The defense will investigate leak of secret navy plan to DR.

The military will investigate the leak of a secret navy plan to DR

The military should handle the situation differently 'instead of completely locking up and showing how stupid one is', according to criticism from a retired colonel.

It is far from the first time that DR or other media have been able to describe stories from the military based on internal and secret documents. (Photo: © Henning Jespersen-Skree, The Military) 4 minutes ago

Friday morning, DR was able to describe how the Navy envisions the future fleet.

The plan appeared in an internal document, signed by Rear Admiral Søren Kjeldsen, who is the head of the Naval Command, which DR has read, and whose content several military sources have confirmed.

Read also: Secret memo reveals the Navy's plan for the future fleet - and there is a need for much more than new frigates (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/hemmeligt-notat-viser-soevaernets-plan-fremtidens-flaade-og-der-er-brug-meget-mere-end-nye-fregatter)

But it has hardly been well received by the Defence Command (FKO). They will now initiate an internal investigation into who let DR read the document.

- The information that DR has allegedly received does not represent the military's recommendations for the future fleet.

- Since DR states that it is a leak, the case has been reported to the Military Prosecution Service. The military does not otherwise comment on information allegedly originating from leaked drafts, states a written quote from FKO.

The Military Prosecution Service is a military prosecution authority tasked with investigating and handling military criminal cases.

But it makes absolutely no sense, according to criticism from Eigil Schjønning, a retired colonel, former head of the Army Officers' School, and now part of the think tank Institute for Military Analysis.

The documents are not classified – or stamped with varying degrees of secrecy, as some military documents are. It is solely an internal memo.

- They are slapping their thighs laughing at how they can act so completely foolishly. It may well be that the department and the top of the military say, 'no, it's not good that it came out now. We would have preferred to wait with that.' I can understand that.

- But once it is out, you should handle the situation differently instead of completely locking up and showing how stupid you are.

Colonel Eigil Schjønning is former head of the Army Officers' School - here in connection with the school's 300th anniversary in 2013. (Photo: © Mads Nissen, Ritzau Scanpix)

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Fears important knowledge never reaches politicians

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Eigil Schjønning is worried that the Navy's thoughts would never have seen the light of day or reached the politicians if DR had not described them.

He tells how he himself in his time experienced that the defence committee and other politicians do not necessarily get the facts after reports and memos from the military branches have travelled up through the system.

First through the Defence Command and then through the Ministry of Defence's offices.

- They get the reality and the facts that the department wants to tell them, so that everything fits into their spreadsheets.

- I sat with top politicians back then, whom I cannot name, but who said to me: Eigil, I cannot trust what I get from the department.

What is the risk of the public gaining insight into what the Navy believes is needed to solve the task?

- Nothing. On the contrary, you get an impression of and profile a Navy that knows its profession.

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Not the first story with internal documents

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It is far from the first time that DR or other media have been able to describe stories from the military based on internal and secret documents.

In the spring, for example, DR was able to describe, based on internal papers, how every fourth soldier is missing on the military's Arctic inspection ships. Based on an internal investigation, DR was also able to describe how the manpower shortage leads to increased workload, stress, and wear and tear, which affects the mental health of the soldiers.

Read also: Secret report reveals harsh working environment on Arctic ships: 60 percent consider quitting (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/hemmelig-rapport-afsloerer-haardt-arbejdsmiljoe-paa-arktiske-skibe-60-procent-overvejer-sige-op)

According to Jakob Linnet Schmidt, a researcher in defence policy in Denmark at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), the now-initiated investigation is an expression of a desire to have a culture where documents are kept within the circles for which they are intended.

- It matters for the culture and the trust one has as an employee if those documents just flow out into circles where they are not intended, he says.

The Defence Command and the Ministry of Defence have not wished to comment on the criticism.

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