NBC responsibilities to the Reserves?

[kaspacanada]

EDIT: I think I should move this to the Canadian Army forum as it is not ‘news‘ per say. So I am about to do it. Sorry about the bandwith, any mods that can delete this post? ugh, nevermind. too late. Bossi you‘re quick. Will leave it here then. END OF EDIT

I had the opportunity to hear the current minister of national defence David Pratt, and his top aide David Price speak at the mess dinner I attended Friday the 18th of March. During their speeches, it was mentioned that they were exploring the ideas of expanding the responsibilities of the reserves to include emergency response to any potential NBC attacks that occur in local areas.

It‘s true that they are well dispersed, and may be trained to carry out this task with national standards and ‘military efficiency‘ Yes, it removes some strain on municipal budgets and responsibilities as well. And yes, I agree that our forces are up to any chance to help the people of this country in what ever ways that they can. I also think that it is an important role that municipal and provincial funding may not be up to covering without federal help in the first place and that in general, for the welfare of the Canadian people, and the exposure of our military that it is a good idea in principle.

There was no talk over the funding details, but I would expect the provinces and/or municipalities to contribute to the costs. But as it breaks down, this is how I see it.

I do take note that the reserve budgets are already tight and units seem to find themselves scraping and lacking in training time etc already. Now it is likely that they would be given ‘more‘ money for this additional responsibility, but that also remains shady.

I would have a problem with reserves taking on this task IF the amount given (based on past budgetary experiences) is not be enough to adequately train for both the normal job as soldiers (or whatever trade) and for this additional responsibility.

At least two things may occur if funding is not adequate. Either one task will suffer drastically to make up for the other, or the quality of both will be reduced further, possibly to an ineffective point. An ineffective response is just as good as no response.

I lay this to you for suggestions and comments.

:tank:

 

[bossi]

I should receive a briefing on the new CRBN Coys shortly, so perhaps I‘ll have some more answers then.

From my days in civilian emergency management, I was briefed on the difficulty of maintaining even a Hazmat capability in municipalities. There, it boils down (no pun intended) to: "How often do we need one, and can we call for help from our more affluent neighbours when we do?" Smaller communities simply figure they can‘t afford it, and so they skimp.
Ditto for HUSAR (Heavy Urban Search and Rescue). Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto are likely to be the only cities large enough to support these teams (however Toronto recently discovered how vital they are when a theatre collapsed downtown).

Stay tuned ...