By Scott Taylor
On Thursday September 26 Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Jennie Carignan appeared before a parliamentary Committee. The primary focus of the committee was the status of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) with regards to the ongoing recruiting and retention crisis which has led to a crippling shortage of personnel in the Canadian military. Prior to his retirement, outgoing CDS General Wayne Eyre had publicly acknowledged that the CAF was short 16,500 personnel of an authorized combined regular and reserve strength of 101,500. General Carignan stated that as of the end of August there was a total of 92,798 Canadians in uniform. This would appear to suggest that General Eyre's shortfall has been reduced down to 8,802 personnel.
However, General Carignan herself cautioned the committee by admitting that these numbers fluctuated on an almost daily basis. Those familiar with the CAF will realize that the 'on strength' numbers include what old school sergeant-majors used to derisively refer to as the 'sick-lame-and lazy'. In the current vernacular this would include those personnel who are on extended sick leave, stress leave, parental leave and retirement leave. Add to that number the 10,000 or so personnel that have been recruited but have only received basic training and remain awaiting their trades training. This category is defined as 'non-deployable' by the CAF. In other words no matter which way you count it, the CAF numbers do not add up to an effective fighting force.
General Carignan explained that attracting civilians into recruiting centres is not the problem. Last year over 70,000 Canadians signed applications to join the CAF. However, due to bureaucratic red tape and lengthy security clearances fewer than 5,000 applicants were actually recruited. As the personnel shortfall crisis deepens, the CAF have made changes to that system. General Carignan says that in this fiscal year the CAF is on target to recruit and train 6,400 personnel. This she explained will keep pace with the number of personnel expected to retire or release within that same timeframe. In other words, the current projection is to simply stop the hemmoraging without actually pumping in any fresh blood to flesh out the ranks to full strength.
The reason for this half measure according to General Carignan is the bottleneck in the training system. They simply do not have the personnel to train the necessary personnel to make up the existing deficit. The Liberal government, with their focus on the imminent upcoming federal election, seem content to carry forward the military shortfall well into the next decade. In that timeframe, General Eyre had cautioned that the CAF will need to increase by 14,000 personnel in order to man and maintain all the new weapon systems which are presently on the order books. Without an immediate course change the CAF is hurtling towards an existential tragic end.
It does not have to be the case. It is not enough art this stage to merely tread water (or drown-proof to be more accurate). The training bottleneck needs to be overcome immediately and the answer to this would be to re-enlist recently released military personnel as trainers. I believe that if the government were to make an appeal to the patriotism of these veterans, and to sweeten the pot by also offering significant cash incentives and bonuses, you would easily create a professional training cadre. It would not be a permanent solution but rather a surge call-up of veterans and reservists to address the immediate shortfall. Once the CAF is returned to full strength and the 'non-deployables' are made deployable, things could return to a balance of recruiting to match releases. Given that Canada has let the Strategic Reserve list lapse such a re-enlistment of trades qualified veterans would require a partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada. Again give the threat to the institution in which so many once served with pride, I have no doubt that there would be no shortage of volunteers for the cause.
