The Joint Advanced Command and Staff Programme
The Joint Advanced Command and Staff Programme (HOP) is an academic officer education with the aim of developing officer competence towards taking on great responsibility at senior management level. Senior military leadership requires a broad ability to solve complex problems from several perspectives. It also requires independence, the ability to think critically, creatively and constructively.
The training is a mix of theory, discussion, practical exercises, practical training, study trips and supervision. You always have a clear connection to your future professional role and great focus is placed on developing your ability to lead and make decisions.
After the programme, you should be able to plan, lead and follow up joint operations, both humanitarian and military operations, along the entire conflict scale.
As a major subject, you study war studies, but you also take courses in military technology and law with a focus on international law.
Some of the courses are taught in English in order to be able to work as a military commander and staff officer both nationally and internationally at senior management level. The NATO dimension is integrated throughout the programme's structure and courses.
HOP leads to a master's degree in military studies depending on whether you attend HOP1 or HOP12. The education is commissioned by the Swedish Armed Forces, which also decides on the direction of your degree even before you are admitted.
Briefly about the Joint Advanced Command and Staff Programme
A unique academic environment
Wargaming and education
By using war games, students at the Swedish Defence University learn how to plan and conduct military operations on land, in the air, and at sea.
"I now recognize the ethical responsibility"
When Axel Boltenberg and his classmates visited the Auschwitz concentration camp, it was with the aim of stimulating a reflection process centered on ethical dilemmas.
German exchange officer with his sights set on the Nordic region
Meet Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Rost, German army officer who chose to study two years as an exchange officer at the Higher Officer Program at the Swedish Defence University.
