Photo: LS Erica Seymour, 4 Wing Imaging
By Scott Taylor
It would seem that US president Donald Trump is pushing ahead with plans to stage a massive military parade on June 14.
That date will mark the 250th anniversary of the establishment of the Continental Army. This military force was established to fight for liberty from British rule and once independence was achieved the Continental Army has evolved into the modern American Armed Forces.
Putting that historical milestone aside, June 14 will also mark Trump's 79th birthday.
According to Pentagon planners, Trump's vision for a military spectacle will involve some 6,600 troops, and over 150 combat vehicles. The logistics for this parade are challenging. The soldiers will be deployed from all over the United States to Washington DC.
There are makeshift plans to house these troops temporarily in government buildings within the capital region. Much of the firepower, vehicles and weaponry on parade will be a demonstration of modern battlefield capability.
However, there is also a Pentagon plan to have soldiers in various period uniforms marching to represent past wars in which American soldiers were victorious. Which I'm guessing will exclude Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Another challenge for the organizers is that of the weight of the larger combat vehicles. Nothing instils awe in onlookers like the rumbling, ground shaking roll-past of a 70 ton Abrams main battle tank. However that sort of heavy traffic plays havoc with urban road surfaces.
This is not a hypothetical as that is exactly what happened when the US Army did just that when they staged a Victory Parade in Washington DC in 1991. That spectacle was to celebrate the liberation of Kuwait from Iraq's Saddam Hussein, otherwise referred to as Operation Desert Storm. Thus the cost of this upcoming parade has to factor in the aftermath repair costs as well. Not including soldiers' salaries and training interruptions, Trump's pending tribute is estimated to cost between $45 million to $91 million. Which, of course, Trump says is "a good investment".
Here is where Trump and I disagree, and I think that his plan might actually backfire. Like the Canadian military, the US Armed Forces have a weight problem. Statistically 40-50 per cent of the US military is overweight with 20 per cent being considered obese. That is a reality.
Sure, parade planners could cherry pick the best candidates but you are still going to fall short of the mark. Real authoritarian dictatorships know how to parade martial prowess. On May 9, Vladimir Putin paraded nearly 10,000 troops and 150 combat vehicles on Red Square honouring the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2. Both China and North Korea sent detachments to march in this parade.
For those who have never seen either a North Korean or Chinese mass military parade I would advise you to check it out. The North Koreans employ a weird bone-shaking goose-step that looks like it would jar hips loose. The Chinese for their part have perfected martial uniformity on a scale that seems unfathomable.
What I I fear is that Trump's planned spectacle will look like amateur hour compared to what Russia, China and North Korea routinely stage for their masses. Trump is virtually handing international viewers a direct apple-to-apple comparison; US Military fitness, drill and deportment against the super well-rehearsed Russian, Chinese and North Korean showboats.
This is not to say that Canada could even hold a candle to what the US are about to stage. We last mounted a little Victory Parade in Ottawa in November 2011.
If few remember that 'spectacle' it is because it involved merely 300 marching troops and a flypast of a handful of aircraft.
The occasion was the recently concluded NATO-led coalition's victory over Libya. The parade cost taxpayers over $850,000 and for the record Canada was the only member state of the 19 nation coalition to stage such a victory lap.
I'm guessing the others realized that their powerful alliance having taken over 200 days to overthrow the leader of Libya was really not such a crowning martial achievement. That NATO left Libya plunged into a violent anarchy which remains in effect to this day, makes Canada's Victory Parade in 2011 all the more ironic.
The last major CAF ceremonial display in Ottawa was the July 2, 2008 Chief of Defence Staff, Change of Command. It was organized by outgoing CDS General Rick Hillier who paraded nearly 1,000 troops from all three service branches, plus the Ceremonial Guard band. To cap off his illustrious career, General Hillier climbed into a Leopard main battle tank and rode off the parade square.
I honestly do not believe that the CAF could mount a spectacle of that magnitude in 2025. Sad but true.
