Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard

{{Short description|HOMEMODE/ADMIRALSTATUS}}

{{Expand Danish|topic=bio|date=December 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard

| honorific_suffix = S.K.

| image = EJC Qvistgaard.jpeg

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| caption = Qvistgaard in 1952

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| office = Chief of Defence

| term_start = 1 October 1950

| term_end = 30 September 1962

| predecessor = Office established

| successor = {{ill|Kurt Ramberg|da}}

| office1 = Chairman of the NATO Military Committee

| term_start1 = 1953

| term_end1 = 1954

| predecessor1 = Charles Foulkes

| successor1 = Augustin Guillaume

| birth_name = Erhard Jørgen Carl Qvistgaard

| birth_date = {{birth date|1898|05|11}}

| birth_place = Rorup, Denmark

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|05|08|1898|05|11}}

| death_place = Copenhagen, Denmark

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| resting_place = Gilleleje Cemetery

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| blank1 = Later work

| data1 = Board member of IBM Denmark

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| allegiance = {{Flag|Denmark}}

| branch = {{navy|Denmark}}

| serviceyears = 1919–1962

| rank = Admiral

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| battles = World War II

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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.[http://www.nato.int/cv/milcom/chair.htm Chairmen of the NATO Military Committee.] NATO. Retrieved 19 December 2016.

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 sufficientlyBjerg, Hans Christian. such that the then-Minister of Defense Hans Rasmus Hansen sent him on to the United States in 1949Lidegaard, p. 502. 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.{{cite web|last1=Rasmussen|first1=Peter Ernstved|title=Two Chief of Defence Did it Better Than the Rest|url=https://olfi.dk/2016/10/25/to-forsvarschefer-gjorde-bedre-oevrige/|website=olfi.dk|accessdate=14 September 2017|language=Danish|date=25 October 2016}}