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Mark C. Do you believe that the light battalions will be kept at "war strength" and the mech battalions designed for top up with a lot of reservists? Does this whole plan depend on the 5,000 new recruits joining and being trained? What skill sets would 3 VP need in Afghanistan but 2 VP wouldn't...

Dismounted. Do you mean they will pretend they have tanks and carriers nearby? Playing a notional tank squadron in front of you does alter your tactics. Is this what the militia is to do?       To say infantry that lack any sort of tactical vehicle are anything but "light" is wrong. Could the...

To this day neither Dallaire nor the Canadian public seem to realize the extent of his personal failure as a commander. He had more than adequate forces to destroy the thugs but he didn't use them. He could have nipped the massacre in the bud and did nothing. He knew his men were being held...

MP attendance at RCMP Depot is not the answer to MP failings. It is lack of volume of criminal files after training that separates experienced investigators from people who done the "course".  The real training for the RCMP is done in the field not in Regina.     A few posts have talked about...

The problem with the MP/NIS as an investigative police force as opposed to traffic control etc. is that they lack experience dealing with crime. The CF is a pretty law abiding group and there simply isn't enough crime for investigators to cut their teeth on. The criminal volume is too low to...

This is an interesting article from The Spectator. I think it is especially pertinent when it discusses the bureaucratic rationale for defence spending. You can certainly see a parallel here with plans for expeditionary forces, assault ships and Canada Command etc...

      Thus we come to the crunch. Is gun confiscation the signal to rebel? It's too late if you hand in your guns to "help fight crime" to find out the government are the criminals. I wonder what would have happened if a few dozen Nazi thugs had been centre punched on Kristalknacht. It couldn't...

    Iraq has shown that the key to mounted maneuver is still protection not firepower or mobility. Arguing about whether to shoot the enemy with a missile or a shell is interesting but irrelevant. The key is can the enemy brew up your vehicle with a RPG-7 and how big a command detonated mine...

The amount of violence is directly linked to the number of undeterred violent felons at large. This number is primarily effected by demographics: the more 15-24 year old males you have the more violent crime you get. Also crucial is the ability of society to prevent young males from becoming...

A much better stat to judge gun violence is homicides + attempted murder + aggravated assault. This figure shows an upward trend while the homicide figure is basically flat. Why? Victims are more likely to be hit by a pistol instead of a rifle or shotgun followed by someone using his cell phone...

    It's a bit beyond a Sup Res because it requires quite a bit from the individual. My proposal is that if the "unit" is simply an individual force generator then the reserve should be optimized for individual augmentation. We should reinforce success: operational tours, battle schools and...

Hiring "civvy" LAV gunnery instructors points out the foolishness of a lot of alternative service delivery. The Army hires civilian firms to replace soldiers and in effect encourages the soldiers to leave. Now they have to train a new soldier, pay a pension and a wage with substantial markups to...

    A large scale terrorist incursion? Canada is a great base for terrorists: large Islamic communities to hide in, relatively easy access to stolen explosives and black market guns, freedom of movement, goods comms, weak court system, poor border controls, foolish immigration laws and CLOSE TO...

The vast majority of good training militia soldiers get comes on Class B & C opportunities when the resources, personnel and time are available. Class A is usually a waste of time and drives away successful people who don't have time or the patience to be at the armoury two or three days a week...

    You've hit the nail on the head. The vast majority of the CF has nothing to do with defending Canada. There is simply no threat to Canada that the CF can handle and the police/CSIS/Borders Services can't. The primary role of the CF is to send expeditionary forces abroad to get Canadian...

If you actually believe that Canada should prepare to defend itself against the US then I hope you'll be lobbying for return to the 1977 gun laws. If you want to prepare for peoples war the CF isn't even required or desirable. Simply encouraging widespread civilian gun ownership and marksmanship...

I'll grant that at times 105mm howitzers may have a use but the CF is a zero sum game and if you maintain what amounts to a regular force artillery brigade is it worth the cost?  2,000 regular gunners to field an occasional mortar platoon is bad economics. Since we only plan to deploy units on...

The current gutting of infantry battalions isn't tactics driven. It is the option that leaves the rank structure of the combat arms least effected. If the CF is destined to never again fight above the unit level and never against even a third rate enemy what are the brigade HQs for? Why so much...

The alternatives to PSCs are limited and not mutually exclusive. 1. Have the US military protect the reconstruction groups. This is basically the PRT idea in Afghanistan but the scale would be far greater. 2. Have reconstruction money given directly to the Iraqi authorities and have far fewer...

    Thank you for Capt Rickard's article. I don't want to get into a real slanging match but a will make a few observations.     The most recent US airborne ops were really for show and not tactically necessary. Certainly Grenada was just to get combat stars and was close to a disaster...