Boden Garrison


Boden Garrison is a major garrison in Sweden, located in and around Boden in Norrbotten County. The garrison has during the 20th century been, and still is, the largest garrison in Sweden, consisting of several units of the Swedish Armed Forces as well as Boden Fortress.

History

Before the decision to construct Boden Fortress, there was no permanently stationed military unit in Boden. The main military presence were the four tenement soldiers of Bodens kompani —part of Norrbotten Regiment —that lived in the locality. To provide men for the fortress, several units were either created in, or moved to the newly built garrison. The first unit garrisoned in Boden was Boden Engineer Corps, and engineering battalion, in 1905. Soon to follow were infantry and artillery units that had wartime stationing in and around the fortress, and other supporting units.
From 1910 and on, the garrison was developed from a pure fortress garrison to a training centre for troops serving in the whole of upper Norrland. More than 60 percent of Norrbotten Regiment were to be used for the field army in case of mobilisation right before the First World War. On 1 January 1914, 709 permanently employed soldiers and officers were stationed in Boden, and 4,710 conscripts were trained in the garrison during the year, this in a locality with a population of 4,952.
During the Second World War, the mission of Norrbotten Regiment changed from manning the fortress to guarding the northern borders, and the infantry unit supposed to protect the fortress was instead Värmland Regiment that would be transported from southwestern Sweden up to Boden in case of mobilisation. A further move from fortress garrison was taken in 1957 when the armoured unit Norrbotten Armoured Battalion was created. The first air unit was stationed in Boden already in 1916, when a small detachment of three aircraft and 29 personnel was moved there from the army air force station in Malmslätt. During the years, further detachments were located in Boden garrison from time to time, but it was not until 1959 that Boden got its own flying unit, through the helicopter unit Arméns helikopterskola.
The massive cutdowns of the Swedish Armed Forces in the 1990s and 2000s saw several old regiments disband, merge, or move, which affected Boden as well. Several independent regiments and battalions stationed in the garrison were reduced in size and merged into Norrbotten Regiment. Even after the cutdowns, Boden Garrison retained the position as the largest garrison in Sweden and the main training centre for conscripts. The garrison houses the only remaining artillery regiment of the armed forces and is the only remaining garrison housing more than one Swedish Army regiment.

Units

NameDesignationTypeFromToNotes
Militärregion NordMR NCommand
Artillery RegimentA 9Artillery regiment
NorrbottensgruppenG 63Command
Norrbotten RegimentI 19Armoured regiment
Norrbotten Armoured BattalionPbat/I 19Armoured battalion
Norrland Engineer CompanyIngkomp/I 19Engineer company
Norrland Artillery BattalionArtbat/I 19Artillery battalion
Norrland Engineer BattalionIngbat/I 19Engineer battalion
Norrland Signal BattalionSignbat/I 19Communications regiment
Norrlands luftvärnsbataljonLvbat/I 19Air defence battalion
Norrlands helikopterskvadron1. hkpskvHelicopter squadron
Norrbottens försvarsområdeFo 63Command
Norrland Artillery RegimentA 8Artillery regiment
Norrlands helikopterbataljon1. hkpbatHelicopter battalion
Norrland Engineer CorpsIng 3Engineer battalion
Norrlands luftvärnskårLv 7Air defence battalion
Norrbotten Regiment and Norrbotten BrigadeMekB 19Mechanised regiment/brigade
Norrland Signal CorpsS 3Communications regiment
Norrbottens arméflygbataljonAF 1Helicopter battalion
Bodens försvarsområdeFo 63Command
Boden Artillery RegimentA 8Artillery regiment
Luleå luftvärnsregementeLv 7Air defence regiment
Norrland Signal RegimentS 3Communications regiment
Norrbotten Regiment and Norrbotten Armoured BattalionI 19/P 5Infantry/armoured battalion
Boden Artillery RegimentA 8/Fo 63Artillery regiment
Boden Engineer RegimentIng 3Engineer regiment
Norrland Signal BattalionS 3Communications battalion
Arméns helikopterskolaHkpSHelicopter school
Norrbotten Armoured BattalionP 5Armoured battalion
Bodens försvarsområdeFo 63Command
Boden Engineer CorpsIng 3Engineer battalion
Boden Artillery RegimentA 8Artillery regiment
Norrbotten RegimentI 19Infantry regiment
Signal Battalion in BodenS 3Communications battalion
Signal Battalion in BodenS 1 BCommunications battalion
Signal Regiment's Company in BodenS 1 BCommunications company
Norrbotten Artillery CorpsA 5Artillery battalion
Tredje intendenturkompanietInt 3Support company
Boden Signal CompanyS 1 BCommunications company
Boden Engineer CorpsIng 4Engineer battalion
Intendenturkompaniet i BodenInt 3Support company
III. division/Norrland Artillery RegimentA 4 BArtillery battalion
Field Telegraph Corps' Detachment in BodenIng 4 detCommunications detachment
Boden Artillery BattalionA 8 BArtillery battalion
2nd Battalion/Boden-Karlsborg Artillery RegimentA 8 BArtillery battalion

Commanders

As the garrison only became an actual organisation in the armed forces in 1975, there was no official garrison commander until then, however the commandants of Boden Fortress had extended powers over the military units stationed in the garrison. The position Commander Boden Garrison has since been occupied by:
NameFromTo
Sven Skeppstedt
Reinhold Lahti
Thure Wadenholt
Göran Honkamaa
Ulf Nordlander
Per Lodin
Ola Hansson
Frank Westman
Jan Mörtberg
Olof Granander

Citations