Video--May 31, 1600: Meeting with service chiefs/senior NCMs--Senate Committee

[MarkOttawa]

With live webcast:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committee_SenNotice.asp?Language=E&meeting_id=11028&Parl=40&Ses=3&comm_id=76

    National Security and Defence
    Monday, May 31, 2010 4:00 pm
    Location: Room 2, Victoria Building 140 Wellington Street
    (Televised live on PTN)
    (Webcast)
http://senparlvu.parl.gc.ca/Guide.aspx?viewmode=4&categoryid=-1&currentdate=2010-05-31&eventid=7018&languagecode=12298
    Clerk: Kevin Pittman (613-993-8968)

    Agenda for the meeting - Senate

    Examine and report on the national security and defence policies of Canada.
    TOPIC: The State of the Canadian Forces

    AS A PANEL
    * (4:00 pm-4:45 pm)
    National Defence
    Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, Chief of Land Staff
    Chief Warrant Officer Wayne Ford, Army Sergeant Major

    AS A PANEL
    * (5:00 pm-5:45 pm)
    National Defence
    Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, Chief of Maritime Staff
    Robert Cleroux, Command Chief Petty Officer

    AS A PANEL
    (6:00 pm-6:45 pm)
    National Defence
    Lieutenant-General André Deschamps, Chief of Air Staff

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

From Canwest News:

Army overflowing with recruits, but air force short
http://news.globaltv.com/world/story.html?id=3094479

    Canadian army, navy and air force chiefs gave starkly different reports to a Senate committee Monday on public enthusiasm to join their ranks.

    The army is so overflowing with recruits that there's a waiting list for the infantry and when the Afghanistan mission ends next year many reservists who signed up full time will be pared back to part time.

    After years of falling short of recruitment targets, the navy finally exceeded a target in the past year and is feverishly advertising itself to fill jobs.

    The air force is short of active and reverse personnel and many hundreds of air force men and women in uniform are not trained yet; as soon as the economy improves many who are trained will go to the private sector.

    Those comments by army chief Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, chief of land staff; Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, chief of maritime staff; and Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps, chief of air staff, gave members of the Senate committee on national security and defence a glimpse into the challenges the military faces during the transition to the post-Afghanistan period...

    There are more than 61,000 active and reserve forces in the Canadian military.

Actual figures at of May 4, 2010, shown during webcast:

Regulars: 61.460
Primary Reserve: 24,265

(By comparison, Australia has some two-thirds Canada's population and a permanent "...defence force of 58,00 personnel."
http://news.sympatico.ca/world/contentposting?newsitemid=3510195&feedname=cp-world&show=false&number=0&showbyline=false&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc&date=false&paginationenabled=false )

All three service chiefs said they had enough money under the (very long term) "Canada First Defence Strategy".
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2010/03/so-much-for-conservative-canada-first.html
But for how long will that promised money be there?
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2010/05/crunching-cfs-budget-only-to-be.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Eye In The Sky]

The AF CWO (or reprsentative) was not present with the CAS?