Abstract

The Armed Forces are in an expansive period where the need for competent personnel is greater than ever. Partly due to the need to train soldiers and new officers being greater than in a long time and the need to maintain readiness in accordance with the interpretation of the world situation. This is a situation where the Armed Forces have a competence-preserving anorexic organization which, due to political decisions, has decreased by 70% since the 1990s. In 2015, due to Russia's annexation of Crimea, the political orientation changed to increase the capabilities of the Armed Forces. This intensified in 2022 with Russia's attack on Ukraine. The study was conducted at a unit where data was collected between the years 2017-2022. In 2017, the surveyed unit had 393 officers and 2022 318 officers, which is a decrease of 75 officers during the period. How can it be that a unit loses 75 officers in 5 years when politicians want the Armed Forces to grow? 

 The study shows that officers terminate their employment due to the tensions that arise between the three identified Sensemaking processes. These processes are the Authority, the Profession and the individual.

• The resignations of officers arise when a person is faced with an ultimatum in which they are forced to choose between the Authority, the Profession and the Individual and its basic truths.

• And when the Armed Forces are unable to give meaning to the forced change of meaning.

The cumulative tension of meaning to which the professional officer is exposed during his career is increasing in relation to level and family situation. The triggers that lead up to the ultimatum are lack of opportunity to influence the organization as well as one's own situation, lack of support and trust from the manager, and lack of quality time with the family.

 The conflict between the Authority and the Profession is based on the different views on the emphasis placed on training military units. The conflict between the individual and the profession is about the double loyalty between the family and the unit. The conflict between the Individual and the Authority is based on what the job gives in relation to the sacrifice the individual makes.

 The study was carried out with the approach of understanding and interpretingthrough sensemaking why officers leave the Armed Forces to a greater extent than the unit wants. This is a hermeneutic, inductive and qualitative study where interviews and workshop are used to gather data which is then analysed in a GT inspired method.