Abstract of Tommy Jeppsson's and Tor Egil Walther's article in RSAWSPJ no 1 2001.
An officer's prime task is to maintain, develop and lead using the mandate given to him or her by the State. Military leaders therefore need both a deeper and broader understanding of their profession at all levels. The study of military history and military theory is the foundation on which those qualities rest. Only by observing and studying earlier periods can we begin to understand and master such relevant factors as underlie the evolution of modern warfare.
It is more or less a conventional truth that small nations have to rely heavily on the ability and professionalism of their military leaders to be able to maximize the effect of their limited resources. The true professionalism of military leaders reflects their ability in combat skills as well as their creativity when resorting to unorthodox solutions. If the officers' knowledge of the theoretical framework is weak, there will be less understanding of the needs to change obsolete structures. Also it will be impossible to develop an insight into the needs to act unconventionally at operational and tactical levels.
Within small nations and their armed forces, human related skills and qualities are of paramount importance. A high level of training, leaders at every level with the ability to lead possessing operational and tactical skills which reflect flexibility and ability to use unconventional methods become absolutely necessary qualities. We have known this throughout history, but we need to be reminded that military theory and military history both still play an important role in creating independent-minded commanders and in setting up successful military organizations. In order best to achieve maximal benefit from the study of these subjects, it is advisable to start from scratch when drawing up the officer training programme.
To be able to lay down guiding principles for future military operations, classical military theory needs to be supplemented by recent developments that reflect the new environment in which the military will have to interact with other organizations - military as well as civilian. Those new additional principles must be based on the new military and non-military threats. The threats themselves can be symmetrical as well as asymmetrical or can be used in combination.