Command supply

The research project conducts studies in the areas of recruitment, retention and training in the Armed Forces, including motivation and retention of conscripts, recruitment and training of officers and retention amongst other occupational groups in the military.

As the Swedish Armed Forces continues to go through a period of rapid and consistent growth, there is an increasing need to recruit, train and retain those required to lead and command Sweden’s growing military forces. There is a need for greater understanding of what motivates people in Sweden to pursue leadership roles in the military and remain in these roles for a prolonged period, as well as a greater understanding of the effectiveness of different forms of officer training.

The research project aims to address these questions through a number of inter-related studies into recruitment, retention and training of military personnel in leadership and command positions. The project investigates the supply of leadership and command at different levels of the armed forces through a number of inter-related studies:

• The first of these examines the motivations of conscripts to undertake conscription, in particular positions as squad leaders and platoon leaders. Since conscription constitutes the principal route into the Swedish Armed Forces and is a requirement to apply for later officer training, this group are an important group to understand.
• The second study focuses on conscripts in the later stage of their training and assesses conscripts’ motivations to remain within the armed forces following their conscript training.
• The third study analyses the transfer of knowledge and skills from experienced specialist officers approaching retirement to less experienced specialist officers, given the high numbers of retirements expected amongst this group in coming years.
• The fourth study will assess factors for retention within employed soldiers, sailors and air(wo)men, an area of retention priority for the armed forces.
• The fifth study looks at alternative pathways to the officer profession, focusing around Special Officer Training (Särskild officersutbildning – SOFU). This study comprises three sub-components: a curriculum analysis comparison of SOFU and the UK’s Royal Military Academy (RMA) Sandhurst; a pilot study interviewing SOFU graduates about their experiences of training and subsequent careers; and a main study (in early stages) which aims to follow a cohort of SOFU officers through their training and their subsequent careers.
• The sixth study (in development) will focus on recruitment, training and retention amongst Reserve Officers in Sweden.

Each of these related studies, while providing relevant, timely and important findings to help to inform and shape armed forces policy and practice, they aim to also make advances to academic understanding in such areas as motivation, well-being, identity formation and institutional bonding, as well as other areas in the fields of defence studies and in leadership and management.

The project has collaborations with the Swedish Armed Forces, with other FoT projects within the Swedish Defence University and with other military academies and civilian universities overseas.