The defense must be visible throughout the country

Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist during the inauguration ceremony of the Gotland P 18 regiment in Visby 2018. File photo.Image: Jonas Ekströmer / TT

On Thursday the Government’s defense bill for 2021-2025 will be presented, but the proposal for the new basic defense organization is already being presented.

This means that the Västernorrland regiment in Sollefteå and the Dal regiment in Falun will be reestablished. The two regiments were disbanded in 2000.

As recently as last summer, the government was in the process of reviving a regiment in Östersund. But negotiations with the Center Party and the Liberals over the defense bill have led to the reinstatement of two instead of a new regiment, and the choice of locations that fall on Falun and Sollefteå.

Östersund can take comfort in a branch of education, which will be an organizational part of the regiment in Sollefteå.

The Västernorrland regiment and the Dal regiment will train between 200 and 250 recruits per year each. They are trained to be part of two local defense firing battalions in each area. Recruits must be collected primarily from the areas around the localities so that they can be quickly deployed when necessary.

Regarding the Västernorrland regiment, it is estimated that just under half are trained in Östersund. There the Jämtland Field Fighter Corps will be established, which corresponds to a battalion.

Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist (S) explains the choice of locations:

– The basic idea is military geographic and emergency preparedness, but there is also a regional policy dimension.

The four local defense firing battalions that are trained in Sollefteå / Östersund and Falun will ensure the transport routes between Mälardalen and Norway, mainly Oslo and Trondheim. These relationships are considered strategically important for Sweden to be able to receive help from NATO in a crisis.

The idea is for the new regiments to have operations starting in 2022, but they are not expected to be in full swing until after 2026.

The Armed Forces have criticized the construction of entirely new regiments. In their military advice to the government last year, they warn that it is expensive and time consuming to build new ones. Additionally, it takes time for environmental permit testing to be done, without a sure result.

The Armed Forces also reported problems in taking professional officers to new locations. Instead, it is preferable to expand education to existing places of business.

On Monday, the Armed Forces do not want to comment on the government’s proposal.

The center’s defense policy spokesman, Daniel Bäckström, notes the importance of a military presence in the area from Västernorrland to the Norwegian border.

– An organization that is too centralized means a vulnerability, he says.

The center expects the defense to receive further funding increases after 2025.

– There will be money, but then not everything will be solved at once, says Bäckström.

Liberals’ defense policy spokesman Allan Widman also emphasizes the importance of taxpayers across the country realizing the large investments in defense now being made.

– They must perceive that it will be a good investment, says Widman.

– Create a precondition so that we can go further and anchor the defense with the people, so that the defense can continue to grow.

Robert Dalsjö, research leader at the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI), believes that the choice of regimental locations is completely reasonable from a military strategic perspective. Especially considering that Sweden depends on foreign military aid from the West.

Dalsjö points out that the 2004 defense decision has had consequences that are not suitable for managing Sweden’s territorial defense today. That decision focused primarily on Sweden’s international efforts.

– It became a bit random and a bit regional politics. All the guns ended up in Boden, all the air defenses, what little remains, in Halmstad and the engineers in Eksjö and so on, he says.

– One consequence of this is that there are no military units between Enköping and Boden. There is a big gap in Sweden.

As previously known, the defense bill also proposes that Gothenburg get an amphibious regiment, Uppsala an air flotilla, Arvidsjaur a regiment and Kristinehamn an ​​artillery regiment.