Defence planning in the Swedish Armed Forces Regional Headquarters

The Swedish Parliament has decided on a national focus for the Swedish defence, including a more national emphasis in the defence planning and the development of a modern civil defence. The present study describes the current situation in the Swedish Armed Forces Regional Headquarters regarding the implementation of the defence planning, the relations to other parts of the Armed Forces and to civil actors at a regional level, firstly the County Administrative Boards. The result shows an ongoing preparatory activity at the regional level in order to create a common basis for the defence planning. The Regional Headquarters have, among other things, conducted several activities involving the County Administrative Boards in each military region, including information meetings and seminars. There is a widespread uncertainty among the civil authorities regarding the development of a modern civil defence concerning how to meet new demands and how to make the right priorities. It is, however, clear that the bill on the Swedish defence policy passed in June 2015 focus on the civil defence' support to the Armed Forces. This will raise the demands on the military to express their needs more thoroughly, including their priorities. The study seeks to give a short insight in a developing activity. First, the Regional Headquarters were established in 2013 and are thus relatively new staffs still and evolving. Second, the interviews at the Armed Forces Headquarter and at the Regional Headquarters were made during spring/summer 2015 and reflect the beginning of the defence planning process and the situation at the time. The interviewees at the regional level generally describe a well-functioning cooperation with other parts of the Armed Forces as well as with the County Administrative Boards. Even if the area of civil defence is seen as "new", there are experiences drawn from civil-military cooperation related to peacetime crises. The results show several needs and challenges. There is a need for education regarding different roles and responsibilities, secure locations for command and control and systems allowing the exchange of secret information. Two challenges highlighted in the results concern changes in the society: the just-in-time principle in the supply chain and today's domination of private actors in vital societal functions. A question raised is how to involve private actors and resources in the planning process for raised alert and war. In a longer perspective there is a need for well-defined goals and a common (national) planning strategy. There is also a need for concrete activities and to identify priorities to put the planning process forward. Finally, planning for raised alert and war, civil and military, depends on available time and resources and not least analysis of what's needed in a modern Total Defence.