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 ...

Jonas Atle Wikström (born 28 June 1962) 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. Wikström has served as commander of the 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla, as Deputy Operations Commander of the European Union Naval Force Somalia in

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is an ongoing 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 ...

, and as head of the Defence Planning Section in the Defence Staff. He also served as defence attaché in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Early life

Wikström was born on 28 June 1962 in in

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of S ...

, Sweden.

Career

Wikström graduated from the

Royal Swedish Naval Academy The Royal Swedish Naval Academy (, KSS) was a school for officer training for the Swedish Navy, which operated in various forms between the years 1756 and 1987. History 1683–1791 In 1683, when the charter was issued that "those who were propo ...

in 1986 and was commissioned as a naval officer and was assigned as an acting sub-lieutenant to the navy the same year, where he was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1988. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1995 and served in the second half of the 1990s in the 2nd Mine Warfare Division. He served on ''fiskeminsvepare'' ("fishing minesweepers"), coastal minesweepers (''Hanö''-class and ''Arkö''-class), ''Landsort''-class, and ''Styrsö''-class mine countermeasures vessels. After promotion to commander, he served as an ADC to His Majesty the King

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

from 2001 and head of Marine 3 in 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 ...

in the

Joint Forces Command The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services. History Background In August 2010 the then Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, ask ...

in the

Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters The Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters (, HKV) is the highest level of command in the Swedish Armed Forces. Established in 1994, its primary task is to command operations, but is also involved in areas such as military strategy, the overall devel ...

from 2007 to 2009. In 2009, he was promoted to captain, whereupon he was commander of the 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla from 2009 to 2013. In 2012, he carried out the Swenex 12-2 military exercise where he was commander of Task Group 04 and was deployed aboard . Wikström was appointed head of J3 Operations in the Joint Forces Command (''Insatsstaben'', INSS) in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters from 1 October 2013. Wikström served as Operations Commander during a military operation to search for an allegedly damaged foreign submarine in

Kanholmsfjärden Kanholmsfjärden is a major bay in the Stockholm archipelago. In October 2014, it was the location where the Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Swed ...

in the

Stockholm archipelago The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...

in October 2014. Wikström served as Deputy Operations Commander of the European Union Naval Force Somalia in

with combating of

piracy off the coast of Somalia Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Indian Ocean, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. I ...

between 21 January 2016 and 29 June 2016. He then served until 2 October 2016 in the Joint Forces Command in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters, after which he attended the Oxford Changing Character of War Program in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

until 9 December 2016. Wikström was head of the Defence Planning Section (''Försvarsplaneringssektionen'') in the Policy and Plans Department (''Inriktning- och planeringsavdelningen'', LEDS INRI) in the Defence Staff in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters from 1 April 2017 (with appointment no later than 31 March 2020). Rear admiral (lower half) Wikström was appointed defence attaché at the

Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. The Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C., is Sweden's diplomatic mission in the United States. The Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C., is one of Sweden's largest diplomatic missions with more than fifty employees. Since 2023, the ambassador has ...

from 1 March 2021 and was simultaneously appointed rear admiral. Wikström retired in the fall of 2023 and has since been serving part-time as a reserve officer at the Headquarters. On 13 May 2024, he was elected as the new chairman of the Naval Officers' Private Support Fund (''Sjöofficerarnas Enskilda Understödsfond'', SEU), succeeding Major General Bengt Andersson.

Personal life

Wikström is married to Johanna. They have two children. He is a member of the non-profit organization Totalförsvar Öland (''Total Defense Öland'').

Dates of rank

*1986 – Acting sub-lieutenant *1988 – Sub-lieutenant *???? –

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 ...

*1995 – Lieutenant commander *???? –

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 ...

*2009 –

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 ...

*???? –

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 ...

*1 March 2021 –

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 ...

Awards and decorations

Swedish

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 () 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 medal one can choose a wristwatch or a crysta ...

* King Carl XVI Gustaf's Jubilee Commemorative Medal II (2013) * Seraphimerorden_ribbon

H. M. The King's Medal, 8th size gold (silver-gilt) medal worn on the chest suspended by the Order of the Seraphim ribbon (2007) * Swedish Armed Forces Conscript Medal *

4th Naval Mine Warfare Flotilla Commemorative Medal (''4. minkrigsflottiljens minnesmedalj'') etc.

Foreign

Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(14 January 2019) * ISL_Icelandic_Order_of_the_Falcon_-_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand Knight's Cross of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

(17 January 2018) * ESDP_Medal_EU_NAVFOR_ATALANTA_ribbon_bar

European Security and Defence Policy Service Medal – EUNAVFOR ATALANTA * PRT Military Order of Aviz - Commander BAR

Commander of the

Military Order of Aviz The Military Order of Aviz (), known previously to 1910 as the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (), and before 1789 as the Knights of Saint Benedict of Aviz () or ''Friars of Santa Maria of Évora'', is one of the four former ancien ...

(2 May 2008) etc.

Honours

*Member of the

Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences The Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences (, 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 issues. Fellowship is limited to 120 ...

(2009) *Honorary chairman of ''Kamratföreningen Flottans män''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wikström, Jonas 1962 births Living people Swedish Navy rear admirals People from Enköping Military attachés for Sweden Members of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences