Number 788: My Experiences in Swedish Special Operations - Preparing for NATO and the War on Terror

How a reluctant soldier and ranger, excelling in reconnaissance, intelligence, and covert operations, details his journey post-Cold War training to the War on Terror.

I am a soldier and a ranger – a specialist in reconnaissance, intelligence, and covert operations. I never wanted to be a soldier, but I found that I excelled at it. I have fired my weapons in anger, infiltrated terrorist groups, and made and burnt sources. Number 788 is my story.

Being good at doing bad things is not always a blessing. You can’t be the judge, only the executioner. The concept of ‘for the greater good’ always has a flip side. You are moving and living in the shadows. The ones in control grant you the ultimate power of life, but a life lived in the shadows is never your own.

My development was slow and meticulous; it was improvised and innovative. Now, I write about what it was like to be pushed past the brink of what I thought was humanly possible. I aim to share my flawed path, lessons learned, relationships forged, revelations of self and the workings of others, with the very small hope of inspiring a few new generation warriors.

I was trained at a unique time, as I joined the forces after the Cold War but just before the attacks of 9-11. During my formation, the lack of controls and regulation came with tremendous risks but also significant opportunities – I seized them. I am the product of brave officers who took action with great personal risk to save a regiment without permission and by asking for forgiveness later. Officers who believed in the saying, ‘Who Dares Wins’. I share my small place as a silent mediator between the light and shadows in the long and flawed history of Western and Nordic fighters.

The end of the Cold War and subsequent peacekeeping missions caught the Swedish military flatfooted when the War on Terror came around. The need for special operations forces was in high demand, but for the most part, Sweden lacked this niche capability. While still in its conceptual form, the International Ranger Platoon, an elite force that became a Special Purpose Unit within the Ranger Battalion, was used to fill the gap. Newly recruited, I was drawn to the challenge and adventure of it all; I took on the tough selection course – the reward was to be part of something new – the Special Purpose Units.

Max Lauker, served in the Swedish Armed Forces, 2002-2018. Primarily serving in Special Purpose
Units belonging to the Norrlands Dragoon Regiment, Arvidsjaur. Later serving in Stockholm and
Karlsborg with units included under the special operations and intelligence umbrella. Several deployments over the years include Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and the former Eastern Bloc leading numerous covert operations. Now working in the private security sector with Intelligence as his main discipline.

Antonio Garcia is a visiting scholar at New York University Centre on International Cooperation. Antonio has worked at the intersection of international peace and security training; research and development; and doctrine and policy. As a visiting lecturer he has taught at Durham University (UK) and New York University as well as at various military colleges and schools. He holds degrees in military science, geography and history; serves in an adjunct faculty position at the University of South Africa and is a PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University. Antonio has published in academic and professional journals, and has also published in poetry and literature anthologies. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and certified Chartered Geographer (RGS-IBG). He has previously served in the South African National Defence Force as an officer and senior officer for 16 years. During his service he has been deployed in various internal, regional and international missions including, two peacekeeping missions, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and Sudan, Darfur (UNAMID), as well as internal missions in South Africa and operations on the border of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.