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

[ytz]

Agreed. If we can find a way to get IBTS all done centrally, thatd go a long way. The hiccup will be PWT 3 in that scenario but we can cross that bridge at ranges near major cities.

I don't even think it's necessary to go that far. I look at something like this for CASFC:

I would hope that whatever facilities are designed can do BMQ/BMOQ + most of this (CASFC) locally. Maybe an occasional weekend to a regional training center or a 2-3 week field phase of CASFC instead of 5 weeks. Brigades should be able to self-generate pers that are EFP as a minimum. Substantially OFP would be even better. But that maybe a reach. But at least if OFP can be done to a point where a university summer or two high school summers gets them OFP, that would be great.

 

[ytz]

300,000 isn't a ready Reserve, it's a Mobilization Reserve. There is no need (or the ability to afford) that many personnel fully trained and ready to deploy. Certainly, divert a portion into the Primary Reserve but the main goal is to have a partially trained pool of personnel to draw on once the Reg Force and Reserves have been deployed in order to sustain/expand the military.

Yep. Way too many are daydreaming of Corps and Divisions here. Go back to first principles. What do we need? What do our foreign and defence policies say? Division level warfighting and defence of the homeland don't commit us to hundreds of brigades. Doesn't even commit us to dozens of brigades.

That mobilization reserve will mostly be ex Reg and PRes to start. And next, maybe somebody who can spare BMQ. Maybe not even that. The lower the readiness requirement, the less they need to be organized. Especially locally. Essentially, they become a large call out list. That can be organized locally by the brigades or units. But it may well end up being nationally organized. Or we may end up with some combination thereof with certain skills on national mobilization lists. Etc.

What is perhaps more interesting is what can be done with the PRes as more is invested into their infrastructure, kit and training.

 

[Kirkhill]

Denison is 11 acres. That Singaporeans MMTC that trains 120k personnel per year? 17 acres. We could build insanely effective training infrastructure for the reserves on the footprint of a rather small Amazon warehouse.

Agreed. If we can find a way to get IBTS all done centrally, thatd go a long way. The hiccup will be PWT 3 in that scenario but we can cross that bridge at ranges near major cities.

Given the way that combat is spreading out over larger areas should we be planning for more exercises outside the confined perimeters of training areas?
With the influence of drones even our largest training areas seem to me to be too limited in size.

In Europe it was common for people to train where they intended to work and fight. Rifle sections with LMGs conducting tactical movements on working docks were a fairly common sight.

 

[Kirkhill]

Yep. Way too many are daydreaming of Corps and Divisions here. Go back to first principles. What do we need? What do our foreign and defence policies say? Division level warfighting and defence of the homeland don't commit us to hundreds of brigades. Doesn't even commit us to dozens of brigades.

That mobilization reserve will mostly be ex Reg and PRes to start. And next, maybe somebody who can spare BMQ. Maybe not even that. The lower the readiness requirement, the less they need to be organized. Especially locally. Essentially, they become a large call out list. That can be organized locally by the brigades or units. But it may well end up being nationally organized. Or we may end up with some combination thereof with certain skills on national mobilization lists. Etc.

What is perhaps more interesting is what can be done with the PRes as more is invested into their infrastructure, kit and training.

My own take is that the greatest advantage of the 300,000 would be to bring civilians with the critical skills to maintain and deliver critical infrastructure under the National Defence Act and military command.

This would benefit the government but it would also benefit the "volunteers" through training, equipment and legal protections.

1st principles: Defend your desk.

 

[Eaglelord17]

Yep. Way too many are daydreaming of Corps and Divisions here. Go back to first principles. What do we need? What do our foreign and defence policies say? Division level warfighting and defence of the homeland don't commit us to hundreds of brigades. Doesn't even commit us to dozens of brigades.

That mobilization reserve will mostly be ex Reg and PRes to start. And next, maybe somebody who can spare BMQ. Maybe not even that. The lower the readiness requirement, the less they need to be organized. Especially locally. Essentially, they become a large call out list. That can be organized locally by the brigades or units. But it may well end up being nationally organized. Or we may end up with some combination thereof with certain skills on national mobilization lists. Etc.

What is perhaps more interesting is what can be done with the PRes as more is invested into their infrastructure, kit and training.

What we need is the capability to defend our sovereignty against any potential threat. Without a army of around 250k we cannot do that.

So without a serious investment in increasing our size and capability we can’t meet the main reason the CAF exists. Otherwise we are just a beck and call force which helps others periodically but can’t meet our reason for being.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Yep. Way too many are daydreaming of Corps and Divisions here. Go back to first principles. What do we need? What do our foreign and defence policies say? Division level warfighting and defence of the homeland don't commit us to hundreds of brigades. Doesn't even commit us to dozens of brigades.

Yes, it would be nice to hear what their purpose would be before engaging in any profound day dreaming.

Has anyone heard anything about that?

I note that both the Ukrainian and Russian conscription drafts, as well as the Israelis, do their 'harvesting' in 300,000 person tranches and this has been widely reported in the press during recent conflicts. I'm wondering in they ballparked that number out of those country's realities...

 

[ytz]

Given the way that combat is spreading out over larger areas should we be planning for more exercises outside the confined perimeters of training areas?
With the influence of drones even our largest training areas seem to me to be too limited in size.

You're mixing up a whole bunch of various purposes and intents here. How often is the average reservist with 3 hrs per week training on drone warfare? The goal here should be to get them trained as a basic soldier locally so that you can take them to a regional training centre in the future where they get to learn and practice drone warfare.

In Europe it was common for people to train where they intended to work and fight. Rifle sections with LMGs conducting tactical movements on working docks were a fairly common sight.

And you can do basically that inside the type of facility the Singaporeans built.

Keep in mind that literally zero of anything we're discussing is done locally today. But you want to aim for drone warfare training...... I am saying let's start with making sure a recruit in Toronto doesn't need to go to Meaford every second weekend to get BMQ and CASFC done.

My own take is that the greatest advantage of the 300,000 would be to bring civilians with the critical skills to maintain and deliver critical infrastructure under the National Defence Act and military command.

This would benefit the government but it would also benefit the "volunteers" through training, equipment and legal protections.

1st principles: Defend your desk.

Go look at what military training we give MOs. BMQ is 2 weeks of DL and 4 weeks in Saint Jean. They do an 8 day DLN course that brings them up to their branch baseline. Then they do a trades course which is a few weeks. If you look at a system like this, getting a doctor on the Mob F list shouldn't require more than 1 month of DL and 1 month of BMQ to get them to their branch baseline. If mobilized we could get them ready to deploy in weeks. Something like this could be the template for a whole bunch of support trades. That type of BMQ could even be the archetype for a whole lot of Mob F training.