# CDS to CP:  "Canada's army eager for new mission"



## hagan_91 (8 Jul 2012)

http://www.castanet.net/news/Canada/77620/Canada-s-army-eager-for-new-mission


Canada's army eager for new mission

by The Canadian Press - Story: 77620
 Jul 7, 2012 / 4:03 pm




When it comes to future missions for the Canadian Forces, Canada's top soldier has to battle to keep his eager troops satisfied with staying out of major combat zones for now.

Canada's military presence in Afghanistan will come to an end once the current training mission concludes in 2014 and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk acknowledges that's a disappointment for many soldiers, sailors and air personnel.

"We have some men and women who have had two, three and four tours and what they're telling me is 'Sir, we've got that bumper sticker. Can we go somewhere else now?'" Natynczyk said in an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press in Calgary.

"You also have the young sailors, soldiers, airmen and women who have just finished basic training and they want to go somewhere and in their minds it was going to be Afghanistan. So if not Afghanistan, where's it going to be? They all want to serve."

But Natynczyk is unsure about what is in store for the Canadian Forces or even himself for that matter.

He has been on the job for four years, which is past the normal tenure for someone in his position, and if he knows what is going to happen next, he isn't providing any details.

"I'll just keep on sprinting in this job until I'm told to get off the playing field and recognizing that I'm living in a pretty good time to be in the military," he said.

"I never aspired to this job. I just serve. I serve Canadians and the country and look on every day as an opportunity to make a contribution."

Natynczyk said he is telling Canadian troops to keep their "kit packed up" because the world is an unpredictable place right now.

"The world is turbulent right now and the fact is our allies want more of Canada, more of the men and women who wear Canadian uniforms," he said.

"I've told them all to catch up on that training that lapsed while we had this high operational tempo between Afghanistan and the Olympics and Haiti and Libya, and let's make sure we have all qualifications and training up to date so when we're called upon we're ready to go."

The general said outside of Afghanistan, Canada has a number of other smaller missions underway including in the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean.

Natynczyk said he is satisfied with the success of the Canadian mission to Afghanistan and pointed out that he flew into Kabul on a commercial airliner for the first time when he visited troops in the city last month.

He said the departure of Canadian and U.S. troops will give the Afghan forces the little push that they need to succeed.

"It has helped the Afghans in a sense, taking ownership of their own security. One of the real challenges was the sense that NATO and our allies were going to stay there forever. (That) actually was not helpful in terms of their own culture and own atmosphere," he said.

Natynczyk is focusing much of his efforts now in making sure more attention is being paid to injured soldiers and their families, especially those suffering from the psychological effects of war.

"It's almost easier to handle people with physical injuries, with physical wounds. People can see it. They can understand it, whether it be shrapnel, a broken leg, even these horrific amputations," he said.

"It's much more difficult in the mental injury, whether it be post traumatic stress, operational stress injury, traumatic brain injury because we're just understanding the beginning of a process of understanding the complex nature of this."

Natynczyk said he talked about mental health on his last visit to Kabul, especially about overcoming the "stigma" of mental issues and making sure people come forward if they have a problem.

"Many of our personnel support units see soldiers, airmen and women trying to walk in the back door because they don't want to be seen as having a problem," he said. "The sooner you get treatment, the sooner you are back in the saddle."


Thoughts from serving members on this topic? 

_- mod edit to clarify title, source -_


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## Towards_the_gap (8 Jul 2012)

Most people I know are tired of being away. They would go again for a shooting match, but anything less they want nothing to do with. 

Why? I have no idea, that is just the anecdotal feeling I've observed.


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## brihard (8 Jul 2012)

Lots of new guys chomping at the bit, and I know a or of reservists who are really kicking themselves for missing the boat when we had the chance.

But as ever it remains - appropriately - a political decision on where our national interest lays. I hope that wherever we go next it's a meaningful mission with ROEs that won't leave us hamstrung...


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## TN2IC (9 Jul 2012)

Yeah at least I can say I was on the last bit of that boat. And I was so glad to make it there. I think the term "combat mission" can be glorying to a lot of new troops entering the unit lines. Everyone has been condition train after their trades trading. And then they want to meet that Johnny Taliban.

Just my two cents,
Regards,
Macey


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## Colin Parkinson (19 Jul 2012)

Well there is lots of opportunity out there, but I suspect the will to send anyone is a tad low at the moment. Maybe helping to train Tanzanian or Kenyen troops might be the ticket for a few soldiers or an observer force in Sudan.


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## hagan_91 (20 Jul 2012)

Canadian military building network of international outposts in push for more overseas missions

Lee Berthiaume, Postmedia News  Jul 19, 2012 – 8:54 PM ET | Last Updated: Jul 19, 2012 8:57 PM ET




Sgt Bruno Turcotte, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

Master Corporal Michel Gagné provides security during the food distribution in Haiti in 2010. Given the inevitability of future deployments abroad and the unpredictability of where they will be, it makes sense to have existing arrangements in place around the world, says Adam Chapnick.
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OTTAWA — For the past two years, Canada has been quietly working to establish small military outposts in places such as the Caribbean, East Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia.

Now newly released Department of Defence documents show these operational support hubs are part of a plan to deploy the military on more overseas missions — including combat and security — than under previous governments.

The revelation touches on a debate about the future role of the military in the aftermath of major combat operations in Afghanistan and Libya, and amid belt-tightening across the federal government.


Related

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On May 13, 2010, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk authorized the establishment of the operational support hubs in as many as seven locations around the world.

A directive, signed by Gen. Natynczyk and obtained by Postmedia News, says the initiative was launched to improve the Canadian Forces’ “ability to project combat power/security assistance and Canadian influence rapidly and flexibly anywhere in the world.”

It adds that the ability to deploy and sustain combat forces is not only contingent on strong logistical networks, but is also “an essential instrument of national power and should continue to be exploited to attain national objectives.”

The directive traces the operational support hub initiative directly back to 2007, when the Harper government acquired four massive C-17 Globemaster military transport planes.

“The decision to acquire four C-17s (CC177) for strategic airlift indicates the government’s intention to utilize the CF more extensively off continent,” it reads.





CLICK TO ENLARGE
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“This directive is based on the assumption that in the future, Canada will continue to deploy and employ forces internationally in support of national interests,” it later adds.

To date, agreements to establish operational support hubs have been signed with Jamaica and Germany.

Each will see a small team of Canadian military personnel stationed permanently within a major, strategically located city served by an international airport and seaport facilities.

When needed, the outpost will ramp up and act as a staging area and resupply hub for Canadian missions in the surrounding region.

“These ‘turn-key’ arrangements will allow the CF to rapidly make the strategic move into the most dangerous regions of the world and then project tactically forward into an operational area,” reads an undated briefing note.

The defence department has aimed to reach similar agreements with five other countries located near potential hotspots in Asia and Africa.
 “While natural disasters and other factors also enter into the equation, the likelihood of failed or failing states was a key driver,” reads a slide presentation presented to senior military commanders a few weeks before the directive was signed.

Most of the Canadian Forces’ recent major missions — including Afghanistan, Libya and after Haiti’s devastating earthquake in January 2010 — have been to countries that would be considered failed or failing.

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Posted in: Canada, News  Tags: Walter Natynczyk

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/07/19/canadian-militarys-new-international-outposts-key-to-more-overseas-missions/

P.S take a look at comments posted by people at the botton of the link.


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## Canadian.Trucker (20 Jul 2012)

I read through some of those comments.  "DND has been largely a joke for two generations but it is now become dangerous."  I refuse to quote any of the rest of this individuals rant as it was full of nonsense.  I really wish people truly understood how the world worked, but that is too much to ask I guess.

As for the military being eager for a new mission, I would agree that most newly enlisted personnel within the last 2 years are looking for something to do.  That's a good thing.  I would also say that even most that did 2+ tours to Afghanistan are looking for something to do.  Whatever that may be though a meaningful mission that has a clearly defined objective would be the true desire.  We also need to look at a little bit of downtime as a good thing to rebuild and re-train in the expectation that something else will eventually come around the corner.


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## Old Sweat (20 Jul 2012)

And just so we all don't conclude everybody in the media is a raving leftard, the following piece from Matt Gurney on the National Post site tries to put the plan into perspective. It is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act.

Matt Gurney: Canada’s teeny-tiny foreign bases not worth a teeny-tiny kerfuffle
Matt Gurney  Jul 20, 2012 – 10:56 AM ET | Last Updated: Jul 20, 2012 11:06 AM ET 


Even by the usual low standards of Canadian political issues, concerns over the plans of the Canadian Forces to establish bases all around the world are almost comically overblown.

For several years, the military and National Defence officials have been working with allied or at least friendly nations to reach agreements that would permit the Canadian military to operate out of their territory in the event of an international emergency. These bases would be located in Europe, eastern Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and southeast Asia. A total of seven bases may ultimately be established.

Oooh. Sounds scary. Canada the Good, Canada the nation of Mounties, beavers, igloos and blue helmets, is seeking to establish a global military network to support its up-til-now (incredibly) well-hidden ambitions for global imperial rule. Soon, all of Europe, Africa and Asia will tremble beneath our hockey gloved iron first. These bases are especially ominous given the other signs of Canada’s increasingly warlike nature — why, just this week, a Royal Canadian Navy submarine was able to successfully launch a torpedo. A torpedo, people. Submarines with torpedoes. In Canada’s Navy. I am not making this up. Watch yourselves, planet Earth. The Canadians are coming. And we are pissed.

And how costly, in both money and manpower, will these foreign facilities be? Let me tell you — Canada is sparing no expense. Why, these seven facilities could end up costing us, like, half-a-million bucks, easy. And could possibly require a few dozen guys to pull off.

Total. Not each. That would be excessive.

If that doesn’t sound like a whole lot of money to establish an unstoppable global Legion of Doom, you’re right. Because the entire plan, which has caused such unease among Canadian foreign policy observers, isn’t exactly Phase 1 of Operation Conquer Earth. The seven bases that Canada is seeking to establish abroad won’t be true, stand-alone military facilities dropped in the middle of some foreign land, with huge contingents of troops and enormous logistical support requirements. These bases, referred to as “operational support hubs” will be established at existing transportation infrastructure facilities such as airports or seaports.

Once the location is firmed up, a few Canadian personnel will work at these facilities, which have warehouses and lodging nearby, and can handle a sudden influx of personnel and equipment. If a crisis erupts somewhere in the world, then Canada can rush in troops and equipment and get a proper base up and running without needing to build new facilities or pave runways. In the meantime, the entire effort is essentially one of preplanning, building relationships with international partners and having all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted on contracts and agreements that will allow the hypothetical surge in Canadian military personnel to occur later, if needed.

Canada has already signed two of these agreements, with Kuwait and Germany. Airports in those countries now host tiny teams of Canadian military personnel who maintain contact with local officials and presumably change the odd lightbulb in their office when it fritzes out. But if a crisis hit, these personnel would be the first boots on the ground for a sudden, rapid arrival of troops — the agreement with Kuwait, for example, would permit Canada to station 3,000 personnel on their soil as fast as we could get them there.

And despite what many seem to think, Canada does need bases like this. During our combat mission in Afghanistan, Canada established such a facility in the United Arab Emirates. Known as Camp Mirage, the base — officially secret but well known among military watchers — was a supply base and refuelling stop for Canadian aircraft moving in and out of Khandahar. After the UAE government kicked Canada out over an unrelated dispute over airline rights, Canada had to scramble to establish another facility in Germany … which ended up being far less expensive to operate. By planning ahead, Canada makes certain that it can go anywhere in the world on short notice, and affordably. What’s not to like?

Some would say it doesn’t sit well with Canada’s peaceful nature. Canada’s peacekeeping history and goodwill for all has always largely been a myth — Canadians have certainly done good work on peacekeeping missions, but the primary role of the military has always been to fight and prepare to fight again. But even for those who prefer a softer, gentler Canada, these bases are good news — you can’t mount a disaster relief mission, humanitarian intervention or peacekeeping operation without supplies. And supplies come through bases.

Canada is doing the right thing by taking steps to ensure that our military can respond quickly and efficiently anywhere in the world, and doing it all on a shoestring budget. If everything the military attempted was so well-planned and cost effective, we’d be doing very well indeed.


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## fraserdw (21 Jul 2012)

I concur with the CDS, I can hardly wait for the next policy statement I have to research and write up....go Team Canada! :moose:


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## TN2IC (23 Jul 2012)

Just remember that Op Tempo and the budget can be a huge factor.


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