The Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) have for a long time had to take a back seat to thepriorities of politics. The strategic timeout began when the Defence Decision in 2000 wasestablished. The decision had the consequence that a large part of SAF's organization wasreduced and SAF was changed from invasion defence to operational defence, with theprimary task of contributing to peace and security in the outside world. The SAF'schanged tasks reduced the need for the officer profession and some of previous officerpositions were converted into so-called independent positions during the introduction ofthe Response Organisation in 2013. Now SAF is once again designed and prioritizedpolitically for an armed attack, which means a restructuring similar to the previousinvasion defence force structure. According to SAF's latest annual report, the civilianpersonnel category is now the largest and a majority of SAF employees. They will servein positions on staffs as managers or staff members in a war situation, from battalion tohigher management levels. SAF's military profession consists of all employees in SAFand is based on cooperation, understanding and a common set of values that ultimatelyaim to promote core knowledge. The civilian employees will provide continuity andcomplement the officer corps. In general, the civilian employees have little connection toand experience with military unit, as this was not a priority area at the time ofemployment. Against this backdrop, we have found in our exploratory study that the corecategory, SAF's core knowledge and the main categories SAF task, SAF as an employerand competence together encases our purpose, that is to understand what affects thecivilian managers' ability to contribute to SAF's core knowledge.The study is qualitative with an inductive approach and draws its empirical data frominterviews with section and department heads at Armed Forces Technical School (AFTS).The empirical data has been structured and coded with Grounded Theory and thenanalysed from an organizational perspective against the chosen frame of reference. Thestudy has come to the following seven conclusions:-AFTS´s civilian managers lack clear, communicated and prioritized goals.-AFTS´s civilian managers experience a lack of application of SAF managementphilosophy.-The current personnel development method does not sufficiently support the will andambition of the military profession regarding the personnel categories possibilities tocontribute to operational impact.-AFTS´s civilian managers do not experience a balance between the working methods inthe administrative and war organizations.-Our study indicates that AFTS today lacks a well-functioning organizational culture.-AFTS´s civilian managers must be given the opportunity to gain deeper knowledge andskills in their core business earlier and more effectively.-AFTS lacks civilian management training both as introductory and as further education.