That right there is what I consider to be the crux of "stop rearranging "deck chairs." Under the QR&O we can order a reservist to train, but we don't and can't in practical terms anyway.
My thought process goes to a system whereby a reservist joining the CAF has an obligation for mandatory training and the the option to attend additional voluntary training. In addition the individual is subject to full-time active service if his government orders it and is also able to voluntarily agree to tours of temporary full-time service.
The underlying philosophy is get them while they are young and have the time to train in the summers and need money and then reduce the mandatory training requirements when they are older and have other responsibilities in life to the eventual point where there are no training requirements and they are merely on stand-by for a period of time. So - a career looks like this:
1. on enrollment the individual is put on a BTL and attends mandatory training in their summer vacation (2 months for high schoolers, 3-4 for university/college students) and one weekend per month - until they complete their full DP1 qualification. They sign up for an obligatory term of service that covers their time on DP1 training plus, let's say three years or mandatory training at their unit thereafter. No release is given during this time and a refusal to serve results in recovery of training costs like other obligatory service schemes already in use;
2. once DP 1 is complete and the individual is assigned to a unit he is obliged to mandatory training of one weekend per month for ten months and a two week annual summer exercise. That works out to roughly 41.5 training days. The training is rigorously set by the army based on an essential multi-year unit training plan structured to that unit's readiness requirements and role. Federal legislation is prepared to support that mandatory attendance.
3. The individual is allowed to attend on a voluntary basis whatever additional training programs might be available to progress through DP 2 and 3 levels.
4. After the initial term of obligatory service is complete, the individual either goes onto Supp Res status for a fixed term (let's say three years) or else reenlists for another term of mandatory service of 45.5 days per year (and let's include a reenlistment bonus as an incentive). Again, additional voluntary training and service opportunities are made available.
That's it in a nutshell. Anything that does not include mandatory DP1 training, an obligatory service period and mandatory annual unit training is "rearranging the deck chairs." The key is that the service requirements must 1) fit the life cycle of say the 90 percentile of the recruit base we are trying to attract; and 2) the essential unit training required to create an effective force. Everything else is just playing soldier.
