Making Sense of Alliance Integration During Times of Organizational Disarray : Experiences of Swedish Military Personnel during NATO’s Enhanced Air Policing Mission in Poland (ANP25:1)

Sweden’s first aerial deployment as a NATO member aimed to secure air defence through NATO’s Enhanced Air Policing mission. This study centers on twelve qualitative interviews with participants, ranging from flight technicians to pilots, from the Swedish F 21 deployment, and studies how personnel make sense of the Air NATO Poland 2025 (ANP25:1) and relate the mission to their individual professional motivation. Using interpretivist abductive analysis, theorized in organizational and military sociology, this thesis finds that ANP25:1 was understood to have a clear mission purpose, while at the same time exposing organizational ambiguity within NATO integration. Secondly, the interviews revealed that the mission illustrated a broader structural imbalance within the Swedish Armed Forces between increasing demands and scarce resources, which negatively affected participants' short-term professional motivation. Finally, the interview participants described a tension between their professional loyalty and personal life, which the ANP25:1 symbolized. Overall, the findings demonstrate how ANP25:1 was perceived as a case of early-stage Swedish alliance integration into NATO, revealing challenges of the ongoing organizational transformations within the Swedish Armed Forces. This thesis challenges previous research focusing on the institutional and technical dimensions of alliance integration and can contribute to further research at the intersection of war studies, military sociology, and organizational studies. It offers relevant insights to military and political leadership seeking to maintain professional motivation in times of organizational disarray.