Canadian Overseas Missions

[Jersay]

Canadian contribution to Operation ENDURING FREEDOM
OP ARCHER
Afghanistan

Arrangement for the Transfer of Detainees Between the Canadian Forces and the Ministry of Defence of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
2,300
OP FOUNDATION
Tampa, Florida / Bahrain 7
United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)
OP IOLAUS
Iraq 1

NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR)
OP BRONZE
Bosnia-Herzegovina 10
European Union Force (EUFOR)
OP BOREAS
Bosnia-Herzegovina 11

CF Contribution to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti Headquarters (MINUSTAH HQ)
OP HAMLET
Haiti 6

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF)
OP GLADIUS
Golan Heights
4
Multinational Force and Observers (MFO)
OP CALUMET
Sinai 28
UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)
OP JADE
Jerusalem 8
OP PROTEUS
Jerusalem 3
UN Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
OP SNOWGOOSE
Cyprus 1

UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
OP CROCODILE
Democratic Republic of the Congo 9
CF Operations in Sudan

OP SAFARI
United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)

OP AUGURAL
Darfur: Western Sudan (African Union)



32


18

International Military Advisory Training Team (IMATT)
OP SCULPTURE
Sierra Leone 11

Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 -
Exercise BRILLIANT MARINER 2006,
Exercise STEADFAST JAGUAR 2006
OP SEXTANT 309

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 2,758

http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/operations/current_ops_e.asp


So that is of April. So 1/3 of our deployable force is preparing or deployed on these missions. I know of 2 guys from my unit that have applied to go to Bosnia.

But from what I see Canada's military is 60,000 regular and 25,000 reservists. We have round it off 3,000 soldiers overseas on any particular mission.

Now that is stretching it thin but isn't there enough troops several hundred maybe for a Darfur mission if asked??

 

[Mogz]

We don't have the troops for Darfur, period. You can toss out numbers like 60,000 and 25,000, but with Dafur you automatically have to factor OUT Sailors and Airmen. Then factor in the rule of 1/3:

1/3 Deployed
1/3 Returning from deployment
1/3 Preparing to deploy

Canada currently has 2,300 or so troops deployed to Afghanistan, but what people fail to realize is that we have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 300 deployed to Camp Mirage in support of the operation, and they're not listed due to political reasons. So the number is closer to 2,600, multiply that by 3 and you get 7,800 troops either deployed, back from deployment, or getting geared up to go. Those men/women are untouchable in any sense short of a national emergency.

Next you have to consider our national training tempo. It's spring/summer and this is when the Brigades conduct training. Right now the bulk of 2 Brigade out of Petawawa is in Wainwright doing Brigade level exercises. That's somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4,000 men and women that are knee-deep in weeks of training on the other side of the nation from their parent base. These individuals cannot shut down their training, load their vehicles on rail-cars, drive back to Pet, conduct post-ex drills (cleaning/servicing), DAG for going overseas, and deploy. It's not feasible from a time perspective. 1 Brigade is a shell. Edmonton Garrison is a ghost town as the vast majority of the Brigade is in Wainwright supporting 2 Brigade in training and/or deployed to Afghanistan on Operation Archer. 5 Brigade is gearing up to go to 'Ghan this fall and cannot deploy to Darfur even for a modest time frame.

Now lets look at key trades. The key trades for an overseas deployment are:

-Infanteers
-Engineers
-Medics
-Signallers
-Supply Techs
-MPs

As the Canadian Forces stand right now, we have a national shortage of all the above listed trades. In the case of Signallers we are currently in the neighbourhood of 1,400 below our MINIMAL maning plans. As a result every Battalion/Regiment/Brigade is short of core troops. Our Infantry Regiments are all listed as short by upwards of 300 men. Our Combat Engineers are scraping the bottom of the barrel to meet requirments in Afghanistan. Our medics are busier than ever, with 1 Fd Amb in Edmonton having less than 30 active medics in Canada, and being forced to deploy upwards of 2 sections (16) to Afghanistan with 5 Brigade this fall. 1 HQ and Sigs, 2 HQ and Sigs, 5 HQ and Sigs, and the CFJSR are all well below what they need for Signallers (also LCIS Techs and Linemen). Right now the deployment to Afghanistan is short 50 Signallers, putting huge strain on the Operation in terms to comms. In fact when 1 Brigade deployed, they raped and pillaged 2 Brigade for any Signaller that wasn't sick, lame, or dying. Supply Techs are probably an ok resource, i'm sure we could snag a few bin rats from the depots, probably 7 CFSD and fire them overseas, but it's a moot point when you look at the other trades. Lastly, MPs, are probably one of the most hurting trades in the military. On Operation Athena (the previous operation to Ghan) the MP mandate called for 36 MPs, the roto had 7. I'm unsure as to what the situation is right now, but i'm sure it's just as bad.

Lastly, reservists. Yes, 25,000, a pretty number, but a LARGE chunk of those "rentals" are untrained, such as yourself Jersay. An untrained soldier is just a civilian in CADPAT (no offense). You cannot factor them in to your deployment capabilites. Furthermore, reservists in Canada, under the "total force" concept, are suppose to be able to do any job a regular force member can do. That is to say, a reservist signaller is suppose to be able to operate and maintain the TCCCS system flawlessly, establish and maintain satellite uplinks, maintain an IRIS LAN, and work a 3 man RAD-DET. Not to mention be comfortable in IS and TELCOM duties. The truth is that the ideal works in theory. Reservists don't know a FRACTION of that trade that Reg Force troops do. In fact, I know from personal experience that the reservists that go through the Comms School in Kingston are not taught large portions of the trade; i.e. SAT-COMMS and indepth training on the IRIS LAN systems. Therefore these troops are useless in a combat environment. Look at the CFJSR for example. They were tasked to deploy a Troop of Signallers to Afghanistan. They reviewed the application of some 20 odd reservists from across Ontario. They ended up taking 1 reservists.

These are just some off the top of my head reasons why we cannot deploy to Darfur. I'm no expert on these things, but i'm sure these reasons, and a whole host of others factored in to the Governments decision.

 

[Jersay]

Not offended at all.

With what you supplied it is reasonable to say that among other reasons and that reason as well, it is not fesible to go to Darfur at this time period or for a few years at least.

 

[Jersay]

Lastly, reservists. Yes, 25,000, a pretty number, but a LARGE chunk of those "rentals" are untrained, such as yourself Jersay. An untrained soldier is just a civilian in CADPAT (no offense). You cannot factor them in to your deployment capabilites. Furthermore, reservists in Canada, under the "total force" concept, are suppose to be able to do any job a regular force member can do. That is to say, a reservist signaller is suppose to be able to operate and maintain the TCCCS system flawlessly, establish and maintain satellite uplinks, maintain an IRIS LAN, and work a 3 man RAD-DET. Not to mention be comfortable in IS and TELCOM duties. The truth is that the ideal works in theory. Reservists don't know a FRACTION of that trade that Reg Force troops do. In fact, I know from personal experience that the reservists that go through the Comms School in Kingston are not taught large portions of the trade; i.e. SAT-COMMS and indepth training on the IRIS LAN systems. Therefore these troops are useless in a combat environment. Look at the CFJSR for example. They were tasked to deploy a Troop of Signallers to Afghanistan. They reviewed the application of some 20 odd reservists from across Ontario. They ended up taking 1 reservists.

Just thinking about what you just said is kind of scary. You got 25,000 people who are reservists who are suppose to get the training of regular soldiers to fill in for them when they are overseas or go overseas themselves and only 1/20 are capable of ''deploymen' standards is shocking and kind of scary if you get into a extremely large conflict.

 

[Mogz]

That's why most Reg Force soldiers are skeptical of Reservists. Especially when you get a reserve Master Corporal with 2 years in oversearing Reg Force Corporals with 5 or 6 years in, and the Master Jack doesn't know a fraction of what the Reg Force boys do. I'm not going to say ALL Reserves are in this state, as a matter of fact there are some excellent reservists out there who push for their training and are a valued asset of the nation, but this trend is more the rule than the exception. Our reserve system is an utter mess, especially in Ontario.

 

[Jersay]

Thanks for pointing that out.