Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Anders Jan-Eric Törnqvist (born 9 October 1959) is a retired

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

officer. Before his retirement in 2020, he served as the Chief of Joint Operations of the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

from 2016 to 2020 and as Commandant General in Stockholm from 2019 to 2020.

Career

Thörnqvist began his career at the age of fifteen in the Swedish Sea Cadet Corps. He was commissioned into the

in 1976 and served as a basic Private and Petty Officer afloat on various types of ships in the Navy, including Minesweepers, Destroyers, Fast Patrol and Picket Boats. In 1981, he entered the Royal Swedish Naval Academy and graduated in 1982. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant Junior Grade and moved immediately to complete the Principal Warfare Officer training course. Thörnqvist was promoted to Lieutenant in 1983. From 1982 to 1983 he was 2nd Officer on Mine Warfare Ship and Icebreaker HSwMS ''Thule'' and various Mine Countermeasures Wessels. In addition, he became a qualified mine clearance diver and he served as 1st Instructor at the Naval Mine Warfare School (''Minkrigsskolan''). He was commanding officer of the Diving Support Vessel from 1987 to 1988 and completed the Staff Course at the Swedish National Defence College in 1989. Thörnqvist was commander of the Naval MCM Divers Squadron (''Röjdykardivisionen'') from 1993 to 1996 and commanding officer of 411th MCM Divers Squadron and the Minehunter . From 1997 to 1999 he completed the Advanced Command Program at the Swedish National Defence College and was then Chief of Staff in the ''Visby''-class corvette Trials Unit at the 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla in Karlskrona from 1999 to 2001. Thörnqvist was promoted to commander and served as Staff Officer at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters, Joint Forces Development, Staff Department, Analysis Section from 2001 to 2004. In June 2004 he attended 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 associa ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. From 2005 to 2006 he headed the Forces Development, Plans and Policy Staff in the Joint Headquarters and from 2006 to 2009 Thörnqvist was commander of the 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla. From October to December 2009 he commanded the

Naval Base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to ...

. He was between 14 April and 14 August 2010 the EU Force Commander of EUNAVFOR Somalia - Operation ATALANTA and lead the multinational Force Headquarters on board the EU NAVFOR Swedish warship, . Thörnqvist was promoted on 1 March 2011 to Rear Admiral and was appointed Chief of Navy the same day and was in this position the head of the

Maritime Component Command Maritime Component Command (, 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. The Maritime Component Comman ...

. On 7 April 2016 he was promoted to vice admiral and appointed Chief of Joint Operations (''Insatschef'') of the Joint Forces Command (''Insatsstaben''). He assumed the position on 18 April 2016. In 2019, Jan Thörnqvist was appointed Commandant General in Stockholm. Törnqvist retired in 2020 and was succeeded as Chief of Joint Operations by Lieutenant General

Michael Claesson Michael Claesson (born 1 March 1965) is a Swedish Army officer. He currently serves as the Chief of Defence (Sweden), Chief of Defence since 1 October 2024. Claesson began his military career in 1984 as a tank commander. He advanced through vario ...

Personal life

Thörnqvist is married to Christina Martinsson and they have three children, Johan (born 1985), Henrik (born 1990) and Eric (born 2000).

Dates of rank

Dates of rank: *1982: Sub-lieutenant *1983:

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 ...

*1989-07-01: Lieutenant commander *2001-04-01:

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

*2006-09-14:

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 ...

*2010-01-12—09-30:

Rear admiral (lower half) A rear admiral in four of the uniformed services of the United States is one of two distinct ranks of commissioned officers; "rear admiral (lower half)," a one-star flag officer, and "rear admiral" (sometimes referred to as "rear admiral (upper ha ...

(constituted) *2010-01-01:

*2011-03-01:

Rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

*2016-04-18:

Vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Awards and decorations

Swedish

For Zealous and Devoted Service of the Realm ribbon

For Zealous and Devoted Service of the Realm * Swedish Armed Forces Conscript Medal * FMintBM bar

Swedish Armed Forces International Service Medal * Swedish Reserve Officers Federation Merit Badge in silver (''Förbundet Sveriges Reservofficerares förtjänsttecken i silver'') * National Association of Naval Volunteer Corps Medal of Merit in silver (''Sjövärnskårernas Riksförbunds förtjänstmedalj i silver'') *

4th Naval Mine Warfare Flotilla Commemorative Medal (''4. minkrigsflottiljens minnesmedalj'')According to the ribbon bars o
this picture
/ref> * Coastal Ranger Association Medal of Merit in silver (''Förbundet Kustjägarnas förtjänstmedalj i silver'')

Foreign

FIN_Order_of_the_Lion_of_Finland_2Class_BAR

Commander, First Class, of the

Order of the Lion of Finland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

(19 May 2016) * Ordre_national_du_Merite_Chevalier_ribbon

Commander of the National Order of Merit (2012) *

Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) The Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) () is a Awards and decorations of the Singapore Armed Forces, decoration awarded to members of the Singapore Armed Forces for exceptionally distinguished performance or extraordinary service, or the furtherance ...

(2014) *

ESDP_Medal_EU_NAVFOR_ATALANTA_ribbon_bar

European Security and Defence Policy Service Medal – EUNAVFOR ATALANTA

Honours

* Member 1380 of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences (2004). * 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 ...

, Section II, Naval Warfare Studies (2012) * Chairman of the Naval Officer's Society in Karlskrona (''Sjöofficerssällskapet i Karlskrona'') (2008) * Chairman of Stiftelsen Drottning Victorias Örlogshem (2006) * Member of the board of 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 ...

* Former member of the

Swedish Maritime Administration The Swedish Maritime Administration () is the government agency in Sweden which provides services to the transport sector by keeping the sea lanes open and safe. The agency is to a certain degree financed through fees levied on commercial shippin ...

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornqvist, Jan Living people 1959 births Swedish Navy vice admirals Naval War College alumni People from Karlskrona Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera)