Afghanistan committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for the opportunity to speak with you about the Canadian Forces contribution to the government's mission in Afghanistan. Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, or CEFCOM as we call it, has been the national focal point for this mission for the Canadian Forces since the command first came into being on the first of February 2006.

National Defence committee  I think it's anywhere from, quite honestly, minutes to years, depending on the nature of the issue. In response to IED events in-theatre, we will have someone on the scene very quickly--I'm talking minutes--and they will do an initial evaluation and a follow-on evaluation. Thanks to the information age we live in, we're able to propagate the results of that analysis very quickly--within theatre to subject matter experts in-theatre who will look at what can be done immediately, back to Canada, to the army, to ADM(Mat), to the Canadian Forces writ large.

National Defence committee  I think there are two elements to that. If the medical professionals say he's not fit for duty, he's not fit for duty, and there's no further discussion, quite frankly. If, from a chain-of-command perspective, there's a view that he's not deployable, that decision can be made at any one of a number of levels.

National Defence committee  I am going to give you a quick answer to your first question and I will let my colleague answer the second. In an infantry section, an armoured vehicle, or any vehicle for that matter, each individual sees his comrades and watches their behaviour very closely, what they say and do every day.

National Defence committee  For us, that is a basic principle. Absolutely nothing should be more important than taking care of those who have been wounded in the service of their country overseas. Be assured that this is how we see things.

National Defence committee  Unfortunately, I have to respond in the same way that I have to a couple of other questions. I'm just the wrong person to ask that question to. They're very good questions, and I don't have the answers to those. It would be the chief of military personnel who would have the responsibility to provide you with those answers.

National Defence committee  Once again, I am not necessarily an expert on the implications of recruitment and attrition in the Canadian Forces, or even in the army. The Chief of Military Personnel or the Army Commander would be in a better position to answer those questions. To date, at my level, the army has not indicated any problem with the ability of the Canadian Forces to supply troops to accomplish its mission.

National Defence committee  I would say that it is of utmost importance. I will let Colonel Bernier talk more specifically about our health system.

National Defence committee  The short answer is yes. You could get more details of that from the army. The commander of the army could speak to that. Or we can get you that information.

National Defence committee  The last time I was in-theatre, I was told they were just being introduced.

National Defence committee  Into theatre.

National Defence committee  That's what I was told, but we will get you more specific information.

National Defence committee  They will. How soon I couldn't say. The more general answer to the question I think is that we follow this quite precisely in-theatre and back in Canada, from a medical perspective, from an equipping perspective, from any number of different perspectives. We've been making adjustments to both the vehicle set that we have, in terms of how they are protected, and to personal protective gear, based on the results of this analysis we do.

National Defence committee  I can't answer that question. I don't have that detail. I can take that on notice.

National Defence committee  I can't comment; it's certainly outside my focus.