# Overburdened Army



## Fishbone Jones (3 Apr 2002)

Sorry, couldn‘t find a URL, so had to post the article. We need the populace to start taking note, and hold that thought till next election.

Held in Reserve
There‘s a limit to relying on militia to fill out underfunded forces

 Calgary Herald

Monday, April 01, 2002

This year, Canada will send a company of reserve soldiers to Bosnia. Though reserves are often used to supplement regular forces, this is the largest number of part-time soldiers deployed as a unit in decades -- 136 men and women from all over western Canada. For the militia, it is a milestone in professional recognition and a validation of the ongoing reserve revitalization project.

In wishing them well, however, we cannot ignore that governmental neglect of the army which obliges it to use reservists to maintain its operational tempo. When even Liberal-dominated Senate and Commons defence committees call for more military spending, something is wrong.

Clearly, manning and equipment are out of balance with what is asked of the army. With half its 1989 strength, the army is busier now than it has been since the end of the Cold War. As of today, Canada has 2,900 soldiers deployed in 13 countries.

Hence the growing role of the reserves. Of the army‘s permanent establishment of 19,126, 2,800 positions within Canada are occupied by reservists on contract, nearly one-sixth of the total. A further 270 reservists augment army operations overseas.

So, as tired, frustrated soldiers quietly bail out of the army at the end of their hitch, Ottawa has been topping up the regular force with reservists (at 85 cents on the dollar). Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jean Chretien asserts that only an opportunistic arms lobby wants more defence spending.

Denial doesn‘t alter the facts. The Senate is surely excluded from Chretien‘s general calumny, but no merchant of death could have presented a more ambitious rebuilding plan for the Forces than did Canada‘s upper house. In its March 1 report on Canadian military preparedness, the Senate recommended doubling the army to 43,500, in part to deal with the high turnover of personnel and increased instances of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Army reserves should be increased from 15,000 to 18,500, the Senate states, at a cost of $142 million over three years. This would, incidentally, allow the militia to field a battalion-sized unit (750 soldiers).

It is a reasonable prescription for military balance, for about half the cost of what this country‘s NATO partners spend as a percentage of gross domestic product. 

More important, it would deal fairly with the troops. While it is absolutely desirable for reservists to train and serve with regular forces, there is a limit to what should be expected of either. More regular soldiers are needed. 

And yet the $142 million needed to let Ottawa keep on robbing the reserves is not even in the budget.

We don‘t hold our breath. Ottawa likes the free ride. Let‘s hope the militia likes Bosnia.

                      © Copyright  2002 Calgary Herald


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## Robert Bickle (3 Apr 2002)

I agree 100% recceguy, the way things are snowballing lately we are going to be real short of troops even with many reserves being used.
   I stated in an earlier post that 6000 to 8000 people at least should be recruted now.
   At the present I believe they are looking for only 1700 for the army...not near enough....


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## Korus (4 Apr 2002)

Quota‘s are nice, but how many people are actually interested in joining the reserves?

Most people I‘ve encountered have had a bad attitude towards the CF in general. Many are surprised that we have a military. (and that we have as much as we do, even though it‘s very little.. does that make sense?)

Canada just doesn‘t seem to have the pride for it‘s forces that other countries (most notably the US) have... They‘re proud of peacekeeping, but I guess they don‘t realise that peace-keepers are soldiers..

There‘s also the many people who talk about joining, but never actually go through with it...

Those are just some observations I‘ve made...


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## McG (4 Apr 2002)

I suspect that retention is as much a problem  as recruiting is, for the reserves and for the regs.


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## JRMACDONALD (4 Apr 2002)

Mookie boy/Korus-- It‘s never been the numbers. it‘s ALWAYS been the ATTITUDE!!! Wake the fork up!!!!


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## Jungle (5 Apr 2002)

Yeah well, if ATTITUDE will take me on a tour every 2 years then I am ready to compromise. We should work on numbers at the same time as attitude...


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## Andrew (5 Apr 2002)

Well perhaps they could hustle up the recruiting centers alittle....I wonder how many more people out there are like me that have been waiting for over a year to get in????????

Andrew 
soon to be a proud member of the CF(if they ever hurry up)


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## jrhume (5 Apr 2002)

A permanent establishment of only a bit over 19,000?  I‘m apalled!  Both for the evident blindness of your politicos and for my own ignorance.  I had always assumed Canada had military forces in a roughly fixed ratio to ours.  

Where I got that idea, I‘m not sure.  

Sounds like blind, self-serving politicians are not a strictly American phenomenon.    

Jim


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## Korus (6 Apr 2002)

Over a year, Andrew? wow... 

I‘m almost at the 6 month mark... and with final exams comming up, I won‘t have time to do anything more until May.... Which will make it 7 months.. but (hopefully) I shoudl get everything done in early May...

And it was all because of my bloody medical...


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## Sharpey (6 Apr 2002)

It is sad that the times have changed. About a mere month had past from the time I had my initial interview to the day I was sworn in.


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## centurion (7 Apr 2002)

There‘s only one solution, vote for anyone other than liberal. But we all have to vote the same way. We have to deciminate the ruling party like we did with the PC‘s. Take back the country from the politico‘s.


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## ender (8 Apr 2002)

The recruiting proccess is so slow it activly discourages people from joining.  Many excellent soldiers that I know joined first out of almost a whim.  If the recruiting process takes a year (and it has been known too) people will lose intrest.

But this cannot draw our attention away from issues of retention.  You have to take care of your troops.  My best friend had to wait a year to be issued properly fitting boots, even after she broke her foot.  That is disgusting.  She‘s changed units now.  Anyone else would probably have quit.

Officers have to make the training interesting.  Junior NCO‘s have to genuinly take an intrest in devoloping thier subordinates.  The experinced Privates have to make the new guys feel wanted and accepted.  There is fault at every level here.

If the troops like that Army and feel enthusiastic, thier civvie friends will notice and maybe think about joining themselves.  Almost everyone I know joined because friends or family that was already in.

There is nothing you can do about recruting unless you happen to work in that field.  But everyone can help with retention.  If your unit is has good morale, if you do stuff that people joined up to do (ie gung-ho Army stuff), then you will keep people.  If not, you won‘t.  It‘s that simple.


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## portcullisguy (10 Apr 2002)

> Originally posted by ender:
> [qb]The recruiting proccess is so slow it activly discourages people from joining.  Many excellent soldiers that I know joined first out of almost a whim.  If the recruiting process takes a year (and it has been known too) people will lose intrest.[/qb]


There is also this perspective -- if recruiting were "too easy" or "too quick", then perhaps those recruited would think nothing of leaving on a whim when they tire of it.  If you make something to easy to attain, it loses it‘s attractiveness to some people.  If you want to keep quality people, you must encourage them and remind them that THEY wanted to meet a standard, and that THEY wanted to be there.



> [qb]But this cannot draw our attention away from issues of retention.  You have to take care of your troops.  My best friend had to wait a year to be issued properly fitting boots, even after she broke her foot.  That is disgusting.  She‘s changed units now.  Anyone else would probably have quit.
> 
> Officers have to make the training interesting.  Junior NCO‘s have to genuinly take an intrest in devoloping thier subordinates.  The experinced Privates have to make the new guys feel wanted and accepted.  There is fault at every level here.


[/qb]

Junior leaders are a product of who they lead, in the same way that the trainees are a product of the junior leaders.

Each of us must look to ourselves, and not the system or higher echelons, to see what WE can do to improve the quality not only of ourselves, but of those responsible for us.  It often isn‘t easy, and this is something that applies in civvie street just as well as the military.


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## ender (11 Apr 2002)

portcullisguy,

I aggre that it shouldn‘t come easy.  Course should be hard.  Recruiting should be easy.  For instance they could have all the tests on one day so you wouldn‘t have to go down to the recruiting office 5 or 6 times.  It‘s course that gives one a sense of pride, not getting through red tape.

I aggree that we have to look to ourselves.  There are people on this board of many ranks and every one of us has to do what they can.  I‘m a Sapper.  I try to be nice to the new guys and teach them how to things.  I invite them out with us after the mess.  When I end up being the 2IC, I try to make sure things get taken care of.  That‘s what I can do.


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## Michael Dorosh (11 Apr 2002)

ender, if you keep talking common sense on this board the way you have here, or in the females in combat thread, you‘re going to scare all the idiots away.

Then where would this board be?

Keep telling it like it is.

 http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/


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## Long in the tooth (23 Apr 2002)

As someone who is administering the CRIC, I have concluded the following:

Those who wish to soldier professionally and full time are normally in the Regular Force.  Those who wish to parade part time are in the Reserves.

That may seem self evident, yet we are having difficulty getting enough volunteers for a subunit that only represents 2.5% of the strength of reserve units in LFWA.

In the modern high tech, high intensity war environment (Afghanistan included), forces in place are the only option.  Until Reserves have the same duration of courses and qualifications in order to reach comensurate rank levels as the Regs, as well as enforcable terms of service will they be deployable as individuals.  

Individual members of the Reserves often perform to high levels, but those members often choose to do that full time - such as myself.

Paradoxically, ex RegF members seem also to be unwelcome in the Reserves and often quit in frustration.  It takes more time to ‘Verify‘ a RegF members quals than any other function that I know about.  Comparing our ResF with the US Guard or Reserves is impossible.

Thoughts from one who‘s seen it from all four sides - Reg, Res, Inf and Admin.


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