LGen Hillier says soldiers "undervalued" (so, what else is new ...)?

[bossi]

When I read this story, I nearly lost it.

Undervalued?   Orphaned?   darn straight!!!
However, before the Army can expect support from the rest of Canada, let's clean up our own act first with regard to undervaluing our own people
(especially since I applied for a job, but they decided to hire a 2Lt instead - then, when I applied for another one, they decided to leave the position vacant.   And, best of all - LGen Hillier knows the person they gave my original job to ... and let's just say he wasn't impressed.   I'm sure he'd be even less impressed if he found out this same individual costs more on TD than my daily wage, each day he travels to Toronto to attend meetings.   Thus, it's difficult for me to remain convinced I volunteered for Afghanistan "for the right reasons" ... when this is allowed to happen afterwards).

http://www.hfxnews.ca/news.aspx?pname=News&section=News&storyID=25048

Soldiers need our support    
By Peter McLaughlin, Tuesday November 23, 2004
 
Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier, who commanded soldiers in Afghanistan, gives an account of his experience last night at Royal Artillery Park in Halifax. (Photo: Mike Dembeck)

Canada's soldiers are the country's â Å“orphans,â ? stretched thin and fighting in extremely dangerous lands a    with little public support, says one of the nation's top military commanders.
Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier, the army's Chief of Land Staff, told a gathering of business leaders and academics yesterday the men and women deployed overseas in the fight against terrorism need to know the country is behind them.

â Å“They need to visibly understand that the country actually does support them when we put them in high-risk places like Afghanistan,â ? he said.

Hillier, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Kabul this past year, said many Canadians don't really appreciate how important it is for Canada to step up and play a role in stabilizing foreign hot spots, which could become vulnerable to terrorist regimes, that in turn could affect Canada's security.

Need stability

â Å“If you don't have that stability around the world, the instability that's there will come here to us,â ? he said in an interview.

â Å“Whether that comes to us through the increased price of oil or whether it leads to a state becoming a fertile garden for the growth of violent groups such as Taliban or al-Qaida, who then prosecute attacks against our societies, it almost doesn't matter; it's still going to have a dramatic effect on the life of every single Canadian, and change the lifestyle we have dramatically.â ?

Hillier said the government's move to boost the numbers of the armed forces by 5,000 regular service men and women, and by 3,000 reservists is needed so the military can sustain overseas missions.

But he said many soldiers feel undervalued.

â Å“At times in this past decade, Canadian soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen, anyone wearing uniform of our nation have felt like orphans, sometimes put off and not wanted by the population to be seen or heard,â ? Hillier said.

â Å“They go into tremendously risky places. They do yeoman service for our country,â ? he said.

â Å“When you're out on a night patrol in a city like Kabul, narrow alleyways, lots of people, completely dark, very dangerous, somebody waiting to kill you, you want to be convinced you're doing that for a very good reason.â ?

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

Maybe you should email him.

 

[Yeoman]

<-----------------They do yeoman service for our country
I'm the standard!
but hey; at least he's open about it now.
Greg

 

[pbi]

At least he's saying something! Cheers.

 

[Big Foot]

It's about time someone tries to bring attention to the plight of soldiers in Canada. It's too bad more people didn't take notice of what LGen Hillier said. I mean, this is the first I've heard about it.

 

[OLD F of S]

      Bossi has a point lets clean our own house first, I feel it has to start with our senior offs
many have no idea what a young soldier faces in the field or how to respond to his needs
if he is farther than 30 km from Ottawa.

      There that is my rant for today.

                    Regards Old F of S

 

[ceemes]

It was written over a century ago, to it still rings true today, especially for the CAF

Rudyard Kipling's

TOMMY

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
    O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
    But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
    The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
    O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
    But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
    The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
    O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
    But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
    While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
    But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
    There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
    O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
    But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
    An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
    An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

 

[Canadian.Trucker]

I think the media, politicians, and our own leaders have a hand in this.  After what happened with the airborne how can we always be sure the decision is the one that's best for the troops?  And the media always has a negative story about our military rarely is it positive, partially because our politicians don't take care of us properly.  It's a cycle that will take years to fix.  I hope it changes, but it's not going to be a short process.

 

[54/102 CEF]

The only way to measure progress is less taskings or more people or a mix of both.

But!

No fear boys and girls!

Get a load of this article - The Perpetual Deployment Machine!!! Once you get on it - you never get off.

Wars nowadays rarely "run their natural course" to "burn themselves out and establish the preconditions for a lasting settlement." Instead, they "become endemic conflicts that never end because the transformative effects of both decisive victory and exhaustion are blocked."

Dr Thomas Hughes writing in The Cult of The Quick - related to the Cult of the Offensive.

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj01/win01/hughes.html

Uh-oh!   :threat:

Implied tasks -

1 company per 10 election monitors in a stinking ville in   a sinkhole over the horizon...........
ditto
ditto
ditto
1 company per 10 election monitors in Election Main
1 company per 10 election monitors in Election Forward

Just reading between the tea leaves