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Army Reserve Restructuring

Understood. Provincial responsibility. Just like health.

Albertan here. How much money should we send?
 
My opinion is fund the provincial agencies that already exist to do this stuff and have more mutual aid agreements between the provinces and Feds for other resources not currently under such agreements.

As I mentioned earlier, rather than creating a 400,000 MRes monster, why not expand the Canadian Rangers to the south and to more populated areas? I could see some interest there for that kind of service.
 
I'm starting to feel that the whole purpose of the PRes is going to shift to solely training and maintaining the MRes.
 
OK.

Sucked back and stewed for a bit.

MRES as Rangers
Provincial resposibility for emergencies
Provincial Corps or National Guard
Decentralization means more responsive, less rigid, less fragile.


MRES with 5 days per year or Rangers terms of service, I am fine with either or or both. One group more active and the other group more sedentary.

Provincial responsibility for emergencies.

I sense a desire to off load problems from the CAF to preserve the CAF for kinetic actions, preferably in faraway lands where strange people can be met.

The provincial off-load has the advantage that the CAF would not be competing for Treasury Board money. On the other hand there is only one tax payer. So the provinces would still be scrabbling for dollars. Enter equalization.

The scrabble, if led by the provinces, would see PEI struggling against Ontario for federal dollars and the feds debating when to subsidize the provincial corps and when to task the CA and the PRES.

This would only tend to further divide our already fractious country.

A National organization could work in the opposite direction.

....

MRES - role
Purely military or more civil?

I really like the balance struck by the US National Guard and the Danish Homeguard. They make themselves useful in peace and war. They can respond when bullets fly but are happy to put their capabilities at the service of their neighbours. And the Federal government levels up all participating states to a common standard of equipment and training.
Less squabbling between states/provinces and also less squabbling between them all and the feds. The quid pro quo is that the state guards can be put under federal authority. ( Terms to be negotiated).

...

Decentralization

I agree with decentralization.
I agree with the benefits of a bottom up organization.
It worked for the early Yanks.
It worked for the Scots.
It worked for John Knox and John Calvin.

Communities create congregations who attend church service weekly and, under the best circumstances, support each other.

The congregation elects a group of elders from the congregation who hire a minister to conduct services. The minister is usely ordained following graduation from a suitable school but not necessarily. It depends on which tradition the Kirk follows.

The minister and the elders meet regularly to manage the congregation and meet the needs of the community. These are the Kirk sessions and the minister and elders are collectively known as the Kirk Session.

Periodically the Sessions send a delegate or two to a regional assembly. The assembly is known as a Presbytery, from whence the name Presbyterian. The assembly has no permanent head. It elects a moderator, like a speaker pro tem, who manages the meeting and the debates and carries items of concern forwards to the next assembly level.

The Presbyteries send their delegates to larger regional assemblies known as Synods. They meet less frequently than Presbyteries but are organized on the same principles. Elected moderators from elected delegate generating delegates to the next assembly.

The highest assembly is known as the General Assembly and it convenes annually for a week. The senior personage in the Kirk in Scotland is "The Moderator of The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland".

A national, bottom up, flexible and responsive organization.

I am not calling for MRES Sessions, Presbyteries and Synods although Gordon Dickson might have got a chuckle out of that. But that social model used to be very common.

It allows for dissemination of solutions across the organization and the development of standard methods and practices. It does not prevent splits but it helps to reduce them.

....

I see no reason why a national organization, federally financed and equipped, commonly uniformed, can't be driven from the bottom up by local needs.
 
Further to turning a social club into a useful force

The Royal National Lifeboat Institute is an unpaid all volunteer force that maintains people at the ready to rescue people at sea in all weathers on short notice. And has been doing so for 200 years.


AI Overview

What is it like to be a Volunteer Lifeboat Crew Member ...

RNLI volunteers are trained by a combination of local station trainers, including volunteer Trainer Assessors like experienced crew members, and specialist trainers at the RNLI College in Poole and the National Maritime College of Ireland. The training includes an initial induction, ongoing practical exercises at the station, and professional courses to develop a wide range of skills, from casualty care and navigation to leadership and sea survival.

At the local station

Initial induction: New volunteers receive a full induction from their volunteer manager, which includes handbook, safety information, and an introduction to the team.
Station-based training: A significant portion of the training takes place at the lifeboat station through regular drills, exercises, and shadowing more experienced crew members.
Volunteer trainers: Local stations have volunteer Trainer Assessors who guide new crew members through their development plans, which can include progressing from trainee crew to roles like helm or coxswain.

At specialist training centers

RNLI College: This is the hub for RNLI training, offering over 40 specialist courses. It features facilities like a state-of-the-art Sea Survival Centre with a wave tank and lifeboat bridge simulator to provide realistic, hands-on experience.
National Maritime College of Ireland: In addition to the College in Poole, training is also delivered at the National Maritime College of Ireland in County Cork.
Mobile training units: Specialist training also comes to the stations via mobile training units.

Training approach

Blended learning: The RNLI uses a blended learning approach, combining face-to-face learning, online resources, and distance learning to develop volunteers.
Ongoing development: Training is continuous throughout a volunteer's time with the RNLI, ensuring they maintain and develop their skills in areas such as navigation, radar, radio communications, and casualty care.


....

There are over 8,800 RNLI volunteers, which includes 7,828 volunteer lifeboat and shore crew members. This total also includes the thousands of other volunteers who support the RNLI in roles such as fundraising, water safety, and as lifeguards.

Lifeboat and shore crew: 7,828 volunteers at stations across the UK and Ireland.

Other volunteer roles: Thousands of additional volunteers work in areas like fundraising, youth education, and shop and heritage volunteering.

Lifeguards: Over 1,500 seasonal beach lifeguards work alongside the volunteer lifeboat crews during the summer.

....

And the outfit that maintains Navaids in the UK, Trinity House, is also a charitable organization.
 
France's plan


3,000 per year immediately
10,000 per year in 2030
50,000 per year in 2035

18 to 19 year old volunteers for 10 months of domestic service in Metropolitan France, including overseas departments.

Non-combat deployments. Those are for the regs and the Legion I guess.
 
18 to 19 year old volunteers for 10 months of domestic service in Metropolitan France, including overseas departments.

Non-combat deployments, so far. Those are for the regs and the Legion for now I guess.

There, FTFY.

And some of their overseas 'departements' aren't so peaceful...
 
There, FTFY.

And some of their overseas 'departements' aren't so peaceful...

I think the whole exercise is about breaking in our citizenry to yhe notion that things have changed, Frankly I think that is the real reason we are talking about engaging 300 to 400,000 canadians. It is not about having a developed pkan for an army of 400,000. it is about getting used to the scale of the problem.
 
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