Army Staff (Sweden)

Army Staff
Arméstaben (Ast)
Coat of arms of the Swedish Army Staff.
Active	1937–1994
Country	Sweden
Allegiance	Krigsmakten/Swedish Armed Forces
Branch	Swedish Army
Type	Staff
Garrison/HQ

Army Staff (Swedish: Arméstaben, abbreviated Ast) was the staff of the Chief of the Swedish Army. It was established in 1937. The Army Staff's duties included, among other things to assist the Chief of the Army with leadership of the Army's mobilization, training, tactics, organization, equipment and personnel to the extent that such activity was not directly related to operational activities, which was handled by the Defence Staff. In 1994 the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters took over the Army Staff's duties.

As of 1 July 1937 the position as Chief of the Army (Chefen för armén) was established. The Chief of the Army would under the King in Council exercise the highest military leadership of the country defence. At his side, the Chief of the Army had an Army Staff to assist the Chief of the Army in his duties. Within the Army Staff the work was initially conducted in the following departments: Office with Cash Management, Organization Department, Education Department and Personnel Department.

The inspection activities in the army were carried out by independent inspectorates, military branch inspectors and service branch inspectors with its own archiving, in the Military Archives of Sweden represented with own archives. Regarding the inspection activities for the Signal Corps and in the respect of the technical signal within the army in general, this was exercised by the staff of the Army Staff and the Chief of the Signal Corps.

The instruction for the Chief of the Army (SFS 1937/669) was replaced in 1942 by the King in Council's instructions for the Army Command (Arméledningen). The term Army Command was used as the official term from 1942 to 1948, and partly later, for the Chief of the Army with the Army Staff. The Army Command consisted of the Chief of the Army and the Army Staff, the Recruiting and Replacement Office (Centrala värnpliktsbyrån), the Army Inspection, the Chief of the Home Guard along with the Home Guard Staff, the service branch inspectors, the Chief of the Army directly subordinate to personnel corps chiefs and the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration.