Should Canada adopt the Swiss military model?

[ampmrider]

This thread is absolute drivel and the originator is a shallow fool.

I've been in the military (British and Canadian armies) for almost 30 years and am still serving. All of the comments on here smack of having been posted by people who either have zero military experience, or who just "dabbled" at some point in their lives.

Canada's Army of today is a well-equipped, well-paid fighting force, populated by thinking soldiers. Do not make the mistake of confusing it with the peace-time army army of yesteryear. Our troops are top-notch. They know their craft.

I'm a soldier, I hunt (a lot!) and I target shoot. I have all manner of firearms in my. I DO NOT go around telling anyone that fact. My neighbours haven't a clue. MOst people I know who have guns tend to keep it to themselves. There are just too many freaks around (some of whom apparently make it online regularly!)

"Macho" (which I very much doubt), you're a drooling idiot with way too much time on your hands. You're clearly bored with life. Try going outside. The fresh air will do you good. Once your head is clear consider a hobby...basket weaving would probably be right up your ally. Best of all, it would limit the time you have to devote to posting abject drivel on this forum. How about telling us all what you supposedly did in the military? Let me guess, you were a REMF, right? Certainly not combat arms, that's for sure. If you were ostracized by your peers in the military, it is probably because you were just too damned strange and self-centered. The military works on teams, not self-serving turds who are always trying to march to the beat of their own drum. No wonder you didn't make it. I've seen a lot of light-wights like you come and go over the years. Worse than useless; people like you are a dangerous liability in the military. No idea how you even made it through the recruiting process. Must have been a slow recruiting period!

Thin out and stop boring us all!

 

[Machjo]

This thread is absolute drivel and the originator is a shallow fool.

I've been in the military (British and Canadian armies) for almost 30 years and am still serving. All of the comments on here smack of having been posted by people who either have zero military experience, or who just "dabbled" at some point in their lives.

Canada's Army of today is a well-equipped, well-paid fighting force, populated by thinking soldiers. Do not make the mistake of confusing it with the peace-time army army of yesteryear. Our troops are top-notch. They know their craft.

I'm a soldier, I hunt (a lot!) and I target shoot. I have all manner of firearms in my. I DO NOT go around telling anyone that fact. My neighbours haven't a clue. MOst people I know who have guns tend to keep it to themselves. There are just too many freaks around (some of whom apparently make it online regularly!)

"Macho" (which I very much doubt), you're a drooling idiot with way too much time on your hands. You're clearly bored with life. Try going outside. The fresh air will do you good. Once your head is clear consider a hobby...basket weaving would probably be right up your ally. Best of all, it would limit the time you have to devote to posting abject drivel on this forum. How about telling us all what you supposedly did in the military? Let me guess, you were a REMF, right? Certainly not combat arms, that's for sure. If you were ostracized by your peers in the military, it is probably because you were just too damned strange and self-centered. The military works on teams, not self-serving turds who are always trying to march to the beat of their own drum. No wonder you didn't make it. I've seen a lot of light-wights like you come and go over the years. Worse than useless; people like you are a dangerous liability in the military. No idea how you even made it through the recruiting process. Must have been a slow recruiting period!

Thin out and stop boring us all!

Yes it was a short time I'd spent in the military. As for whether it was combat arms, it was infantry. Also, as for working as a team, it generally wasn't a problem on workdays, but since we lived together even on weekends, and I wasn't really into the party scene, I'd simply left the group on Friday and meet up on Sunday. If they went to Edmonton, I'd go to Calgary. I like them for the most part, and it was nothing personal. On weekdays I had no issue with them. But on weekends,it was best to part ways. I did complain on a number of occasions about racist comments (no, they weren't directed towards me since i'm white myself, then again that might be why they had no issue spewing it out in front of me). Over time, yes I found it psychologically difficult (though as for physical fitness, I could outrun them all and was about average in comparison with the rest of the group on all other areas). I just couldn't take the mentality.

I'm not saying this was the same across the military because I can only comment on my own group. As for your comment on military equipment, what does that have anything to do with the thread at hand. The part of the thread you're referring to in yor pose had to do with whether the military would be a good way to teach discipline to high school drop outs, and I disagreed based on my experience. You haven't addressed that at all in your post beyond emotional gibberish.

 

[Bar Sinister]

I really can't see any point in Canada having a compulsory military system. Canada has no real enemies (at least not any that have the ability to invade Canada unless you count the USA). Our current military is actually larger than it needs to be. We don't really need an air force, not with the USA providing air cover with its several thousand aircraft, and the navy is really just token support for our NATO allies. It makes more sense to restructure the air force and the navy to act as coastal defence forces and put the money saved into the army which is the force that Canada has made the greatest use of in the last fifty years.

 

[Libertarian]

Riiiight. An army dominated by rifle-wielding illiterates. Genius.

I'm a high school dropout, and I am far more literate then the majority of high school graduates. What an ignorant statement.

 

[Libertarian]

I really can't see any point in Canada having a compulsory military system.

I agree.

Canada has no real enemies (at least not any that have the ability to invade Canada unless you count the USA).

What about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, most of the Middle East? What about North Korea? I can go on.

Our current military is actually larger than it needs to be. We don't really need an air force, not with the USA providing air cover with its several thousand aircraft, and the navy is really just token support for our NATO allies. It makes more sense to restructure the air force and the navy to act as coastal defence forces and put the money saved into the army which is the force that Canada has made the greatest use of in the last fifty years.

We shouldn't rely too much on American aid. Their country is not far from collapse.

 

[Bar Sinister]

I agree.



What about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, most of the Middle East? What about North Korea? I can go on.



We shouldn't rely too much on American aid. Their country is not far from collapse.

You can go one about Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and any other nation you care to name. Canada is one of the most difficult nations on earth to invade. It only has a border with one nation and that nation is the least likely nation in the world to invade Canada. It doesn't have to as it already owns most of our key resources. As for the others they lack both the incentive and the means to invade anyone except a nation right next to them. You have to understand that in order to launch and sustain a successful invasion a nation has to have a global reach. Very few nations have such a reach, especially no nation in the Middle East. And don't count out the USA just yet. Most of its problems are minor compared to those of many other nations.

 

[AnnaG]

Actually Canada is just a hop, skip, and a jump over the pole from Russia. But I don't think we have anything to fear from those people. Nagurskoya and Alert are only a little more than 500 miles apart.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Actually Canada is just a hop, skip, and a jump over the pole from Russia. But I don't think we have anything to fear from those people. Nagurskoya and Alert are only a little more than 500 miles apart.

True - and Canada is close to Denmark (Greenland) and France (St. Pierre and Miquelon), but I don't see any invasion coming across the Arctic ice or from those two tiny gulf islands.

 

[El Barto]

Will we have Canadian Army Knives?? 8O

hahahaha









yep

 

[Libertarian]

You can go one about Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and any other nation you care to name. Canada is one of the most difficult nations on earth to invade. It only has a border with one nation and that nation is the least likely nation in the world to invade Canada. It doesn't have to as it already owns most of our key resources. As for the others they lack both the incentive and the means to invade anyone except a nation right next to them. You have to understand that in order to launch and sustain a successful invasion a nation has to have a global reach. Very few nations have such a reach, especially no nation in the Middle East. And don't count out the USA just yet. Most of its problems are minor compared to those of many other nations.

What about North Korea, China, or Russia?

 

[Machjo]

Just to clarify things. While a Swiss-style citizen army would be highly effective in defending Canadians on Canadian soil, it's certainly not the most effective military structure for sending troops abroad for long durations to Afghanistan for example, for that, you do need a professional army.

However, as for defending Canada from terrorism, I think the RCMP can do that much more effectively than the army. Remember, terrorist organizations are not government institutions, do not control any country, and essentially comprise individuals. On that front, an army is not very effective at figuring who's a terrorist and who isn't until the terrorist takes action, thus leaving the soldiers with only a short time to react. Of course the soldiers can can pre-emptive action against any suspected terrorist, but then he'll give rise to freedom fighters, making things worse. Or he can give each stranger the benefit of the doubt until he pulls the dagger out, but then he'd better react quickly. It really is a catch-22.

For a police officer on Canadian soil, on the other hand, it's just a matter of tightening border security, airport security, etc at key checkpoints.

And as for fighting foreign countries, while a Swiss-style citizen army would be highly ineffective in sending troops abroad, it would be highly effective in making any country think twice before attacking Canada.

Though remember even in Switzerland they still have a small core of professional soldiers who serve mainly a training role in peacetime, but who could go to the help of allies in wartime, though allies they'd need owing to their small size, and they certainly could not fight a war abroad on their own.

 

[Bar Sinister]

What about North Korea, China, or Russia?

I believe I answered that question in my first reply to your post. Neither China, Russia, or North Korea have the logistical capability of invading Canada and sustaining any invasion force. These nations are purely local in their reach in that they can threaten those next to them but cannot launch any overseas invasions. Then there is the fact of the USA so far as Canada is concerned. The US would not allow any invasion of any nation in the Western hemisphere, much less its closest neighbour. Historically Canada has been threatened with invasion from only one nation and that is the USA. Even during World War I and World War II there was no real threat of invasion, both the Germans and the Japanese lacking the naval capacity to land large numbers of troops and sustain them in the face of US military superiority.

 

[Libertarian]

I believe I answered that question in my first reply to your post. Neither China, Russia, or North Korea have the logistical capability of invading Canada and sustaining any invasion force. These nations are purely local in their reach in that they can threaten those next to them but cannot launch any overseas invasions. Then there is the fact of the USA so far as Canada is concerned. The US would not allow any invasion of any nation in the Western hemisphere, much less its closest neighbour. Historically Canada has been threatened with invasion from only one nation and that is the USA. Even during World War I and World War II there was no real threat of invasion, both the Germans and the Japanese lacking the naval capacity to land large numbers of troops and sustain them in the face of US military superiority.

True. As long as we have big brother USA to protect us, we'll be alright. :canada::lol: