As PM Series: The Military part 1

It's been a while since I've had time to work on my blog. I finally got assigned to a new project at work, so I don't have as much free time as I did before.

Anyway, today's topic is the military. Canada's military is dysfunctional, but the problem requires a far better solution than just throwing money at it. The entire concept of the military as it stands today is outdated, and not suited to modern conflicts.

Canada has only one concern in world affairs when it comes to the military, and that's peace keeping. However, peace keeping is an entirely different beast than war, and old military concepts simply don't apply. Canada's military is also needed for self defence (not necessarily from any imminent threat, but as a realization that conflict can always happen).

I suggest seperating the two concepts entirely, and disband the current organization of the army, airforce, and the navy. Instead, there would be two seperate divisons: the Canada Defence Force and Peacekeeping and Search & Rescue.

The first division is the Peacekeepers and S&R. S&R fits in naturally with peace keeping, which is why I feel the two should be grouped. A peace keeper requires different training than a soldier, somewhat along the lines of a police officer. Conflict resolution and negotiation are necessary skills. The fact that the civillian population may be hostile should also be considered. A soldier doesn't wear heavy body armor since that would reduce his mobility and camouflage. A peacekeeper, however, is out in the open and should be equipped accordingly. A peacekeeper also needs non-lethal weapon options that a soldier doesn't need nor wants.

As for the Canada Defence Force, its mandate should be to ensure a hostile force cannot entire Canada's 200-nautical mile limit. There should be no real emphasis on projecting power outside of that limit. We don't have the means or the will to do so, and the money would be far better spent on the right equipment. For example, an aircraft carrier is an offensive vessel that we don't need, but a destroyer is quite suitable.

More on this to come....