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Canadian soldier charged with feeding cannabis cupcakes to artillery unit during live-fire exercise

They have to have the troops first . Not all units have the man power.

Reserve training

Regiment in Name Only has a Commanding Officer with usual Rank of LCOL

Staffed as if it has Companies, Company commmanders Majors and odd Captain
Parades a maybe a bigger than normal platoon,
goes on weekend training as an over sized section
so the HQ Company troops fill all the other jobs that come up because they are out of bodies.
 
If you bring out a section plus on exercise, combine exercises with other units.

And amalgamate your way to relevance.
 
If you bring out a section plus on exercise, combine exercises with other units.

And amalgamate your way to relevance.

And there's the rub...

You are making the false assumption that 'dick measuring' won't get in the way of normal collaboration.

I can't count the number of times when a proposed joint approach to exercises for the training year were immediately discounted by various COs because of their ego issues. Smart Bde Comd's don't even try to go there because the political in-battles aren't worth it.

It was even impossible to coordinate exercises between two rifle companies from the same unit. In any case, because COs & RSMs were rarely seen on exercise in person (have to go the Bde Conference/Mess Dinner don't y'know?) it was easy just to go do our own things anyways without any awkward overwatch or centralized control.

Occasionally we would stumble across another unit, usually Sigs or Log, that was occupying the same exercise area and it was possible to coordinate effectively, but this was a 'once in a blue moon' rarity.
 
And there's the rub...

You are making the false assumption that 'dick measuring' won't get in the way of normal collaboration.

I can't count the number of times when a proposed joint approach to exercises for the training year were immediately discounted by various COs because of their ego issues. Smart Bde Comd's don't even try to go there because the political in-battles aren't worth it.

It was even impossible to coordinate exercises between two rifle companies from the same unit. In any case, because COs & RSMs were rarely seen on exercise in person (have to go the Bde Conference/Mess Dinner don't y'know?) it was easy just to go do our own things anyways without any awkward overwatch or centralized control.

Occasionally we would stumble across another unit, usually Sigs or Log, that was occupying the same exercise area and it was possible to coordinate effectively, but this was a 'once in a blue moon' rarity.
Let's just say depending on how the army goes with F2025, some of those Ego's will no longer be required.

Seriously though empire building is the reserves worst enemy. To many times as a CSS unit have I seen tasks to other units go no fill because it would take pers away from our own exercises, even if those pers do not have an assigned role in said EX.
 
And there's the rub...

You are making the false assumption that 'dick measuring' won't get in the way of normal collaboration.

I can't count the number of times when a proposed joint approach to exercises for the training year were immediately discounted by various COs because of their ego issues. Smart Bde Comd's don't even try to go there because the political in-battles aren't worth it.

It was even impossible to coordinate exercises between two rifle companies from the same unit. In any case, because COs & RSMs were rarely seen on exercise in person (have to go the Bde Conference/Mess Dinner don't y'know?) it was easy just to go do our own things anyways without any awkward overwatch or centralized control.

Occasionally we would stumble across another unit, usually Sigs or Log, that was occupying the same exercise area and it was possible to coordinate effectively, but this was a 'once in a blue moon' rarity.

Maybe it depends on the units involved.

At least back in the late 90s/early 2000s, I remember many a joint weekend exercise with local units. Often, we would field a company where two platoons were Royal Winnipeg Rifles, a third platoon was Cameron Highlanders, and then the enemy force was Fort Garry Horse. I don't know much of what went on above me, but from my perspective as a platoon commander it seemed to work fine.

Not that there wasn't plenty of inter-unit rivalry and dick measuring in the armouries. But it seemed to come together on the weekends. Maybe all units involved just had really good COs in that era. No idea who things go in Winnipeg nowadays.
 
Maybe it depends on the units involved.

At least back in the late 90s/early 2000s, I remember many a joint weekend exercise with local units. Often, we would field a company where two platoons were Royal Winnipeg Rifles, a third platoon was Cameron Highlanders, and then the enemy force was Fort Garry Horse. I don't know much of what went on above me, but from my perspective as a platoon commander it seemed to work fine.

Not that there wasn't plenty of inter-unit rivalry and dick measuring in the armouries. But it seemed to come together on the weekends. Maybe all units involved just had really good COs in that era. No idea who things go in Winnipeg nowadays.

Like anything else, if it’s not required then people won’t do it, especially if they’re poor leaders.
 
I can't count the number of times when a proposed joint approach to exercises for the training year were immediately discounted by various COs because of their ego issues. Smart Bde Comd's don't even try to go there because the political in-battles aren't worth it.
Shortly before I retired I planned a multi-unit rapelling and patrolling ex. We had a helicopter. We had HII and I had a commitment from three other units to participate. The COS told my CO that I wouldn't get my HIIs or helicopter unless I guaranteed a certain number of troops would come out. The G3 then directed me to work with the second largest Bde unit to make sure I met that benchmark. When the boots hit the ground, I had my numbers - and then some - but the largest participating unit - whose participation was imposed upon me - put out the smallest number of troops.
 
If you bring out a section plus on exercise, combine exercises with other units.

And amalgamate your way to relevance.
That's a bit of an exaggeration, but some units have a much larger authorized strength than others. I don't know how other brigades do it, but most exercises involve at least three units and you can sometimes get a Battalion-minus out of that on good days. One of the biggest issues with weekend exercises is that a good portion of a unit NCO's/WO's are already tasked to Battle School for weekend courses. Take out others who are away on tasking or course themselves you can end up with a hog podge of the random leftovers.
 
I spent a nonzero amount of time tracking paid strength for the Army Reserve, and tracking paid trained strength.

Certain units were continually incapable of parading at anything approaching their auth strength, or anything close to effective.

An Army Reserve of 25k translates to a BTL of about 4k, with recruiters, trainers and administrators of another 1k, and five CBGs of 4k each, organized into 8 units.

That's 40 COs, plus 10 COs for BTL functions. Or about 40 percent of the current numbers.
 
I spent a nonzero amount of time tracking paid strength for the Army Reserve, and tracking paid trained strength.

Certain units were continually incapable of parading at anything approaching their auth strength, or anything close to effective.

An Army Reserve of 25k translates to a BTL of about 4k, with recruiters, trainers and administrators of another 1k, and five CBGs of 4k each, organized into 8 units.

That's 40 COs, plus 10 COs for BTL functions. Or about 40 percent of the current numbers.

That jives with my math. The only difference is that I'd make 2 of those CBGs a CS and a CSS brigade of about 3 k each which would bump up the three remaining CBGs a bit. The numbers of each brigade go up a bit as well once H Svcs and the MPs add a few numbers for a Fd Amb and an MP platoon.

🍻
 
Perhaps the PRes could stop trying to do level 3/4/6 training and just run good level 1 and 2 training....... Lord knows the Reg Force already spends too much too time on 3/4/5/6/7 and not nearly enough on level 1 and 2 which is what the soldiers want and need.

Anyway, I'm sure 2VP can't wait to support IDCCC this fall so they can train reservist OCs even though the PRes can't scrape together enough people to do level 3 training, so why exactly we're wasting time and money on training people to be dismounted company commanders I'll just have to guess.
 
I hear you, and I was raised the same way, and it always feels a bit bad for me to give the advice I do, but I have seen enough good people screwed over my speaking to police when they shouldn't have and inadvertently getting themselves into a world of hurt that could have otherwise been avoided.

Most officers are great people, but they also have a job to do, and if they're talking to you they usually have heard another story from someone else and are treating that story as true.

I am perhaps a but overly cynical/jaded based on my experiences as a criminal lawyer.

I still tell my children (and clients) to always be very respectful to police but to politely decline to answer questions/discuss a situation if you are under investigation. In my experience, if police are investigating you, there is no talking your way out of the situation. If you are not a suspect then it is a bit of a different situation.

Or if you've done wrong and have no intention of fighting the charge, then own up to it. The two times I've been pulled over for speeding that's what I did. One time got a warning, other time got a reduced ticket.
Well said. Completely in agreement.

And same here. I’ve been pulled over twice, and both times I just apologized, said I actually didn’t have a good excuse to be driving that fast, and each time I was let off.

I was never driving dangerously. And usually in small town/highway.


I still chuckle…one day I was driving home from a job interview that didn’t go badly, but didn’t go great. It was a two hour drive on the highway. Traffic was light.

I was going about 130km and the limit was 110km. Red car. The town I had just passed was mostly seniors, and nobody else was even going 110km. I stood out. (This was also maybe 12 to 15 years ago)

I saw the red & blue lights flashing behind me. Waaaayyyyyyy behind me. Like 2km behind me or further. So…I pulled over. Turned off my vehicle. Had all of my documents ready for the officer who eventually pulled in behind me, about a minute or two later.

After asking the usual questions, he asked…”Why are you pulled over?” I told him I had seen his lights on way way back and I knew he was coming for me as I was the only one speeding.

He chuckled. We talked. I explained I just wanted to go home and call it a day, wasn’t happy about an interview, etc. But, I WAS speeding and that honestly wasn’t a good excuse. He just said he appreciated the honesty, to slow it down a bit, and drive safe.
And there's the rub...

You are making the false assumption that 'dick measuring' won't get in the way of normal collaboration.

I can't count the number of times when a proposed joint approach to exercises for the training year were immediately discounted by various COs because of their ego issues. Smart Bde Comd's don't even try to go there because the political in-battles aren't worth it.

It was even impossible to coordinate exercises between two rifle companies from the same unit. In any case, because COs & RSMs were rarely seen on exercise in person (have to go the Bde Conference/Mess Dinner don't y'know?) it was easy just to go do our own things anyways without any awkward overwatch or centralized control.

Occasionally we would stumble across another unit, usually Sigs or Log, that was occupying the same exercise area and it was possible to coordinate effectively, but this was a 'once in a blue moon' rarity.
reading this, I continue to realize how lucky I was to be with a smaller unit that had a pretty solid CoC. A very under appreciated CoC.

Our RSM would be at almost every exercise. A very down to earth guy, solid leader. He wouldn’t micromanage or get in the way, but rather just observe the behaviour & competency of the troops. When there was downtime he would either give tips and pointers, or just banter.

If it was a training day in the armoury, on a weekend, he would pop in. Check on things. And leave.


He would do the odd RSM thing, such as randomly jack you up for ‘walking across the f**king parade square!’ But he’s an RSM, I think it was more of a biological function than anything else.

He also had a pretty good sense of humour. Once brave enough, we would taunt him with things like “Hey warrant, can I walk across the parade square yet, or is that still a no-no?” 😈 In which he would chuckle while telling us to go screw ourselves.


We didn’t do many exercises with other units, but that was mostly due to how busy we were with deployments & such.
 
We’ve done combined exercises over the years, some were good most were awful. A good chunk were only designed to train and exercise higher headquarters and the troops were not the main training audience. So motivating them to come out when they were more of an after thought on combined exercises was difficult. Also lead units would tend to favour their own unit or troops for the more interesting parts of the ex.

My opinion is anecdotal though.
 
We’ve done combined exercises over the years, some were good most were awful. A good chunk were only designed to train and exercise higher headquarters and the troops were not the main training audience. So motivating them to come out when they were more of an after thought on combined exercises was difficult. Also lead units would tend to favour their own unit or troops for the more interesting parts of the ex.

My opinion is anecdotal though.

Your comment about "a good chunk were only designed to train and exercise higher headquarters" made me reflect.

During my early years in the Reg F we had about three combined arms TEWTs (Tactical Exercises Without Troops in case that terminology has gone out of favour) and about the same number of CPXs. That's not very many over a period of twelve years. In my last thirty years, when I became more involved in reserve matters, we had even less.

I would think that CAXs have pretty much replaced the CPX but suppose that to a certain extent the added administrative complexity of organizing and funding those probably limits how many and on what scale the Army runs those.

I've always felt I learned more about combined arms operations on those few TEWTs standing on a knoll chewing a blade of grass while my combined arms syndicate and I puzzled out a particular problem particulalry if on the following brigade concentration we actually practiced that scenario with troops and gear. Unfortunately the vast bulk of my time in those days was taken up tossing 33 and 93 pound chunks of high explosive at innocent spinneys and copses which, while emotionally satisfying, taught us very little about combined arms operations.

🍻
 
Perhaps the PRes could stop trying to do level 3/4/6 training and just run good level 1 and 2 training....... Lord knows the Reg Force already spends too much too time on 3/4/5/6/7 and not nearly enough on level 1 and 2 which is what the soldiers want and need.

Anyway, I'm sure 2VP can't wait to support IDCCC this fall so they can train reservist OCs even though the PRes can't scrape together enough people to do level 3 training, so why exactly we're wasting time and money on training people to be dismounted company commanders I'll just have to guess.

Exactly.

'Train to excite' is a waste of time and resources imposed by those from above who have no idea what really motivates their troops. Soldiers (and Officers) get excited when the training is rooted in the basics, well run and resourced, progressive, and connects with a higher purpose/ end goal where they get to test and improve their skills in a meaningful way. Officers & SNCOS getting any training at all, outside of their mandatory career courses, during the year would be a massive novelty and much appreciated, I'm sure.

And with that, I'm assuming I've managed to help thoroughly derail a thread that was initially all about Hash Brownies ;)
 
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