National Defence committee  Well, again, taking a long view, a 100-year view of this issue, the best way to maintain popular support for the mission is to carry out missions that are morally just. In those instances in which Canada has become involved in struggles around the world to do the right thing, wha

National Defence committee  I would add that while the regional focus may shift, in terms of the missions that may be required to be accomplished by the Canadian Forces in a shift towards the Pacific Rim, there's no indication that the potential missions of the future would change. The main threat to stabil

National Defence committee  No, I agree completely.

National Defence committee  I would follow it up very briefly by echoing Admiral Murray's view that the lessons learned review process has always been part of the basis of armed forces organization for a modern professional military force. The particular offices that carry out this work have been resourced

National Defence committee  Have you read the book, sir?

National Defence committee  This is my point in asking if you have read the review or if you have read the book. The reviewer had not read the book. Had you read the study—

National Defence committee  That's going to be a difficult short response. I would suggest to you that the shortest answer I can offer, because we have done follow-on work, is that I think everyone concerned with the mission was optimistic in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 we saw an enemy response to the way in wh

National Defence committee  Certainly the Canadian Forces are more prepared to deal with them. The amount of resources that have been put into solving this problem has increased. The new technologies and capabilities that have been made available are making great strides forward. But we haven't had that con

National Defence committee  If I can just hot pursue that with one observation on what we've seen over the years at the University of New Brunswick, the Canadian Forces are a reflection of our multicultural society, and they are inherently more sensitive to those cultural differences that define the new kin

National Defence committee  I didn't anticipate having my credibility questioned. What you're speaking about is the now defunct Security and Defence Forum program that has existed since 1971, whereby the Department of National Defence provided research grant funding to universities across Canada to conduct

National Defence committee  Might I ask, sir, have you read the review?

National Defence committee  I think what you're suggesting already exists in both elements. The Canadian Forces, all three branches, and SOF operators already train to anticipate what might happen next. They're able to do this because they have a well-educated leadership structure, well-educated leaders a

National Defence committee  That's a difficult question. I would suggest to you that we would not be well served—this is the kind of question that military historians tackle regularly—by preparing for a last mission. That's not really what this discipline is about. But we can find examples of...and let's

National Defence committee  I echo Admiral Murray's comments completely. I would just throw in one short caveat, one short additional comment that the exchange training programs with NATO partners are an essential part of that interoperability to ensure that we continue to speak the same military language.

National Defence committee  That's an excellent follow-up question. I would suggest that the issue is resourced effectively, to the best of my knowledge, for soldiers currently serving in uniform. There are, however, two significant holes, two significant gaps that remain. One concerns veterans released fr