Gunnar Eklund

Military career

Eklund was born in Stockholm, the son of lieutenant Carl Eklund and his wife Sally (née Karlsson).^[1] As a child in a non-commissioned officer family in the Coastal Artillery, he moved between different garrisons from an early age, but he passed studentexamen in Stockholm in 1938.^[2] Eklund became fänrik in the Gotland Coastal Artillery Corps (Gotlands kustartillerikår, KA 3) in 1941^[3] and during his first years, he served in units with high preparedness in Stockholm's outer archipelago^[2] and he was promoted to lieutenant in 1943.^[3] He had a strong interest in technology^[2] and attended the Royal Swedish Naval Staff College from 1946 to 1947^[4] and passed its staff and artillery course from 1947 to 1949 and was promoted to captain in 1948. He served in the Defence Staff and was teacher at the Royal Swedish Naval Staff College from 1949 to 1954 as well as served as acting teacher at the Swedish National Defence College from 1952 to 1954.^[4] Eklund was a teacher of tactics at the Royal Swedish Naval Staff College from 1954 to 1958^[4] and attended the Swedish Infantry Combat School in 1957 and was promoted to major the same year.^[1]

Eklund was head of the Defence Staff's Research Department from 1958 to 1961^[1] and attended the Swedish National Defence College in 1959.^[4] In 1960 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was then chief of staff of the Inspector of the Coastal Artillery from 1961 to 1962 when he promoted to colonel.^[1] Eklund was appointed commanding officer of the Gotland Coastal Artillery Defense (Gotlands kustartilleriförsvar, KA 3) in 1962 and two years later in 1964 he was appointed commanding officer of the Naval Command North (Marinkommando Nord), Norrland Coastal Artillery Defense (Norrlands kustartilleriförsvar) and Härnösand Coastal Artillery Corps (Härnösands kustartillerikår, KA 5).^[1]

He was promoted to colonel 1st class in 1966^[3] and was chief of staff of the Lower Norrland Military Area (Milo NN) from 1966 to 1970 and was promoted to major general in 1970 and appointed chief of the Naval Staff.^[5] Eklund was chief of the Defence Staff from 1972 to 1976 and then military commander of the Eastern Military Area (Milo Ö) as well as Commandant General in Stockholm from 1976 to 1982 when he retired from active service.^[5]

Other work

Eklund was a member of Gotland's Coastal Artillery Corps's shooting association from 1942, member of the board and leader of the pistol shooting section leader, and member of the Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment's shooting association and the Royal Swedish Naval Academy's shooting association.^[3] Eklund was editor of the journal Kustartilleriet ("The Coastal Artillery") from 1954 to 1960 and co-editor of Öst och Väst och Vi in 1957.^[1] He was a board member of the Marinlitteraturföreningen ("Naval Literature Association") and the Försvarspolitiskt forum ("Defense Policy Forum Association").^[4] Eklund became a member of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences in 1962 and in 1966 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. Eklund was a member of the Swedish delegation in the Disarmament Conference in Geneva from 1963 to 1965^[1] and chairman of the Section II, Naval Warfare Studies of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences from 1970 to 1972 as well as military expert in the 1972 Defense Investigation.^[2] Furthermore, Eklund was chairman of the Swedish Military Sports Association (Sveriges militära idrottsförbund) from 1972 to 1984^[2] and he was president of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences from 1982 to 1985.^[5] After his retirement, he worked as chairman of the Officers' Association for Older Officers (Officersföreningen för äldre officerare) and in the Retired Officers Association (Föreningen Pensionerade Officerare). He was also elected municipal politician in Danderyd from 1983 to 1988.^[2]