Canada moves to 2% GDP end of FY25/26 - PMMC

[Halifax Tar]

Maybe not perfectly analogous between the services. But there's probably shore assignments they could fill.

In fact I think many many (Most?) short billets are much more suited to LogO or EngO (CSE or MSE) folks.

Most shore establishments are rooted in support and sustainment which right up the lane of those occupations.

 

[Ostrozac]

But does the person at the top need to be an expert or do they need to have competent people they can rely on?

The model of the courageous charismatic natural leader, who makes the decisions, supported by a trained educated staff, who actually understand the details, can work on occasion, but it breaks down when paired with an intricate model of high-level working groups and decision boards that tends to separate that commander from his staff at some very important moments.

And I can’t imagine how difficult a learning curve it must be for a Flag Officer, late Naval Warfare Officer, to be appointed as Chief of Defence Intteligence, in potentially his first purely intelligence job, and then having to immediately interact as a peer with Director Defense Intelligence Agency. A thick read ahead binder only goes so far.

 

[ytz]

I can’t imagine how difficult a learning curve it must be for a Flag Officer, late Naval Warfare Officer, to be appointed as Chief of Defence Intteligence, in potentially his first purely intelligence job, and then having to immediately interact as a peer with Director Defense Intelligence Agency. A thick read ahead binder only goes so far.

We have the same situation in space and till a few years ago in cyber.

There's also a view that education and PD can make up for experience. It can't. We can give a crash course in orbital mechanics. But that doesn't help you understand why different countries prefer certain orbits for different activities. That intuition of orbits as terrain comes with experience.

 

[Brad Sallows]

But does the person at the top need to be a expert or do they need to have competent people they can rely on?

Best boss I ever had was a terrible tradesman, however he was excellent at managing. Why? Because he would listen to the people below him and make his decisions based off their input.

Alternatively sometimes having a SME as the top position is a negative as they can be very stuck in their ways and refuse to listen to the people below them. My shop had two managers who insisted on doing things they way they had always been done for the last 50 years because it was what they knew. The younger crowd pushed hard for using more CNC and when those supervisors left productivity per person went up a fair bit.

If you believe the old saw that the best commanders are the lazy and intelligent - because they can make good decisions and delegate and mostly stay out of the way of their industrious and intelligent staff - you just need someone who knows enough not to be snowed by his subordinates.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Our institutional weakness is we don't do general staff the way the Germans or Soviets did.

 

[Kirkhill]

Our institutional weakness is we don't do general staff the way the Germans or Soviets did.

That worked well did it?

 

[Brad Sallows]

That worked well did it?

We over-matched them industrially. Ignoring their other capabilities because we led in a different category would be foolish.

 

[lenaitch]

Again. Like I said, this argument only every goes one way. If we believed this, it would apply equally to operators. In reality, this is cope to justify our current practices.

And again, you only ever see this in the CAF. You won't even see this in a lot of our Five Eyes peers. And you definitely won't see it in industry. Imagine a company with 60 000 employees making an accountant with no IT background the Chief Information Officer. How would you view that company? What do you think would happen to the stock?

But wasn't the allegation when Boeing started having trouble that the place was being run but the accountants instead of the engineers? It might have been metaphorical, or a shift in who was being listened to, regardless of who was in charge.

 

[McG]

But does the person at the top need to be a expert or do they need to have competent people they can rely on?

At a certain point, the mandate is too broad for one to be expert across the full scope. So the CDS will be a generaliat. But the head of CAF HR should be an HR specialist. The commander of a support command should be a supporter, the commander of a sustainment formation should be a sustainer. We already acknowledge this requirement for expertise by requiring commanders of combat formations be combat experts within the relevant domain.

 

[FJAG]

Not sure if anyone has posted a link to this interview from last week with Chris Sines, DLR, on Modernization.

Acquisition for modernization | Canadian Army Today

canadianarmytoday.com

 

[Cloud Cover]

I'll accept an Infantry GOFO in the Digital Services Group if you'll accept a Signals officer commanding a battalion of The RCR.

Do it.

Doooo it.

 

[Underway]

Not sure if anyone has posted a link to this interview from last week with Chris Sines, DLR, on Modernization.

What are the 4+1. I got only LUV and Arctic Mobility from that article.

 

[GR66]

What are the 4+1. I got only LUV and Arctic Mobility from that article.

This is from an interview from the Canadian Defence Review:

This modernization effort is the largest we have undertaken since the turn of the century, involving 47 major capital projects that will ensure the Canadian Army remains lethal, credible and interoperable with our Allies. Among these, I have designated 4 + 1 as my focus.

The first is a capability we never had but was outlined in Our North Strong and Free and backed by policy and funding and that is Long Range Precision Strike. This capability provides the Canadian Army with the ability to engage targets at extended ranges with high accuracy to overmatch our adversary. This system will not only enhance our offensive operations but also acts as a powerful deterrent in land conflict and coastal defence.

This leads me to our second capability that was mentioned in Our North Strong and Free and it is something we currently have but must modernize, and that is Indirect Fire Modernization. The Indirect Fires Modernization project will ensure our artillery and mortar systems are equipped with the latest technology to improve their effectiveness and survivability on the modern battlefield.

The third capability is also mentioned in Our North Strong and Free and is one we used to be quite good at and we are now reinvigorating, and that is Ground-based Air Defence, which is essential for protecting our forces from increasingly sophisticated aerial threats both at home and abroad.

The Arctic Mobility Enhancement project will provide a tracked vehicle replacement for our aging BV 206 vehicles. Arctic mobility and survivability are crucial for ensuring our forces can operate effectively in the challenging conditions of the Arctic, a region of growing strategic importance for Canada and our Allies.

All these capabilities must be backstopped by integrated command and control to improve interoperability within the CAF and with our Allies. This means the continued expansion of our Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance [C5ISR] systems, a backbone that needs to be pan domain and interoperable with our Allies.

 

[FJAG]

What are the 4+1. I got only LUV and Arctic Mobility from that article.

To be specific

Lieutenant-General Michael Wright designated four projects — Long-Range Precision Strike, Indirect Fires Modernization, Ground-Based Air Defence and Domestic Arctic Mobility Enhancement — plus the Land C5ISRT program as immediate priorities

 

[Fabius]

Not sure if anyone has posted a link to this interview from last week with Chris Sines, DLR, on Modernization.

Interesting interview.
I think there is an underlying tension in the structural and equipment modernization efforts between getting the CA ready to fight in the next five years at the tactical and operational levels and the strategic desire to build out Canadian military industrial capabilities.

Lieutenant-General Michael Wright designated four projects — Long-Range Precision Strike, Indirect Fires Modernization, Ground-Based Air Defence and Domestic Arctic Mobility Enhancement — plus the Land C5ISRT program as immediate priorities

This is I think interesting when viewed through the lenses of some other militaries senior leadership. This example from the Indo Pacific thread has the network as the central capability. I wonder if the CA leadership thinks the same and how that will drive procurement of the other platforms.

Ubiquitous competition of networks is a 'mega trend' in the Pacific: INDOPACOM deputy - Breaking Defense

Meta trends such as information and cognitive operations, the democratization of drones, and penetrating strike and precision effects won't matter if they can't be networked.

breakingdefense.com

 

[Kirkhill]

To be specific

You would think we didn't have any artillery.

 

[Ludoc]

Interesting interview.
I think there is an underlying tension in the structural and equipment modernization efforts between getting the CA ready to fight in the next five years at the tactical and operational levels and the strategic desire to build out Canadian military industrial capabilities.



This is I think interesting when viewed through the lenses of some other militaries senior leadership. This example from the Indo Pacific thread has the network as the central capability. I wonder if the CA leadership thinks the same and how that will drive procurement of the other platforms.

Ubiquitous competition of networks is a 'mega trend' in the Pacific: INDOPACOM deputy - Breaking Defense

Meta trends such as information and cognitive operations, the democratization of drones, and penetrating strike and precision effects won't matter if they can't be networked.

breakingdefense.com

I think networks are encompassed in C5IRST.

 

[Fabius]

I think networks are encompassed in C5IRST.

Yes… however I think there is a gap between what that US Combatant Comd is discussing and what the C5ISRT projects were.

As per this article on C5ISRT in the “Canadian Army Today” it was only in the last 2 years due to the CA modernization war games that it became obvious to the CA that a digital backbone ie network would be needed.

Canadian Army Today - Fall 2025 - Volume 9, Issue 2

publications.canadianarmytoday.com

 

[Fabius]

Here’s an article about the Battle Lab mentioned in the Canadian Army Today article with some detail on the GDMS-C DigitalSpine.

Vol 31-Iss 6

Vol 31-Iss 6

secure.viewer.zmags.com