Nina Rones

In several studies of women in the Norwegian Armed Forces, we have found an assertion that female groups are so riddled with conflicts and enmity that it is preferable to keep women few in number and mixed up with men, even in dormitories (Hellum 2014; Lilleaas and Ellingsen 2014; Rones 2015). Yet, when the Norwegian Special Operations Command (NORSOC) organized an all-female Special Reconnaissance Platoon, the NORSOC leadership would conclude that they had seen “almost disappointingly little of the conflicts that allegedly should occur in groups of females” (Rones and Steder 2017). Accordingly, this article will critically explore the assertion that women are often so quarrelsome that it is preferable to keep them few in number and mixed with men 24/7.
It will be argued that women’s alleged tendency towards enmity is a myth that is made ‘true’ by ‘queen bee behavior’. Queen bee behavior is seen as an act of recognition, whereby women comply with existing gender stereotypes, evaluate women negatively, but set themselves apart from the category of ‘women’ as someone who fits better with men, i.e. a performance of complicit masculinity. It is further argued that queen bee behavior is a response to the social-identity threat women experience when they enter a unit in which their gender has a low reputation and status, and where it is expected that a woman should fit seamlessly in as one of the guys, and accordingly have to make a symbolic ‘change of gender’.

In 2014, the Norwegian Special Operations Commando (NORSOC) established a pilot project named
“Jegertroppen” (the Hunter Troop) to recruit more women for operative military service. This unusual
approach, integration of women by separating men and women during education, brought national and
international attention, including admiration and wonder. This article explores why NORSOC segregated
male and female operators, and assess the effectiveness of the segregated approach for recruiting, selecting,
and retaining female operators.
Keywords: Recruit, Jegertroppen, Norway, NORSOC, female operator, gender, diversity, segregation, integration

Artikkelen undersoker en jegertropp i en av Heimevernets innsatsstyrker hvis hovedoppgave er a beskytte mennesker og livsviktige samfunnsfunksjoner innenfor Norges grenser, i en tid hvor en tradisjonell fiende er mer eller mindre fravaerende, og reell strid ikke ansees for a vaere annet enn en fjern mulighet. Artikkelens hensikt er a undersoke hva slags kriterier som legges til grunn for a vurdere hvem som er ”de beste soldatene” nar offiserer og soldater ikke tror de vil bli tatt i bruk for militaere formal. Pierre Bourdieus teoretiske perspektiver og begreper har vaert brukt som et verktoy i analyse og tolkning. Studien illustrerer hvordan konstruksjonen av friluftslivsmannen som ”den ideelle soldat” fra nasjonalromantikken og 1900-tallets begynnelse fortsatt reproduseres i det norske territorialforsvaret.

This book examines the politics of military families in relation to the tensions between the state, military organization, and private life.
It elaborates on the tensions between the advent of challenging worldwide deployment for the military and the prominence of the home front. The volume aims to understand the dynamics of conflict and change within triad figurations at the macro (society), meso (organizational), and micro (family) level and is guided by the following overarching research questions.:
• What are the key issues in the three-party dynamics?
• What tensions exist in these dynamics?
• How do actors seek to arrive at a balance? What initiatives for change are made?
With contributions from international scholars, who examine the workings of politics in military families at all three levels, the book argues that members within military families deal with shifting power balances and these are impacted by demands from organizations and the state.
This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, sociology, organizsational studies and politics.

As a result of dramatic changes in the arrangement and missions of the Norwegian Armed Forces, and consequently in competence, gender and identity politics, traditional thinking on what are considered to be valuable persons, skills, abilities and bodily characteristics is being challenged. Yet, what is challenged by some may be guarded by others. As such, a social struggle over what kind of skills and characteristics should be required from military personnel, and who should be allowed in the military profession has been observed. This dissertation investigates what is at stake in the struggles over who can take part in the military profession/field. This investigation is both important and necessary in order to understand how both men and women experience and perceive their own and others’ value in the organization, and to which interests the activities and struggles of different agents contribute. 

Theoretically, the study is based on Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual framework supplemented with Norbert Elias’ figurational perspective, as well as feminists’ development of Bourdieu’s theories. As a methodological consequence of this perspective, the military profession/field is approached from two analytical levels (macro- and micro-level), which are interpreted in an interactive perspective. 

Data was gathered through a multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork consisting of participant observation, interviews and collections of written material. Written material, such as management documents, previous debate and research literature, is used to provide insight into the macro-level. This includes the extensive changes in extra-local power relations and management ambitions which have followed the end of the Cold War, and which engage individuals at local military sites to act and struggle as they do. Social interactions at local military sites (micro-level) were investigated through 72 days of participant observation spread over 12 months including 65 interviews. The participant observation took place at different sites where selection, education and training of squad leaders to the Army and the Home Guard were the main concern. Twenty-five interviews were recorded from 22 officers, and 40 interviews recorded from 34 officer candidates at the Army’s Officer Candidate School. 32 interviews were with women, 33 with men.

Two research questions were developed to fix the direction and limit the content of the micro-level investigation:  1. What is required from men and women respectively to do an officer role appropriately? 2. How do men and women with different forms of capital respond to different formal and informal requirements in the military field?

The result shows that officer candidates are encouraged to become normative role models with “the right attitudes” for their subordinates to imitate. Doing the job as a normative role model (officer) appropriately is dependent on the ability to embody power resources and obey regulation impositions at the same time. Accordingly, the study supports Belkin’s (2012) claim that military masculinity is structured by contradiction, and that the military compels soldiers/officers to embody masculinity and femininity at the same time. This claim is based on an understanding, developed from Bourdieu (1998) and Skeggs (2004), where masculinity is seen as a belief system that comes with impositions of accumulating power resources and striving for dominance, victory, honor and recognition, through which one is classified as masculine. Femininity is understood as a form of regulation that is based on morals and shame, and used to establish control over women and troops through an emphasis on appropriate culture, attitudes and style. 

The contradictory requirements that apply to the officers are reflected in the culture being referred to as 1) a performance culture in which the “power of example” is used as a pedagogical method to encourage winning instinct and accumulation of power resources, such as physical fitness, and 2) a feedback culture in which buddy evaluations and buddy rankings are actively used as a pedagogical method to socialize the officer candidates into the norms accepted in the social fellowship. The requirement to embody power resources and become a winner and a leader results in internal competition and struggles for positions within the local hierarchy. Considering the requirement to obey regulation impositions, the field was characterized by a voluntary submission and adaption to the requirements, as well as a struggle to maintain (reproduce) the field’s traditional criteria for valuation, in particular physical prowess.

It is concluded that systems of classification constitute a stake in the struggles that oppose individuals in the social interactions that take place in the field. It is argued that being classified as soldier/officer vs. murderer, civilized vs. uncivilized, appropriate vs. inappropriate, constitutes a stake in the struggle over soldiers’ culture, attitudes and style. Moreover, it is shown that women, in particular small-sized women who might join the military to disprove the stereotype of being “cute and petite”, jeopardize the belief system on which the military’s capacity for legitimating personal claims to authority and a powerful and masculine identity is based. Women, in particular the “cute and petite”, enter the military field with bodies that stand in direct contrast to skills and qualities associated with military requirements, and as a consequence they put the classification of the military profession as masculine, tough and physically demanding at stake. Accordingly, women also challenge the belief system on which the production of fighting spirit is based.

«De beste soldatene» i Heimevernets innsatsstyrke er det overordnede problemområdet for denne studien. Det som motiverte valg av problemområde var et spørsmål om hva som ligger til grunn for forestillingen om «de beste soldatene» i en forsvarspolitisk situasjon hvor oppgavene det skal presteres i er komplekse og ukjente, men hvor man like fullt søker å rekruttere og utdanne «de beste soldatene».

For å tilnærme meg problemområdet forsøker jeg å belyse to problemstillinger og det relasjonelle forholdet mellom dem:
1. Har de soldatene som ansees for å være «de beste soldatene» i Heimevernets innsatsstyrker i dag noen fellestrekk i sin erfaringsbakgrunn som kan bidra til å forklare hvorfor de er «best»?
2. Hvilke kriterier legges til grunn for å bedømme hvem som er «de beste soldatene» i Heimevernets innsatsstyrke i dag?

I oppgaven forstås Heimevernets innsatsstyrke som en del av et militært felt med
referanse til Pierre Bourdieus feltteori. Dette henspiller på at det innenfor en kulturell
praksis utspilles en «kamp» om hvem som kan ansees for å være en «god» soldat,
og hvem som kan ansees for å være «de beste soldatene». I et slikt perspektiv forstås
forestillingen om «de beste soldatene» som en konstruksjon som stadig rekonstrueres
i en vekselvirkning mellom historiske og kulturelle strukturer og aktørers praksis.

This book examines the politics of military families in relation to the tensions between the state, military organization, and private life.
It elaborates on the tensions between the advent of challenging worldwide deployment for the military and the prominence of the home front. The volume aims to understand the dynamics of conflict and change within triad figurations at the macro (society), meso (organizational), and micro (family) level and is guided by the following overarching research questions:
••What are the key issues in the three-party dynamics?
••What tensions exist in these dynamics?
••How do actors seek to arrive at a balance? What initiatives for change aremade?
With contributions from international scholars, who examine the workings of politics in military families at all three levels, the book argues that members within military families deal with shifting power balances and these are impacted by demands from organizations and the state.
This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, sociology, organizational studies and politics.

I kapittelet diskuteres «det pedagogiske paradoks», slik det utspiller seg i utdanningen av Hærens fremtidige ledere. Særlig vekt legges på spenningen mellom militær disiplinering og tilpasning på den ene siden, og frigjøring fra etablerte normer på den annen. Hovedspørsmålet som drøftes, er hvorvidt disiplinering til «krigens krav» fører til uønsket reproduksjon, noe som igjen svekker grunnlaget for å bli «en lærende organisasjon».

Norway has based its security on aid from great military powers, and is therefore a useful site for examining the idea of complicit masculinities: a position that benefits from the current social order, and thus complying with dominant group interests and hegemonic ideals. This chapter illustrates how such a position led Norway to take an active part in Western interventionism, resulting in a military transformation that challenged national identity, the traditional hegemonic masculinity ideal and the established gender order. This caused a struggle over military identity. By examining this identity struggle the chapter contributes to the broader debates of masculinities, how they work, how they are linked to hierarchical social structures, and how military masculinity is challenged by women’s bodies.

“Norwegians like to look upon their nation as a leading and well-developed one insofar as gender equality issues are concerned” (Skjelsbæk et al., 2011:63). According to The Global Gender Gap Report 2011 (Hausmann et al., 2011) gender differences in Norway are the second smallest in the world. Norway was also one of the first countries in the world that opened up all jobs and functions in the Norwegian Armed Forces (NorAF) to women. This took place as early as 1984 when the Norwegian government adopted “a law that gave women the same rights and opportunities as men to pursue a military career” (Skjelsbæk et al., 2011:63), including holding combat positions. Norwegian women were not, however, obliged to perform compulsory military service, as Norwegian men are (obliged to) by way of conscription. Nonetheless, Norway has been a pioneer in NATO in terms of women’s formal access to military positions. In several leading NATO countries, as with the UK and until recently the US, women have not been given access to combat positions. The lack of access to combat positions is believed to have worked against increased participation bywomen in these countries because lack of operational experience is considered career inhibitory, irrespective of gender (Skjelsbæk et al., 2011 – see Chapter 1). However, in the United States, where women have only recently been afforded full rights and opportunities in the military, the proportion of women in the NorAF is about twice as high as it is in Norway. “In fact, the majority of NATO member countries have a higher proportion of women in their armed forces than does Norway” (Skjelsbæk et al., 2011:59; see Figure 1.2, Chapter 1). In Norway, women’s representation in the NorAF has been consistently low, between 5–8 percent, since the late 1980s (Ministry of Defence, 2007). This is the case despite the fact that there has been an explicit political aim of increasing the proportion of women in the Norwegian military for almost 30 years, with 198 unique measures and initiatives implemented during this time (Fasting et al., 2012). The question posed in this chapter is, therefore: Could there be something in Norwegian Defence Tradition that has worked as an obstacle to increased participation by women in the Norwegian Armed Forces? The question is posed because a number of authors have argued that there exists a distinctive Norwegian Defence Tradition which, to a great degree, has been interwoven with the building of the Norwegian nation and its identity (Friis, 2000; Græger et al., 2005, 2011; and Græger & Ulriksen, 2002). Furthermore, it has been argued that the role of the NoraF as an instrument for nation building has come to serve as a buffer preventing, or at best delaying, the transformation and reorganisation of the military forces that took place in other NATO countries after the end of the Cold War (Ulriksen, 2002). Against this background, the following discussion centres on whether Norwegian Defence Tradition, as described in greatest detail by Ulriksen (2002), may have also contributed to preventing or delaying increased participation by women in the Norwegian Armed Forces. It will be argued that Norwegian Defence Tradition was constructed in a way that equated military power with physically rugged ‘outdoorsmen’. Furthermore, it claims that the ‘outdoorsman’ has represented a hegemonic form of masculinity that has made it more difficult for women and men with different characteristics to be appreciated in the Norwegian Armed Forces.

In this chapter we will present and discuss selected parts of empirical material produced through qualitative fieldwork conducted at Joint Selection to the The Norwegian Armed Forces’ (NorAF) Officer Candidate School in 2010. The purpose was to examine factors that may contribute towards inhibiting recruitment and admission to the Officer Candidate Schools (BS). The empirical data is based on field observations of a ‘buddy’ ranking exercise conducted by aspirants in a squad at the end of the joint selection exercise (FOS) for basic officer education. The research question we will examine using this material is: When asked to evaluate and rank their male and female buddies in terms of their potential as future military leaders, according to what criteria do aspirants at FOS/BS base their judgement?

«Nordmenn liker gjerne å se på Norge som en ledende og velutviklet nasjon hva gjelder likestilling» (Skjelsbæk m.fl. 2011: 63). I følge The Global Gender Gap Report 2011 (Hausmann m.fl. 2011) er kjønnsforskjellene i Norge de nest minste i verden. Norge var også et av de første landene i verden som åpnet alle stillinger og funksjoner i Forsvaret for kvinner. Dette skjedde allerede i 1984 da den norske regjeringen vedtok «en egen lov som ga kvinner de samme rettigheter og muligheter som menn til å søke en militær karriere» (Skjelsbæk m.fl. 2011: 63), herunder å inneha stridende stillinger. Norske kvinner fikk imidlertid ikke plikt til å utføre militærtjeneste slik norske menn er pålagt gjennom obligatorisk verneplikt. Likevel har Norge vært et foregangsland i Nato når det gjelder kvinners adgang til det militære. I flere ledende Nato-land, som for eksempel USA og UK, har kvinner til dags dato ikke fått tilgang til stridende stillinger. Dette antas å ha motvirket økt kvinneandel i disse landene fordi manglende operativ erfaring blir ansett som karrierehemmende uansett kjønn (Skjelsbæk m.fl. 2011, se kapittel 1).
I USA, hvor kvinner fortsatt ikke har fulle rettigheter og muligheter i det militære, er imidlertid kvinneandelen i de militære styrkene omtrent dobbelt så høy som i Norge.
«Faktisk har majoriteten av Natos medlemsland høyere kvinneandel i sine respektive militære organisasjoner enn Norge» (Skjelsbæk m.fl. 2011: 59, se figur 1.2 i kapittel 1).
I Norge har kvinneandelen vært stabilt lav, mellom 5-8 prosent, siden slutten av 1980-tallet (Forsvarsdepartementet 2007). Dette til tross for at det har vært et eksplisitt politisk mål å øke kvinneandelen i Forsvaret i nesten 30 år med 198 unike tiltak og initiativer iverksatt (Fasting m.fl. 2012). Spørsmålet som stilles i dette kapitlet er derfor; kan det ligge noe i den norske forsvarstradisjonen som har virket hemmende
for økt kvinneandel i Forsvaret? Spørsmålet stilles på bakgrunn av at flere forfattere har argumentert for at det finnes en særegen norsk forsvarstradisjon som i stor grad har vært vevd sammen med norsk nasjonsbygging (Friis 2000, Græger m.fl. 2005, Græger 2011 og Ulriksen 2002). Videre har det blitt argumentert for at denne forsvarstradisjonen virket som en buffer som forhindret, eller i alle fall forsinket, den endring og omstilling av de militære styrkene som fant sted i andre Natoland etter den kalde krigen (Ulriksen 2002). På bakgrunn av dette skal vi i det følgende diskutere hvorvidt den norske forsvarstradisjonen, slik den i størst detalj beskrives av Ulriksen (2002), kan ha bidratt til å forhindre, eller forsinke, økt kvinneandel i det norske forsvaret. Det vil bli argumentert for at den norske forsvarstradisjonen ble konstruert på en måte som satte likhetstegn mellom militærmakt og fysisk robuste friluftsmenn. Videre vil det argumenteres for at friluftsmannen har representert en hegemonisk form for maskulinitet som har gjort det vanskeligere for kvinner og
menn med andre egenskaper å bli verdsatt i Forsvaret.

I dette kapitlet vil vi presentere og diskutere utvalgte deler av et empirisk materiale fra et feltarbeid utført på Felles Opptak og Seleksjon til Forsvarets befalsskoler i 2010.  Hensikten med studien var å undersøke forhold som kan bidra til
å hemme rekruttering og opptak til Forsvarets befalsskoler.

Empirien baserer seg på feltobservasjoner av en kameratrangering, gjennomført av aspiranter på ett lag, mot slutten av Forsvarets opptak og seleksjon (FOS/BS) til
grunnleggende befalsutdanning (GBU).

Problemstillingen vi ønsker å belyse er:

Hvilke kriterier legger et utvalg aspiranter på FOS/BS til grunn i
vurderingen av sine mannlige og kvinnelige lagkamerater, når de
blir bedt om å vurdere og rangere hverandre i forhold til deres
potensiale som militære ledere

På bakgrunn av to pilotstudier som ble utført på Felles opptak og seleksjon (FOS) 2010 (Rones og Fasting 2011 og Stornæs og Fasting 2011) gjennomførte flere forskere fra Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt, Krigsskolen Linderud, Vernepliktsverket og Norges idrettshøgskole en mer omfattende feltstudie ved FOS 2011. Denne rapporten presenterer deler av den innsamlede empirien derfra. Andre funn og anbefalinger fra dette feltoppholdet er allerede publisert i Kristiansen 2011. Et tema som ble satt på agendaen etter pilotstudiene var bruk av kameratvurderinger og rangeringer i seleksjonsprosessene, og hvordan kvinner kommer ut i disse rangeringene. I denne rapporten legges det derfor vekt på hvordan ordningen med kameratvurderinger kan fungere, gjennom ulike eksempler. Kameratvurderinger er tilbakemeldinger fra kandidatene/aspirantene til hverandre, hvor de vurderer og rangerer hverandre i forhold til lederegenskaper. Offiserene som initierer og monitorerer slike ritualer, har ganske frie tøyler når det gjelder gjennomføringen, og denne rapporten viser hvordan valg av metode for gjennomføring av kameratvurdering og rangering har konsekvenser for utfallet. Kameratvurderingene er kun én liten del av hvilket inntrykk seleksjonsoffiserene får av aspirantene i felt. Vårt inntrykk er at til tross for enkelte kurs og noe opplæring og oppfølging, er den viktigste delen av offisersvurderingen basert på kun én persons inntrykk og skjønn. Seleksjonsoffiserenes ord veier tungt og spiller stor rolle i forhold til om en kandidat blir antatt som aspirant eller ikke ved befalsskolen. Vi stiller spørsmål ved om ordningen fungerer optimalt, eller om det er endringer som burde gjennomføres. Særlig opplæring og kommunikasjon mellom ulike ledd “i linja” ser ut til å ha forbedringspotensial med tanke på å redusere vilkårlighet i utvelgelsen av fremtidige ledere i Forsvaret. Rapporten tar også opp emnet mangfold i Forsvaret, og presenterer noen aspekter som vanskeliggjør det politiske målet om høyere grad av mangfold. Særlig vil temaet rundt kjønn bli diskutert. Avslutningsvis formulerer vi noen punkter der vi mener praksisen kan eller bør endres, samt forslag til videre forskning.

The FFI project Research on Annual Age Cohorts aims to uncover factors that hamper and promote recruitment and retention of women and men to the Norwegian Armed Forces. This report summarizes some selected findings from the doctoral thesis The Struggle of Military Identity (Rones, 2015) and discusses the implications. The findings are selected because they are relevant to the issues investigated in Research on Annual Age Cohorts, and can be summarized in three points: 1) The selection and evaluation of officer candidates are largely based on subjective assessments of attitudes and suitability as a role model, rather than on assessment of specific skills and expertise. This entails a risk of social reproduction because such a selection is based on the candidate’s resemblance to an ideal image of the good soldier. 2) The requirement that every officer candidate needs to be a physically strong and energetic leader and winner leads to internal competition, conflicts and hierarchy struggles. At the core of the struggle are the physical test results and the competition-based selection process, which gives the Armed Forces an exclusive touch and promote the educations attractiveness. It is however not certain that the exclusivity of the education contributes to the attractiveness of later military jobs or to the retention of personnel to routine positions and functions. An exclusive identity achieved through the selection process also seemed to be more important for women than for men. This may be because all-male conscription has normalized military service for all kinds of men, while women perceive of military service as an opportunity to be “one of the guys”. Several women also expressed negative attitudes towards other women and towards the desire to increase the proportion of women in the Armed Forces. Considering the physical fitness tests, it has been claimed that women in particular want gender neutral requirements since the differentiated requirements are seen as a form of affirmative action. However, findings from interviews and surveys show that there is a minority of both women and men who are committed to equal physical requirements for the two sexes in all positions. It is argued that some women advocate equal physical requirements based on two motives: 1) as an act of recognition, and 2) as a selfinterest. 3) Obligations to obey regulation impositions and subordinate to the military rank order lead to adaption issues. Some men, in particular those who obey women in authority, seem to use bullying or harassment as a tool to reconstruct their symbolic dominance over women. The study further shows that male officer candidates in the Medical Battalion were subject to bullying by men from other battalions, who argued that medical service was a physical undemanding service well suited for girls. The men in the Medical Battalion expressed, accordingly, negative attitudes towards the high proportion of women in this service, and some of them engaged in bullying and harassment of their female colleagues.

Flere studier og undersøkelser har vist at både kvinner og menn opplever mobbing og seksuell trakassering i Forsvaret. Dette har uheldige konsekvenser for de som utsettes for disse handlingene, og er ødeleggende for Forsvarets evne til å utnytte og beholde kompetent personell. I tillegg kan den uønskede adferden påvirke Forsvarets omdømme negativt med uheldige konsekvenser for nyrekruttering. Derfor ønsker både politisk og militær ledelse å sette inn målrettede tiltak for forebygging av mobbing og seksuell trakassering. Målrettede tiltak krever kunnskap om hva som foregår. Forsvarsstaben og Forsvarsdepartementet gav derfor Forsvarets forskingsinstitutt i oppdrag å utvikle spørsmålsbatterier som best mulig måler hvordan, og i hvilket omfang, mobbing og seksuell trakassering forekommer i Forsvaret. I denne rapporten beskrives den metodiske utviklingen av spørsmålsbatteriene.

Norway has based its security on aid from great military powers, and is therefore a useful site for examining the idea of complicit masculinities: a position that benefits from the current social order, and thus complying with dominant group interests and hegemonic ideals. This chapter illustrates how such a position led Norway to take an active part in Western interventionism, resulting in a military transformation that challenged national identity, the traditional hegemonic masculinity ideal and the established gender order. This caused a struggle over military identity. By examining this identity struggle the chapter contributes to the broader debates of masculinities, how they work, how they are linked to hierarchical social structures, and how military masculinity is challenged by women’s bodies.

In several studies of women in the Norwegian Armed Forces, we have found an assertion that female groups are so riddled with conflicts and enmity that it is preferable to keep women few in number and mixed up with men, even in dormitories (Hellum 2014; Lilleaas and Ellingsen 2014; Rones 2015). Yet, when the Norwegian Special Operations Command (NORSOC) organized an all-female Special Reconnaissance Platoon, the NORSOC leadership would conclude that they had seen “almost disappointingly little of the conflicts that allegedly should occur in groups of females” (Rones and Steder 2017). Accordingly, this article will critically explore the assertion that women are often so quarrelsome that it is preferable to keep them few in number and mixed with men 24/7.It will be argued that women’s alleged tendency towards enmity is a myth that is made ‘true’ by ‘queen bee behavior’. Queen bee behavior is seen as an act of recognition, whereby women comply with existing gender stereotypes, evaluate...

De to siste tiårene har personellområdet i forsvarssektoren gjennomgått en utvikling og modernisering. Det har kommet flere stortingsmeldinger som omhandler personell spesielt, og alle har etterspurt forskningsbasert kunnskap. Denne rapporten kartlegger forskning og studier som er publisert i perioden mellom 1990 og august 2018 og som omhandler personell i norsk forsvarssektor. En slik oversikt over eksisterende personellforskning vil blant annet vise hvilke temaer det er forsket mye på, og peke på kunnskapshull. Vår studie kan være til hjelp i utformingen av en framtidig forsknings- og utviklingsstrategi og dessuten være et viktig kunnskapsgrunnlag for ny politikk. Oppsummeringen vil også være nyttig for både forskere og beslutningstakere som ønsker å identifisere forskning innenfor utvalgte temaer.

Vi har benyttet en systematisk kartleggingsprosedyre for å identifisere relevant litteratur. Litteraturen vi har funnet, er samlet og systematisert i en database. Her har vi merket hver enkelt referanse med publikasjonstype, ansvarlig forskningsinstitusjon, datainnsamlingsmetode, i tillegg til hvilken personellgruppe og hvilke team det var forsket på. På denne måten har vi gjort litteraturen lettere tilgjengelig for både beslutningstakere og forskere.

I denne rapporten har vi sett nærmere på publikasjonstypene forskningsrapporter og tidsskriftsartikler. Vi fant forskning spesielt innenfor tre kategorier. Det var studier av helsen til mannlig militært personell og deres fysiske form, studier av hva som fremmer eller hemmer kvinners inntog i Forsvaret og studier innenfor prestasjon, læring og pedagogikk. Etter hvert som både Forsvaret og personellområdet utvikles, vil noe av kunnskapen foreldes. Derfor er det viktig fortsatt å ha fokus på de områdene vi har identifisert forskning innenfor.

Vi har identifisert noen kunnskapshull gjennom denne kartleggingen. Vi finner for eksempel lite eller ingen forskning på militære kvinners psykiske og fysiske helse, ernæringsbehov, skadeforebygging eller effekt av trening. Videre finner vi lite eller ingen forskning på sivile, reservister, eldre, etnisitet, seksuell legning (LGBT), etikk, religion og tro i Forsvaret, kompetansemangfold, læring og trening av militær kjernekompetanse, forsvarsfamilier, personell- og arbeidsøkonomi og interaksjonen mellom mennesker og teknologi. Vår liste over områder med lite eller ingen forskning er på ingen måte uttømmende. Den vil være farget av vår kunnskap om feltet selv om den er basert på en omfattende gjennomgang av litteraturen, internasjonal forskning på militært personell og gjeldende politiske dokumenter.

Databasen er åpent tilgjengelig for alle, og finnes på en lenke:
https://www.zotero.org/groups/2225428/ffi_hr-samling/library

Flere studier og undersøkelser har vist at både kvinner og menn opplever mobbing og seksuell trakassering i Forsvaret. Dette har uheldige konsekvenser for de som utsettes for disse handlingene, og er ødeleggende for Forsvarets evne til å utnytte og beholde kompetent personell. I tillegg kan den uønskede adferden påvirke Forsvarets omdømme negativt med uheldige konsekvenser for nyrekruttering. Derfor ønsker både politisk og militær ledelse å sette inn målrettede tiltak for forebygging av mobbing og seksuell trakassering.
Målrettede tiltak krever kunnskap om hva som foregår. Forsvarsstaben og Forsvarsdepartementet gav derfor Forsvarets forskingsinstitutt i oppdrag å utvikle spørsmålsbatterier som best mulig måler hvordan, og i hvilket omfang, mobbing og seksuell trakassering forekommer i Forsvaret. I denne rapporten beskrives den metodiske utviklingen av spørsmålsbatteriene.

The FFI project Research on Annual Age Cohorts aims to uncover factors that hamper and
promote recruitment and retention of women and men to the Norwegian Armed Forces. This
report summarizes some selected findings from the doctoral thesis The Struggle of Military
Identity (Rones, 2015) and discusses the implications. The findings are selected because they are
relevant to the issues investigated in Research on Annual Age Cohorts, and can be summarized in
three points:
1) The selection and evaluation of officer candidates are largely based on subjective assessments
of attitudes and suitability as a role model, rather than on assessment of specific skills and
expertise. This entails a risk of social reproduction because such a selection is based on the
candidate’s resemblance to an ideal image of the good soldier.
2) The requirement that every officer candidate needs to be a physically strong and energetic
leader and winner leads to internal competition, conflicts and hierarchy struggles. At the core of
the struggle are the physical test results and the competition-based selection process, which gives
the Armed Forces an exclusive touch and promote the educations attractiveness. It is however not
certain that the exclusivity of the education contributes to the attractiveness of later military jobs
or to the retention of personnel to routine positions and functions. An exclusive identity achieved
through the selection process also seemed to be more important for women than for men. This
may be because all-male conscription has normalized military service for all kinds of men, while
women perceive of military service as an opportunity to be “one of the guys”. Several women
also expressed negative attitudes towards other women and towards the desire to increase the
proportion of women in the Armed Forces. Considering the physical fitness tests, it has been
claimed that women in particular want gender neutral requirements since the differentiated
requirements are seen as a form of affirmative action. However, findings from interviews and
surveys show that there is a minority of both women and men who are committed to equal
physical requirements for the two sexes in all positions. It is argued that some women advocate
equal physical requirements based on two motives: 1) as an act of recognition, and 2) as a selfinterest.
3) Obligations to obey regulation impositions and subordinate to the military rank order lead to
adaption issues. Some men, in particular those who obey women in authority, seem to use
bullying or harassment as a tool to reconstruct their symbolic dominance over women. The study
further shows that male officer candidates in the Medical Battalion were subject to bullying by
men from other battalions, who argued that medical service was a physical undemanding service
well suited for girls. The men in the Medical Battalion expressed, accordingly, negative attitudes
towards the high proportion of women in this service, and some of them engaged in bullying and
harassment of their female colleagues.

Formålet med ”Befalsskolestudien – Felles opptak og seleksjon 2010” har vært å undersøke  hvem det er som blir tatt opp til befalsskolene, og hvem det er som faller fra, samt hvem det  er som opplever å passe inn og hvem som ikke opplever å passe inn.

Hovedproblemstilling for ”Befalsskolestudien – Felles opptak og seleksjon 2010” ble formulert  slik:  Hvilke faktorer kan være med å hemme/ekskludere og fremme/inkludere opptak til Forsvarets befalsskoler. En delproblemstilling for feltstudien har vært: Er det plass til kvinner i Forsvaret?

Hensikten med feltarbeidet som ble utført under FOS, og som denne rapporten rapporterer  fra, har vært å observere hva som faktisk skjer i felt(et)3 , eller med andre ord; hva som skjer  i løpet av det “det første møtet” med militær kultur. Feltarbeidets fokus har vært rettet mot  hendelser og utsagn som sier noe om, eller kan ha konsekvenser for hvem som blir med  videre, og hvem som ikke blir med videre, for hvem som opplever  “å passe inn” og hvem som  opplever “å ikke passe inn” på befalsskolen eller i Forsvaret.