Jonas, what is your role and what tasks does your unit have?
The Helicopter Wing is my home unit where I started my career as a helicopter pilot, and it is now fantastic to have the opportunity to lead the unit that has shaped my personal development and role as a leader in the Swedish Armed Forces.
I am fascinated by leadership and how we work with it in the Swedish Armed Forces. Seeing people grow and groups develop to handle tasks in a complex, unknown, and uncomfortable environment made me want to take greater responsibility. I have always been clear about what I want, what my ambitions are, and set personal goals. I think that quality is important as a leader, and the Swedish Armed Forces has been a good environment where I have been allowed to grow and show what I am capable of.
As Wing Commander, my task is to realize the missions that the higher commander sets for the unit. It is about readiness and operations nationally and internationally, planning missions in crisis and war, and supporting society during difficult stresses. As a leader for 1,000 employees, it is about enthusing, coaching, explaining, and creating conditions for the development of employees and units. Understanding what employees in the Helicopter Wing can contribute to make the whole work is a prerequisite for being able to solve our task, and not least, this stimulates taking greater responsibility and being able to develop oneself. It is about credibility in what we do internally in the Swedish Armed Forces and externally towards the citizens of society.

You have also served as responsible for Swedish units abroad in Afghanistan. How did that task and time affect you as a leader?
The privilege of leading a unit in a sharp situation under conditions that are far from our safe everyday life has given me many and valuable experiences. The biggest experience is the importance of a clear and common goal. In Afghanistan, everyone knew why we were there, what mission we had, and what was expected of us. We had prepared ourselves together and built a team where everyone knew their role and what the expectations were. The pride of being part of something bigger contributed to fantastic achievements where everyone could rejoice in the unit's successes and results. The team became absolutely crucial for what we achieved in Afghanistan. The effort taught me to see the importance of the individual and their different abilities and, based on this, be able to put together the right team to be able to solve tasks in a unique environment under threat and external influence.

What challenges do you see ahead of you as a unit commander in the near future?
Our biggest challenge right now within the Helicopter Wing and in the Swedish Armed Forces is to become more. We need to recruit more employees to live up to the requirements. As a unit commander, I need to take a clear responsibility for creating a working environment that everyone wants to belong to. Such an environment creates pride and relevance to belong to the team, and it contributes to the employees wanting to stay and develop in their role and career. This shows that we are a modern and credible organization and employer, and hopefully, more will want to apply to the Swedish Armed Forces.
I am very positive about the future and the development we are facing. The Swedish Armed Forces has become a more clear part of our society, and we are becoming more and more in demand. As Wing Commander, this places new demands on me and my leadership, but it also means a stimulating challenge to be part of something bigger and more in demand, which also motivates me to develop more.