Fully Integrated Forces. Initially, during the planning phase, the intention was for the Swedish units to be organised separately from the Dutch ones with their own chain of command.110 Accordingly, the Dutch Commanding Officer (CO) of HNLMS Xxxxx xx Xxxx would have given orders to the CO of the Swedish contingent, who would then have led the Swedish units. However, after discussion, the CO of the ship and the head of the Swedish contingent agreed early on that this was not a natural, practical solution. Instead, it was decided that the Swedish enablers would be a fully integrated part of the Dutch ship. Subsequently, both the Dutch crew and the Swedish contingent were under the control of the Commanding Officer of the Xxxxx xx Xxxx. In addition, he acted as Senior Representative for the Dutch staff in the FHQ. The CO of the Swedish contingent was in charge of the Swedish staff both on the ship and in the FHQ, including the Swedish Force Commander. This meant CO of the Swedish contingent was ultimately in charge of personnel issues and disciplinary action. The Force Commander, for his part, was the Senior Swedish Representative. Importantly, the head of the Swedish contingent jointly planned operations and activities involving the Swedish units with the Commanding Officer and the Executive Officer of the ship. In this way, the Swedish contingent leader could signal early on whether, for example, there were any restrictions on how the 110 Interviews 3 and 17. FOI-R--4101--SE Swedish forces could be used. Furthermore, the head of the Swedish contingent was a so-called red card holder, which meant he was empowered to veto any tasks or activities assigned to the Swedish forces. The fact that he was involved in the planning from an early stage clearly reduced the need for him to exercise this power. In the same way, the units – the helicopter detachment and boat group – were also mixed. While for example the Dutch marines had their own vessels and the Swedes theirs, these were all coordinated by a Dutch officer with the most senior Swede in rank acting as deputy. Similarly, there was only one Flight Commander for all the helicopters. Various functions then had to be assigned to officers depending on their specific expertise. Thus, the Commanding Officer of the ship did not task the Swedish and Dutch units separately but only addressed one person in the chain of command. In the same way, this full integration meant that Dutch forces did not have to change their existing command and co...
