Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard

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Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard S.K.
Qvistgaard in 1952
Chief of Defence
In office 1 October 1950 – 30 September 1962
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Kurt Ramberg [da]
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
In office 1953–1954
Preceded by	Charles Foulkes
Succeeded by	Augustin Guillaume
Personal details
Born	Erhard Jørgen Carl Qvistgaard (1898-05-11)May 11, 1898 Rorup, Denmark
Died	May 8, 1980(1980-05-08) (aged 81) Copenhagen, Denmark
Resting place	Gilleleje Cemetery
Later work	Board member of IBM Denmark
Military service
Allegiance	Denmark
Branch/service	Royal Danish Navy
Years of service	1919–1962
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	World War II

Admiral Erhard Jørgen Carl Qvistgaard (1898–1980) was a Danish admiral who was the first Danish Chief of Defence, from 1950 to 1962, and also Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1953 to 1954.^[1]

After training at the Naval Officers' School, Qvistgaard became a second lieutenant in 1919, a first lieutenant in 1920 and a lieutenant captain in 1928. In 1925-31 and again in 1935–38, he was commander of several of Denmark's submarines. In 1931-35 he was a teacher at the Naval Officers' School, and 1936-38 was a teacher at the submarine school for naval officers. In 1937 he became a naval captain, and from 1938 to 1945 he was an adjutant to King Christian X. In 1946, he was appointed Marine and Air Attaché at the Danish Embassy in London - a task he served in sufficiently^[2] such that the then-Minister of Defense Hans Rasmus Hansen sent him on to the United States in 1949^[3] with the temporary rank of Rear Admiral to act as a naval attaché and to lead the Danish delegation to the Washington group that was planning and setting up NATO.

Qvistgaard was given the job as the first Danish Chief of Defence in 1950. He was given the task of uniting the armed forces after the war, where there had been major friction between the three branches. He is the longest serving CoD to date.^[4]