Hard times for the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo

[jollyjacktar]

CTV News reported that the Tattoo is facing financial worries this year due to downgrades to grants from various govenmental agencies and support from Marlant with labour and the CF Obstacle Race act.  Admiral Newton was interviewed (off camera) and said that he couldn't ask the taxpayers to pay for troops to provide charitable support like that or do duties that don't reflect their day to day jobs (the race). 

The forces have always provided this cornerstone act since the 1970's and the backstage assistance as long as I've been here (21 years).  He may be right in his reasoning but the optics look bad.

CTV News Video

 

[vonGarvin]

Doing the Soldiers' Race is exactly the very thing they ought to be doing!  They are recruiting just as the troops get a VERY good go.  And I say this from the experience of being there twice.  Soldiers clamoured to get on the NSIT!  The Admiral may not realize this, but those soldiers are being paid whether they are there or not (though of course there are TD expenses, etc)...

 

[George Wallace]

I agree.  Removing the CAF from the public eye is dangerous and harmful.  This, as mentioned, is a great event that both highlights our military heritage (Where are all those Buttons and Bows/Crowns and Pips ambassadors now?) and a great recruiting tool (Why is CAFRG not involved?).

 

[Remius]

It isn't a case of them getting paid whether they are there or not it has to do with them not doing their day jobs which they are being paid for.  Staffing cuts, reductions due to whatever are all hindering operations and training.  It's hard for the Navy to claim they have a manpower problem when they send a group of them to something like this for several weeks.  Sucks, yes, but it is likely the right decision. 

 

[Stoker]

At one point in time for a whole month around Tattoo time, many pers were provided to provided support including warehouse space to store props etc. Over the years with the manning crunch we are no longer in position to do so. We still provide some support such as the Stad band, accommodations etc. I fully support the Admiral in this.

 

[cupper]

Sad to hear. I was part of the cast from '79 to '81. Good times.

 

[jollyjacktar]

I understand times are tough for the mob.  They're tough on everyone, tough now on the Tattoo as well. 

Despite how much of a problem it causes supporting the show each year (I, along with the rest of the shop have had to take up the slack for missing co-workers every time we got dinged) the positive returns I believe outweighed the negative.  It doesn't really matter how the Admiral phrases his reasoning for this decision to cut back on support, the optics look bad from the outside and we miss the opportunity to connect with those we serve with something like the race.  And the organization comes up short in the PR field (however correct it might be).

Also, if the one of the objections to the race is that it has no connotation to a sailor's daily job (and I suppose I could agree from that angle) then, making sailors do the FORCE test is also unsupportable in that regard.  No sandbags on ship, definitely no running and diving on the non-skid like that etc...  I do so hate double standards. (light sarcasm)

 

[Pusser]

The thing that is being forgotten here is that public outreach IS one of our jobs.  This includes parades, attending ceremonies for "decoration" (e.g. swearing in of new second-class citizens), the Snowbirds, the Skyhawks AND the Tattoo.  Not participating in these things is a lost opportunity to show the public that we exist.  If we want public support, we need to be out there and on display.  No kid ever looked with stars in his eyes at a Sup Tech stocking a shelf and said, "yeah, I wanna do that when I grow up!"  However, put that Sup Tech in a dress uniform in a parade and that kid is more likely to think about it.

When they killed the Gun Run in the name of fiscal responsibility, the Navy lost a part of its soul.  Some folks just don't get it.

 

[jollyjacktar]

:goodpost:

 

[Stoker]

The thing that is being forgotten here is that public outreach IS one of our jobs.  This includes parades, attending ceremonies for "decoration" (e.g. swearing in of new second-class citizens), the Snowbirds, the Skyhawks AND the Tattoo.  Not participating in these things is a lost opportunity to show the public that we exist.  If we want public support, we need to be out there and on display.  No kid ever looked with stars in his eyes at a Sup Tech stocking a shelf and said, "yeah, I wanna do that when I grow up!"  However, put that Sup Tech in a dress uniform in a parade and that kid is more likely to think about it.

When they killed the Gun Run in the name of fiscal responsibility, the Navy lost a part of its soul.  Some folks just don't get it.

The STAD band was there, color guard and probably lots more people in uniform as well. The soldiers race was a just a small part of it. The gun run was canned because of money and also because many people were getting injured as well, sometimes badly. When times get better for the military, perhaps the race will come back. The whole tattoo is not gone, just a very minor piece of it. Didn't the admiral say the RCN is still supporting it to a tune of $600,000?

 

[Remius]

The STAD band was there, color guard and probably lots more people in uniform as well. The soldiers race was a just a small part of it. The gun run was canned because of money and also because many people were getting injured as well, sometimes badly. When times get better for the military, perhaps the race will come back. The whole tattoo is not gone, just a very minor piece of it. Didn't the admiral say the RCN is still supporting it to a tune of $600,000?

Exactly.  The CAF presence there is already significant.  hopefully it will come back but for now it seems, someone made a hard and likely responsable choice.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

I agree with Pusser here. What would happen if the Army said no more Governor General Guard and changing of the guard on Parliament hill in the summer because I am short staffed in my battalions? I think there would be an uproar. There is a need for these type of displays in a Nation's capital that convey military strength and the pageantry of our military history, and it is part of our job. The same goes for the Tattoo with regards to the Navy.

If you don't think it has any influence or following outside of Nova Scotia, think again. I live near Montreal and one of the regions American PBS Station, which can be seen in the whole Montreal region and eastern ontario by about five and a half million Canadians and another two million US citizens just LOVES the Nova Scotia Tatoo and shows it regularly during their membership drives. They constantly assert their hopes that filmed versions of it will continue to be made available to them so they can show new ones. Five and a half million potential Canadian viewers. PAO's can't buy that much publicity.

And wasn't the Run introduced as a replacement for the Gun Run? Again I agree with Pusser: The Gun Run was part of the Navy's soul. Were there injuries? I don't doubt it, but could many of those have been prevented with a combination of better physical shape and, more importantly, greater familiarity with the guns and their carriages? We used to be introduced to them in basic.

Here, I am going to rejoin with Jollyjacktar. As an O.S., I did my GMT (today one would say BMQ) at a base that used to be naval, under the guidance of naval C&PO's (Do I have to say where? OK: Cornwallis). No FORCE or Warrior course there. We got in shape by running everywhere on the base as a division, there was  morning run and it got us to the water where we pulled the old wood cutters (eleven per Coxn included), then PT on the parade square where we got our muscle exercising as a team with the old telephone poles, etc. [including the old Jackstay "pull" - a jackstay was set up, hauled taut and tied to a stationary post to stay that way with a 200 pound weight hanging from the hook at the midway point and two team on the Inhaul/Outhaul had to fight each others to bring the weight to their "ship" without getting out of their box] But after the fourth week, we were introduced to all the drill with the naval gun.

I am certainly one who advocates that basic should go back to being under elemental control, so that sailors can do naval stuff from the start, Army doing Army stuff and Air Force doing, well whatever it is they do .

Meanwhile, Long live the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo.

 

[Remius]

Except that the tatoo isn't being cancelled. 

And Ceremonial Guard has seen cuts as well, limiting the amount of sentries and not sending part of the band to the Tatoo. 

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Guess it's time for the Air Force to stop wasting time doing air shows.  I'll call Winnipeg now and let them know they should disband The Snowbirds. 

 

[Remius]

Again, the Tatoo isn't cancelled.  Some elements aren't participating this year.  That is actually normal for many events like this.  Some years soem units participate and some years they don't.

The sky hasn't fallen.  :

 

[George Wallace]

Guess it's time for the Air Force to stop wasting time doing air shows.  I'll call Winnipeg now and let them know they should disband The Snowbirds.

They came close to that a couple years back. 

As those airframes are getting quite old now, you may not have to.  They may have to disband in the near future anyway without new airframes.

 

[Pusser]

Again, the Tatoo isn't cancelled.  Some elements aren't participating this year.  That is actually normal for many events like this.  Some years soem units participate and some years they don't.

The sky hasn't fallen.  :

A death of thousand cuts has the same end result as one of just one...

 

[Remius]

A death of thousand cuts has the same end result as one of just one...

And I suspect that is exactly why the Navy had to make this choice. 

 

[Eye In The Sky]

And I suspect that is exactly why the NavyAdmiral had chose to make this choice.

FTFY

 

[Stoker]

If people are that upset about it, apply to another Command that's flush with funds to provide personnel for the Soldiers race.  That's right there isn't one.