Perceptions of Officer Training Among Newly Employed Officers and Specialist Officers in the Swedish Armed Forces: A Qualitative Study

Perceptions of Officer Training Among Newly Employed Officers and Specialist Officers in the Swedish Armed Forces : A Qualitative Study

Professional officer training in Sweden has gone through some major changes in the last 30 years. The current officer system is a two-category system, where officers complete the three-year academic Officers’ Programme, and specialist officers complete 18 months of vocational training at the Swedish Armed Forces’ training schools. The aim of this study was to investigate newly graduated officers’ and specialist officers’ perceptions of their officer training. Results showed that their perceptions could be covered by three overriding themes: identification, vertical versus horizontal career paths and the perceived relevance of the officer training. Furthermore, the respondents’ officer identification seemed to have developed before officer training, and the individual motivators concerned deliberate choices of becoming either an officer or a specialist officer. Coaching was crucial to both officers and specialist officers. However, the officers stated that coaching came at an early stage of their basic military training, whereas specialist officers were coached at a later stage in their career. The implications for the Swedish Armed Forces is that identification and career path are issues that need to be addressed early in a soldier’s military career, and that officer training needs to be more focussed on defining career paths, especially for specialist officers.

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP Annan samhällsvetenskap Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap hsv//swe
SOCIAL SCIENCES Other Social Sciences Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified hsv//eng
identification
officers
specialist officers
officer training
career
Ledarskap under påfrestande förhållanden
Ledarskap under påfrestande förhållanden

Oskarsson, EmmaFörsvarshögskolan,Karlstadssektionen(Swepub:fhs)anst19010@fhs.se (författare)
Nilsson, JoelFörsvarshögskolan,Karlstadssektionen(Swepub:fhs)issl17004@fhs.se (författare)
FörsvarshögskolanKarlstadssektionen (creator_code:org_t)

Ingår i:Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies: Scandinavian Military Studies4:1, s. 50-612596-3856

Av författaren/redakt...: Österberg, Johan ...; Oskarsson, Emma; Nilsson, Joel

Om ämnet

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP: SAMHÄLLSVETENSKA ...; och Annan samhällsve ...; och Övrig annan samh ...

Kungliga biblioteket hanterar dina personuppgifter i enlighet med EU:s dataskyddsförordning (2018), GDPR. Läs mer om hur det funkar här.
Så här hanterar KB dina uppgifter vid användning av denna tjänst.