Micael Bydén's military career began as a conscript with KA 4 in Gothenburg - but his dream to fly lead to his training as a fighter pilot in Ljungbyhed. After serving in Uppsala, Söderhamn, Luleå, Washington DC, Linköping and Afghanistan, he became an air force inspector at Headquarters in January 2012.
"We are seeing a deteriorating security policy situation and new threats. This is a situation which gives me reason to be concerned as an officer, while it has strengthened my conviction that our society must be better equipped to meet this new world and that a modern Swedish defence - civil and military - is important. In the light of this situation, we will continue to develop our armed forces as Sweden's most important security policy instrument," says Micael Bydén.
"In the first instance, it is about delivering military capacity. This military capacity shall be delivered here in Sweden, but also in other parts of the world, in partnerships with other forces. We shall continue the defence reform that has been initiated and we do that through pursuing the defence decision. I will execute this task within the Armed Forces, where pride and enterprise are the guiding principles. It will require hard work, and I will have high demands and expectations of all those involved. I thank the government and the Minister of Defence for the confidence they have shown in me, and I will do my utmost to be worthy of this."