Leading the Navy in the 21st Century

Summary of Nils-Ove Jansson's article in RSAWSPJ no 2 2001.

This study gives an overview of the development of command and control within the Swedish Navy from the end of the 19th century to this day. Particular emphasis is placed on the organization of the Naval Forces, on the tasks of the Armed Forces and on international operations.

Operational sea training facilities as well as command and control management abilities developed considerably through the invention of wireless telegraphy and through the creation of a post as permanent Chief of Naval Forces. All this led to quicker and better decision-making. The period immediately prior to the Second World War saw the creation of the post Commander-in-Chief Naval Forces (along with a Naval Staff) and that of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (along with a Defence Staff). This had the un­fortunate result that responsibility for operations at sea was broken up into several levels, a fact that became all too visible in the performance of the Coastal Fleet du­ring the war.

The creation in 1966 of regional Commander-in-Chiefs and Joint Commands - consisting of integrated military staffs - slimmed down the forces that were formed to repel an invasion and satisfied the need for operational coordination. The increased number of threat patterns with additional tasks for the Armed Forces in combination with fewer exercises and a considerable shortage of personnel resulted in an under­mining of naval leadership and command ability. Substantial political and centralized control over military spending and organization was also a contributory factor.

In the present 2000 Command and Control Organization, professional/technical competence is more concen­trated and a more clear-cut command structure has been introduced. The development of the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) concept and the Rules of Engagement (ROE) instrument has increased the pos­sibilities of successful crisis management. In combination with better information as well as command and control systems, the ability to lead at sea is believed to increase.

The article is an Annual study presented to the Naval section of The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences on 17th April, 2001