Knud Bartels

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Knud Bartels
General Knud Bartels NATO.jpg
General Knud Bartels
Born (1952-04-08) 8 April 1952 (age 72)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Allegiance  Denmark
Service/branch Flag of Denmark (state).svg Royal Danish Army
Years of service 1972–2015 (43 years)
Rank General
Awards Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog

25 Years Good Service Medal
Knight 1 st Class of the French National Order of Merit
Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honour
UN Medal, UNFICYP
NATO Medal, KFOR
The Home Guard Good Service Medal (Denmark)
The Reserve Officers Association of Denmark Medal of Honor (Denmark)
Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norway)

Greek Commendation Medal Star of Merit of Honour (Greece)

Knud Bartels (8 April 1952 in Copenhagen) is a Danish general, and was Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2011 to 2015. He was the Chief of Defence of Denmark between 2009 and 2011.

Chief of Defence

He was appointed as Danish Chief of Defence on 16 November 2009 (announced on 10 November). He succeeded admiral Tim Sloth Jørgensen who resigned after being involved in the controversy around a fake Arabic translation of Jæger – i krig med eliten, a book by a former special forces soldier which he tried to suppress.

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee

As chief of Defence (CHOD) and Denmark's former Permanent Representative on NATO's Military Committee, General Bartels was Denmark's candidate for the post as Chairman of NATO's Military Committee. The new chairman succeeded Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola (Italian Navy) on 1 July 2012. General Bartels' tenure as chief of defence was due to expire on 30 April 2012.

Although other Chiefs of Defense were considered for the top NATO job, in the final week before the vote the other candidates – as is the custom – sensing a lack of majority support for their own candidacy, withdrew from consideration so that the election of General Bartels could be unanimous when the Committee met to vote on Saturday 17 September 2011. The new chairman is appointed for a 3-year term, near the end of which he is normally approved for a one-year extension (serving a total of 4 years as chairman).

Upon his election on 17 September 2011, General Bartels announced that he planned to step-down as Danish CHOD on 30 April 2012 in order to prepare to take over as NATO Chairman effective 1 July 2012. However, following the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on 12 November 2011, Italy's new Prime Minister, Mario Monti, announced on 16 November that he had appointed Admiral Di Paola as Italy's new Defense Minister: at the time of this announcement, Admiral Di Paola was in Kabul, Afghanistan on NATO business. The admiral resigned as NATO Chairman on 18 November, turning over to his deputy Lieutenant General Walter Gaskin (U.S. Marine Corps), and flew to Rome.[1] It was then announced that General Bartels would take over in Brussels on 2 January 2012, even though the new Danish government had not yet selected his replacement as Danish chief of defense. He retired on 15 July 2015, after 43 years of service.[2]

Awards and decorations

DNK Order of Danebrog Grand Cross BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog
60px 25 Years of Good Service (Denmark)
DK HJV 25-aars tegn Ribbon.png The Home Guard 25 years Long Service Medal (Denmark)
RESOFF ASS R.png The Reserve Officers Association of Denmark Medal of Honor
Ordre national du Merite Officier ribbon.svg Knight 1 st Class of the French National Order of Merit
Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honour
US Legion of Merit Commander ribbon.png Commander Degree of the Legion of Merit Medal[3]
Den kongelige norske fortjenstorden kommandør med stjerne stripe.svg Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
60px Greek Commendation Medal Star of Merit of Honour
UNFICYP Medal bar.svg UN Medal for UNFICYP
60px NATO Medal for KFOR

External links

References

  1. "NATO News- Chairman of the Military Committee Farewells NATO"; NATO news release 18 November 2011; accessed 19 November 2011.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Chairman of the Military Committee discusses Euro-Atlantic Security Architecture and the importance of a solid Transatlantic Bond; NATO news release 04 October 2014; accessed 25 February 2015.
Military offices
Preceded by Chairperson of the Nato Military Committee
2011–2015
Succeeded by
Petr Pavel
Preceded by Chief of Defence (Denmark)
2009-2012
Succeeded by
Peter Bartram