Government hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I have long said that you could fund the CAF to 4 percent of GDP, but we would still lag behind in NATO and be much the same where we are.

It's never the money, it's politics. It's procedures. It's the pork-barreling in our defence spending that makes us a paper tiger in NATO.

My only hope in all of this for the CAF and the GoC, whatever the political stripe that may be, is that it will rouse them out of the "Peace Dividend" slumber. The world has been unstable since 1945. We have used geography, proximity, and association as a Defence Policy ever since. ICBMs don't care how close to the U.S. or how far from Russia/China we are.

Don't give us a dime more, but let us spend money on defence like it matters. The fact we follow the same rules for purchasing a fighter aircraft as we do for buying office furniture for a Service Canada office is disgraceful. Don't treat defense procurement as a stimulus package for Canadian Industry. There I said it.

We spend so much money, time, and effort trying to get that money to stay in Canada; be it by awarding contracts to companies with no capability to produce items without first "retooling" and"developing the production lines", or by hamstringing perfectly competent and competitive bidders by forcing the project to be made in St. Margaret de Poutain de Champignon, QC because the ruling government either lost the seat in the election, or won it with promises.

We spend so much money and staff hours jumping through TBS regulations that are great for other departments, but are terrible for defence procurement. Some items you have to sole source, because there are technologies and capabilities no one else makes. By doing the bid process, you get companies clamoring for a project they can't deliver on, but because they tick the bright boxes on the score sheet....

I truly and honestly belief we need to split from PSPC and legislate that its not beholden to TBS, only to the PBO/PCO. The guiding principles of this new Defence Procurement department should be "Off the shelf, from somewhere else" if there isn't an industry in Canada.

BOOTFORGEN has demonstrated how well we do when we are able to actually get what we need, instead of lining the pockets of a Canadian company that got lucky.

That, but with tanks, fighters, ships, weapons systems....

 

[dimsum]

If sailors don't bring personal weapons on to a ship could they store them at their respective HQs and CQ buildings?

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of having it with them? The ship is the HQ/CQ, for all intents and purposes, for most of the ship's company.

Unless you were going to exchange clothing or go a higher-level admin office (I believe CPFs handle their pay and admin internally, but MCDV folks went to the Naval Reserve Coordination Centre), most sailors have almost no need to go outside the ship for work stuff.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

You forgot the last item - Russian Language classes...

Canada is building a wonderful glass house - when everyone else is picking up rocks.

Considering PMJT love of all things Chinese I would think Chinese language lessons more appropriate.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of having it with them? The ship is the HQ/CQ, for all intents and purposes, for most of the ship's company.

Unless you were going to exchange clothing or go a higher-level admin office (I believe CPFs handle their pay and admin internally, but MCDV folks went to the Naval Reserve Coordination Centre), most sailors have almost no need to go outside the ship for work stuff.

I'm not sure how ships work but if sailors all have access to firearms on a ship then absolutely. Bring them on and store them.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Having been on the other side, lending eqpt to the Reg F from a Res F unit, let me reassure you that it works both ways.

I believe it, 100%.

 

[dimsum]

I'm not sure how ships work but if sailors all have access to firearms on a ship then absolutely. Bring them on and store them.

Which, again, brings up the issue of space to correctly store them (and ammo). Space is surprisingly tight on a warship. Also, small arms lockers are locked. Unless you're suggesting that those should not be locked...

Also, I generally hate to bring it up but I think it's warranted in this case: Aside from NTOG, NST, and boarding party, why should sailors realistically need to have their own issued sidearm? If you're down to using your C7 or 9mm onboard your own ship, something very bad has happened already.

 

[OldSolduer]

If you're down to using your C7 or 9mm onboard your own ship, something very bad has happened already.

Absolutely. Good point.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Which, again, brings up the issue of space to correctly store them (and ammo). Space is surprisingly tight on a warship. Also, small arms lockers are locked. Unless you're suggesting that those should not be locked...

Also, I generally hate to bring it up but I think it's warranted in this case: Aside from NTOG, NST, and boarding party, why should sailors realistically need to have their own issued sidearm? If you're down to using your C7 or 9mm onboard your own ship, something very bad has happened already.

Thats fair, it could very well not be a tenable idea for the Navy.

 

[Weinie]

The key word is accountability. We have policy for this., but rarely apply or enforce it.

FTFY.

 

[Kirkhill]

Thats fair, it could very well not be a tenable idea for the Navy.

Store them with the belaying pins, cutlasses and boarding pikes.

 

[KevinB]

The problem is a lot of CAF members treat their weapons and equipment like trash. There's no accountability. They'll hand carry their personal laptops or game consoles like a first born child but throw and pile their rifles in the back of a truck like firewood.

There's been a few times my unit's been told to hand over STANO to the reserves to support their summer training and the kit comes back absolutely trashed and missing parts. Other reg force units aren't as bad in my experience (likely due to the close proximity of the lenders) but the same shit still happens.

Finding space would be easy, just make it a no fail task

Dude - you tag all your shit N/S when a big ask like that comes in....

 

[SupersonicMax]

I still think CAF members should be issued personal weapons they retain throughout their career. Likewise in most cases with STANO.

I never felt the need to have my own weapon. I shoot weapons (those that aren’t on aircraft) once a year to get the tick in the box. Even on deployment, its actual utility is debatable.

 

[Jarnhamar]

I never felt the need to have my own weapon. I shoot weapons (those that aren’t on aircraft) once a year to get the tick in the box. Even on deployment, its actual utility is debatable.

You don't think pilots should carry personal weapons when flying over hostile territory?

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

There is very little need for 95% of a Ship's Company to carry a weapon or even have access to one.

Those who need access:

Officer of the Day
Duty Petty Officer
Naval Boarding Party
Deck Department
Force Protection Component (as required)

The way the small arms locker on board a Frigate at least is setup is as follows:

1. Dedicated pistols and carbines for the boarding party
2. Pistols, Rifles, C9s, .50cals that the Ship holds.

There is a Small Arms Custodian (from Deck Dept) who looks after the Locker and will issue the weapons when they are required.

The DPO (or POOW at sea) also carries a key that can open up Small Arms Locker as necessary.

Ammunition is controlled separately from this. It's set up in a way so no one person can open both the locker and the magazine at the same time.

Very few people actually need to use weapons on Ship. This is the entire purpose why the Navy has courses like NBP and so that the Ship has specialists who can actually do the jobs when required. The problem is the Navy doesn't employ these people appropriately.

It's the exact same issue the Army faces with courses like AOA. We send a MCpl on AOA and then they come back to the unit, are supposed to be a SME at something and the unit/senior leaders don't listen to them due to rank, etc.

 

[Brad Sallows]

why should sailors realistically need to have their own issued sidearm?

Zombies. You never know when half the crew is going to turn.

 

[Haggis]

There's been a few times my unit's been told to hand over STANO to the reserves to support their summer training and the kit comes back absolutely trashed and missing parts. Other reg force units aren't as bad in my experience (likely due to the close proximity of the lenders) but the same shit still happens.

I cannot count the number of times my unit was ordered to send equipment/weapons/vehicles with full EIS to Maple Whatever, CTC, Storming Bear etc. only to have to come back missing every single piece of EIS and shortly thereafter be declared BER by my support base.

 

[dimsum]

We send a MCpl on AOA and then they come back to the unit, are supposed to be a SME at something and the unit/senior leaders don't listen to them due to rank, etc.

FFS. What's the point in sending people to become SMEs if the leadership won't listen to their SME-ness?

 

[rmc_wannabe]

FFS. What's the point in sending people to become SMEs if the leadership won't listen to their SME-ness?

I have spent a career being the SME in the room, watching in abject horror as my CoC does the opposite of what my recommendations were.

"The Cpl just doesn't understand how his expertise and reality impacts my operational planning process..."

 

[Halifax Tar]

I have spent a career being the SME in the room, watching in abject horror as my CoC does the opposite of what my recommendations were.

"The Cpl just doesn't understand how his expertise and reality impacts my operational planning process..."

My friend we share the same frustration. My last ships captain only wanted to talk to officers. So I would follow my HoD up to his flats filling her ears with all the info I could and giving her any material and then I would pace the flats while I awaited the outcome.

I really felt bad for her. She did her best, and was as frustrated as I at it.

 

[Furniture]

I have spent a career being the SME in the room, watching in abject horror as my CoC does the opposite of what my recommendations were.

"The Cpl just doesn't understand how his expertise and reality impacts my operational planning process..."

Been there, I had a MCDV Captain tell me that "based on his experience" the weather I was briefing wouldn't happen, since "the weather is usually nicer on a more southern route"... What did I know, I was just an air force Cpl?

They then proceeded to sail into the very storm I briefed them about a few days after leaving Halifax, and encountered 17m significant wave heights.

 

[Blackadder1916]

. . . If you're down to using your C7 or 9mm onboard your own ship, something very bad has happened already.

Or let a cook handle the very bad . . . firearms not necessary.