Being an ex private in the HQ/HHC 142nd Signal Brigade of the Alabama Army National Guard a part of my hobbies off duty is to study foreign military forces. Now I have moved to Sweden for a time and would like to know more.
If I understand the Swedish system right its possible to be a national guard CO by 4 weekend classes and a 7,5 month drafting period?

Would also like to know more about the sentence:
Mindre men vassare. I know the words but i don’t understand the message?

You can't compare the USNG with the Swedish home guard.

The Home guard is much smaller and with different tasks than the NG.
They also have a much smaller budget than the NG.

To be allowed to join the Home guard you need to have done at least three month of basic training.
After that, if your CO thinks that you are qualifyed you can attend a course for squad leader.
That course is often, if I remember correctly, four weekends or two weeks.

If you are already a squad leader you can attend a similar course for platoon leader.

I did my basic army training as a squad leader and then joyned the home guard.
After about one year I attended a platoon leader course and after that I became a platoon leader in my company.

The phrase "Mindre men vassare" means "Smaller but sharper" or "Smaller but better"

The Swede

Smaller, but sharper - as in more focused. The expression is meant to encapsulate the shift away from the large, cold war organisation designed for total war, ie countering a large-scale invasion.

The message of 'smalare men vassare', as it's usually expressed ('slimmer but sharper'), is quite exactly 'leaner but meaner'.

So you have grinded a sword into a scalpel?
With the loss of power in the blow and a minimal range?
theoretically speaking of cause..

John Derrick

Something like that...but not if you ask the politicians...

Yup. Surgical strikes rather than carpet-bombing, so to speak. To be fair though, we never had much range.

Interresting point there.. Did your plan to use the DWS 39 weapon system for the Surgical strike then?

I´m still curious about answers on my first question:
Is it possible to be a national guard CO by 4 weekend classes and a 7,5 month drafting period?

Don't think we'll be doing any surgical strikes in the near future, just as we never had any capacity to carpet-bomb. It was just an analogy following your scalpel-comment.

What do you mean by CO?

You can become a squad leader after that time but you need more casses after that to become a platoon leader and more still to become a company commander.

The Swede

CO is undestood as Bn Commander and it will take more than 7,5 month + 4 weekend classes to become that, so the answer is no.
You have to be either a Regular officer (Yrkesofficer) or an Officer in the reserve (Reservofficer) already or be a OC in a Home Guard Company and attend the proper classes to be appointed CO.

In the last example it will take a great amount of time to be appointed CO and it will probably never happen.

/K

Who's comparing, Swede? I didn´t mention our Guard. I was just trying to verify some of the very contraditionary information that was given to me by people in your 5th Battalion.

Thanks to you Krook for a clear answer.

I only wanted to clarify that the USNG and Swedish home guard was two completly different things, not trying to offend you.
Also I tried to give as clear answers as I could to your questions but I was not sure what you was reffering to when you used the term "CO".

Sorry if I in any way offended you.

The Swede