in 1916, when a small detachment of three aircraft and 29 personnel was moved there from the army air force station in

Malmslätt Malmslätt () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Linköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 5,214 inhabitants in 2010. Malmen Airbase and the Swedish Air Force Museum is located in the town. References External ...

. During the years, further detachments were located in Boden garrison from time to time, but it was not until 1959 that Boden got its own flying unit, through the helicopter unit Arméns helikopterskola. The massive cutdowns of the

in the 1990s and 2000s saw several old regiments disband, merge, or move, which affected Boden as well. Several independent regiments and battalions stationed in the garrison were reduced in size and merged into Norrbotten Regiment. Even after the cutdowns, Boden Garrison retained the position as the largest garrison in Sweden and the main training centre for conscripts. The garrison houses the only remaining artillery regiment of the armed forces and is the only remaining garrison housing more than one Swedish Army regiment.

Units

Commanders

As the garrison only became an actual organisation in the armed forces in 1975, there was no official garrison commander until then, however the commandants of

had extended powers over the military units stationed in the garrison. The position Commander Boden Garrison () has since been occupied by:

Citations

References

All sources in unless otherwise noted. ;Books * * * * * * * * * * * * ;News * ;Online * {{Boden Fortress