A Swedish GSS soldier in the Air Force warns that Sweden’s defence buildup is being undermined by a personnel system “designed for turnover, not capability.” Nearly a year after the government inquiry Redo! argued for a new personnel category for experienced group leaders, soldiers, and sailors, no decision has followed. The result, he argues, is that Sweden keeps training soldiers, developing them, and then losing them just as they reach peak operational value.

“Sweden keeps doing the same thing: training soldiers, developing them, and then losing them just as they reach their highest operational level. The system is built for turnover, not capability. The problem is no longer unclear analysis, but the lack of action. (…) Reports have been written. Deficiencies have been identified. Solutions have been proposed. Yet the issue is stuck in the bureaucratic space between inquiry and decision, between responsibility and implementation. (…) Every month without a decision is another month in which experienced personnel leave. This is not a theoretical shortage, but an ongoing loss of competence. Sweden does not have a knowledge problem here, it has an implementation problem.”

Read the entire piece in Officerstidningen.