The Swedish Army has seen many changes over the last thirty years and the role of the officer has had to adapt accordingly. Previously, officers at the Skaraborg Regiment began their careers as instructors of conscripted soldiers. As they progressed, they would typically become staff officers. In their formative years, their duties were centred on life in both the field and in the barracks with day-to-day contact with soldiers and other officers. At this level, an officer’s role would be to prepare and train conscripted soldiers for “the demands of war” based on the military logic. If this stage in the officer’s career went well, they would then progress towards administration and management. Taking the place of the barracks and the field, the workplace became headquarters and offices. There would be less contact with conscripted soldiers but instead there would be more interaction with fellow staff officers and civil servants - along with a greater emphasis on the understanding of law, regulations and rules. This part of the officer’s career was based on the civil service logic.    Today, the officer is a manager and employer of both professional soldiers and other officers. It is necessary for them to assume these roles early on in their career. This means that during their formative years they must be ready for changes between training for combat and working in an office; between leading units and following regulations. The officer of today is forced to live in two institutional logics that are totally disparate. Successful platoon and company commanders of today’s army must be fluid between the military logic and the civil service logic: as seamlessly as swapping weapons for pens.    In their daily lives, the military logic and the civil service logic are coupled. The platoon and company commanders of today live in the two institutional logics on a day-to-day basis. But there are conflicts of interest between the two that need to be addressed. The platoon and company commanders of today haven’t the time to work as much in the military logic as they have been able to in the past because the civil service logic takes up much of their time. It’s a little like the police often complaining that they are unable to get out on the beat as they are too busy filling out paperwork.   In order to meet a changed threat to national security, the Swedish Armed Forces wishes to increase the numbers of army brigades and recreate an army division. In order to staff this larger organisation, with its larger need of officers at brigade and division level, the requirement of the Swedish Armed Forces is to accelerate officers’ careers in order to meet demand. This is all well and good, but the challenge for platoon and company commanders still remains that it is essential that they gain enough experience and knowledge in order to become good enough leaders. Their skills must be good enough to lead and train platoons and companies thoroughly, whilst at the same time prepare themselves for battalion, brigade and divisional levels.   The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of platoon and company how the clash of logics impacts the platoon and company commanders at the Skaraborg Regiment. The study is concluded by suggestions to the Swedish Armed Forces and to the Skaraborg Regiment to meet the growing challenges of the platoon and company commanders.

Sverige påbörjade en upprustning efter Rysslands invasion av Ukraina 2014. Debatten kring Sveriges försvarsförmåga har under den gångna våren åter igen aktualiserats och kommit på allas läppar på grund av Rysslands senaste invasion av Ukraina. Sveriges regering har beslutat att Försvarsmakten ska få ökade ekonomiska anslag och att organisationen ska utökas personellt. En stor del av Arméns förband kommer i framtiden allt utgöras av tidvis tjänstgörande personal, dvs reservofficerare, tidvis tjänstgörande soldater samt värnpliktiga. De här personalkategorierna behöver både upprätthålla sin kompetens och utvecklas för att fylla sin plats i krigsorganisationen. I dagsläget när reservofficerare kallas till tjänstgöring i samband med utbildning eller träning är deltagandet frivilligt. Försvarsmaktens uppfattning är att knappt hälften av Sveriges ca 6 800 reservofficerare har övat sedan 2014. Syftet med studien är att utforska vad som motiverar respektive vad som uppfattas som försvårande eller rent hindrande faktorer till tjänstgöring för reservofficerarna vid Skaraborgs regemente. Studiens fokus är på vad som engagerar dem att tjänstgöra i Försvarsmakten och vad som kan öka deras motivation. Studien baseras på intervjuer. Den insamlande empirin är analyserad med Grounded theory. I analysen kombineras två olika teorier om motivation för att förstå reservofficerarnas situation. Amitai Etzionis Compliance theory, en teori kring hur olika styrformer inom organisationer korrelerar med motivation, kombineras med Herzberg, Mausner och Snydermans The motivation to work, en teori om motivation på arbetsplatsen. Reservofficerarna upplever i grunden att tjänstgöringen är motiverande och Försvarsmakten skall fortsätta stärka relationen med sina anställda och dra nytta av förbandsandan. Studien har identifierat fem huvudsakliga områden som påverkar reservofficerarnas engagemang: militära miljön, kommunikation, växelverkan, regler samt lön och ersättning. Den speciella miljön som uppstår i Försvarsmakten är den enskilt mest motiverande faktorn för tjänstgöring. Det är en miljö som de intervjuade reservofficerarna trivs i, en miljö som de dessutom uppger är svår att finna någon annanstans. Miljön består av den unika kombinationen militära kontexten, relationen till kollegorna och känslan av att tillhöra något större. / Sweden began a rearmament after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014. The debate over Sweden's defense capability has again been brought to the fore again this spring and has come to everyone's lips due to Russia's latest invasion of Ukraine. The Swedish government has decided that the Armed Forces will receive increased financial grants and that the organization will be expanded in personnel. In the future, a large part of the Army's units will all consist of part-time personnel, ie reserve officers, part-time soldiers and conscripts. These categories of personnel both need to maintain their skills and develop to fill their place in the war organization. At present, when reserve officers are called up for duty in connection with education or training, participation is voluntary. The Armed Forces' perception is that almost half of Sweden's approximately 6,800 reserve officers have not served since 2014. The purpose of the study is to explore what motivates and what is perceived as aggravating or purely hindering factors for service for the reserve officers in Skaraborg regiment. The study's focus is on what engages them to serve in the Armed Forces and what can increase their motivation. The study is based on interviews. The collected empirics are analyzed with Grounded theory. The analysis combines two different theories of motivation to understand the situation of reserve officers. Amitai Etzioni's Compliance theory, a theory on power, involvement, and their correlates in organizations, is combined with Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman's The motivation to work, a theory of motivation in the workplace. The reserve officers perceive the service as fundamentally motivating and the Armed Forces is recommended to strengthen the relationship with their employees and benefit from the spirit in the unit. The study has identified five areas that mainly affects the reserve officers' engagement: the military environment, communication, interaction, rules, and pay and compensation. The special environment that arises in the Armed Forces is the single most motivating factor for service. It is an environment that the interviewed reserve officers thrive in, an environment that they also state is difficult to find anywhere else. The environment consists of the unique combination of military context, the relationship with colleagues and the feeling of belonging to something bigger.