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There are many understandings of what mission command means and how to apply it. But since there are many opinions about the concept of mission command, they are thus question marks about how they should be applied in practice at lower tactical levels.

This paper examines how Swedish officers perceive the concept and whether mission command is practically used at the lowest tactical level onboard the Navy´s vessels. In order to answer the research question, the survey is based on three understandings of mission command: method of leadership, culture and mindset. The purpose of this essay is to clarify and increase the understanding of the use of the Swedish management philosophy of mission command in the Swedish Royal Navy by interviewing the commanders who have the opportunity to make decisions in the spirit of mission command.

The result shows that mission command is used, however in different ways. Because there is a wide understanding of the meaning and usefulness of the concept, all respondents make their own interpretation of when it is possible to use mission command. When it comes to the different conceptions of mission command, no one is excluded, but rather they induce each other in different use needs.