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Canada's top soldier wants navy on even keel
Gen. Natynczyk addresses equipment, manpower shortages
Matthew Fisher
Canwest News Service
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
ABOARD HMCS IROQUOIS IN THE PERSIAN GULF - "I've got to deliver," was the message that Gen. Walter Natynczyk took halfway around the world with him to his first meeting with a front-line operational unit since becoming Canada's new chief of defence staff six days ago.
"I've got to lay keels for ships. I've got to fill up the navy divisions aboard ships. I have to make sure they have the training that they require," Gen. Natynczyk said yesterday during an interview on board HMCS Iroquois.
The vessel, a 36-year-old destroyer, has been leading a coalition task force that includes two other Canadian warships. They have been hunting for pirates along the Somali coast and for smugglers in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea whose cargoes of drugs and alcohol help bankroll al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
"I have to make sure the sailors in the navy know that they have a secure future," Gen. Natynczyk said of a service that has sometimes felt neglected in recent years because of the strong emphasis on army operations in Afghanistan. The navy faces a severe manpower shortage in key technical trades and badly needs new helicopters as well as replacements for its elderly destroyers and supply ships.
"We are keeping a focus on Afghanistan, but the theatre starts in the Mediterranean and goes all the way across," the general said during a break from a series of meetings with officers, petty officers and junior ranks.
"We have to see this as a whole. They are all inter-connected and it is the maritime dimension that connects this complex theatre of operations."
The destroyer and its sister ships, HMCS Calgary and HMCS Protecteur, were "walking the talk in projecting leadership abroad," Gen. Natynczyk said.
While some of the themes that Gen. Natynczyk highlighted on board the Iroquois were similar to those of his predecessor, Gen. Rick Hillier, the tone adopted by the new chief was substantially different. There was no belligerent talk about Canada's enemies. Rather, Gen. Natynczyk patiently emphasized the challenge to improve military recruiting and ensure a regular flow of funds to pay for expensive capital projects designed to transform the Canadian military into a "more agile, flexible force."
Procuring the big ticket items the navy needs was the greatest challenge that he faced, Gen. Natynczyk said. But funds for a life-extension program for the frigates and new supply ships and destroyers will be forthcoming under the Canada First defence strategy unveiled in May, which, he says "forces us into a planning sequence where we laid this (spending) out for the next 20 years."
Gen. Natynczyk, whose has children serving in the army, air force and navy, emphasized to sailors on the Iroquois that in his role as chief of staff he was "an airman, a soldier, a sailor and a special forces representative."
While he naturally spoke mostly about the challenges faced by the navy while on board the destroyer, the general defended the absence of Canadian troops at Sarposa jail in Kandahar City, where hundreds of Taliban prisoners were set free during a brazen attack last month.
"We are working with the Afghans to understand what happened," he said. "Sarposa was a lucrative target, but there are many lucrative targets there (in Kandahar province) and we cannot keep a section or a platoon at every one of them. Your ability is reduced.
"If we had had a section out front, would that have delivered confidence in the Afghan authorities? It has got to be an Afghan solution. Support from us can sometimes undermine our position. If we had been there, what would it have said of our confidence in them?"
The general described the attack on the prison as "a pretty sophisticated operation. Was it the Taliban or al-Qaeda? ... Something doesn't feel right."
When asked if he thought that elements from Pakistan might have been behind the breakout, he paused for a moment and then said, "It's a tough neighbourhood. We continue to engage with our regional partners and each of them have pressures on them."
One of the recent successes in Afghanistan "that we cannot highlight enough" was how Afghan troops had "cleaned up" the town of Arghandab following the jail breakout.
"Two years ago we were out front. One year ago we were on their flank and this year they are the leaders of the operation."
Taking a page from the Canada First defence strategy, which he contributed to in his previous job as the vice-chief of staff, the general said that his three priorities as Canada's new top soldier were "operations, transformation and people" who he said, were "the long pole in the tent."
"Because of our focus on Afghanistan one of our challenges over the past few years was filling army units. Now that those people are showing up in battalions as privates and corporals, I have to make sure the air force and the navy are getting the folks they need."
The pressing need for troops in Afghanistan had revealed flaws in Canada's recruiting process, he said.
"Where we have had a bunch of personnel policies that all in their own right seemed to be pretty good, when they were all put together they inhibited to a degree effective operations. The effect was that it is more and more difficult for commanding officers to exercise agility to react to operations."
Canada's top soldier wants navy on even keel
Gen. Natynczyk addresses equipment, manpower shortages
Matthew Fisher
Canwest News Service
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
ABOARD HMCS IROQUOIS IN THE PERSIAN GULF - "I've got to deliver," was the message that Gen. Walter Natynczyk took halfway around the world with him to his first meeting with a front-line operational unit since becoming Canada's new chief of defence staff six days ago.
"I've got to lay keels for ships. I've got to fill up the navy divisions aboard ships. I have to make sure they have the training that they require," Gen. Natynczyk said yesterday during an interview on board HMCS Iroquois.
The vessel, a 36-year-old destroyer, has been leading a coalition task force that includes two other Canadian warships. They have been hunting for pirates along the Somali coast and for smugglers in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea whose cargoes of drugs and alcohol help bankroll al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
"I have to make sure the sailors in the navy know that they have a secure future," Gen. Natynczyk said of a service that has sometimes felt neglected in recent years because of the strong emphasis on army operations in Afghanistan. The navy faces a severe manpower shortage in key technical trades and badly needs new helicopters as well as replacements for its elderly destroyers and supply ships.
"We are keeping a focus on Afghanistan, but the theatre starts in the Mediterranean and goes all the way across," the general said during a break from a series of meetings with officers, petty officers and junior ranks.
"We have to see this as a whole. They are all inter-connected and it is the maritime dimension that connects this complex theatre of operations."
The destroyer and its sister ships, HMCS Calgary and HMCS Protecteur, were "walking the talk in projecting leadership abroad," Gen. Natynczyk said.
While some of the themes that Gen. Natynczyk highlighted on board the Iroquois were similar to those of his predecessor, Gen. Rick Hillier, the tone adopted by the new chief was substantially different. There was no belligerent talk about Canada's enemies. Rather, Gen. Natynczyk patiently emphasized the challenge to improve military recruiting and ensure a regular flow of funds to pay for expensive capital projects designed to transform the Canadian military into a "more agile, flexible force."
Procuring the big ticket items the navy needs was the greatest challenge that he faced, Gen. Natynczyk said. But funds for a life-extension program for the frigates and new supply ships and destroyers will be forthcoming under the Canada First defence strategy unveiled in May, which, he says "forces us into a planning sequence where we laid this (spending) out for the next 20 years."
Gen. Natynczyk, whose has children serving in the army, air force and navy, emphasized to sailors on the Iroquois that in his role as chief of staff he was "an airman, a soldier, a sailor and a special forces representative."
While he naturally spoke mostly about the challenges faced by the navy while on board the destroyer, the general defended the absence of Canadian troops at Sarposa jail in Kandahar City, where hundreds of Taliban prisoners were set free during a brazen attack last month.
"We are working with the Afghans to understand what happened," he said. "Sarposa was a lucrative target, but there are many lucrative targets there (in Kandahar province) and we cannot keep a section or a platoon at every one of them. Your ability is reduced.
"If we had had a section out front, would that have delivered confidence in the Afghan authorities? It has got to be an Afghan solution. Support from us can sometimes undermine our position. If we had been there, what would it have said of our confidence in them?"
The general described the attack on the prison as "a pretty sophisticated operation. Was it the Taliban or al-Qaeda? ... Something doesn't feel right."
When asked if he thought that elements from Pakistan might have been behind the breakout, he paused for a moment and then said, "It's a tough neighbourhood. We continue to engage with our regional partners and each of them have pressures on them."
One of the recent successes in Afghanistan "that we cannot highlight enough" was how Afghan troops had "cleaned up" the town of Arghandab following the jail breakout.
"Two years ago we were out front. One year ago we were on their flank and this year they are the leaders of the operation."
Taking a page from the Canada First defence strategy, which he contributed to in his previous job as the vice-chief of staff, the general said that his three priorities as Canada's new top soldier were "operations, transformation and people" who he said, were "the long pole in the tent."
"Because of our focus on Afghanistan one of our challenges over the past few years was filling army units. Now that those people are showing up in battalions as privates and corporals, I have to make sure the air force and the navy are getting the folks they need."
The pressing need for troops in Afghanistan had revealed flaws in Canada's recruiting process, he said.
"Where we have had a bunch of personnel policies that all in their own right seemed to be pretty good, when they were all put together they inhibited to a degree effective operations. The effect was that it is more and more difficult for commanding officers to exercise agility to react to operations."
