Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very pleased to be here, before this Committee, today. On behalf of our soldiers, I would like to thank you for your interest, and for your support of the Army.
It is important for our soldiers to know that members of Parliament, on behalf of all Canadians, support them in their vital work.
Our current operational focus is of course the mission in Afghanistan. So I'll use these brief introductory remarks, mainly in the language of Molière, to address some of the issues arising from that mission. I will then be pleased to answer any questions you might have.
The role of the Army is to produce combat-effective land forces ready for deployment in accordance with decisions by government or the Chief of the Defence Staff. We carefully analyze our commitments on a regular basis, and conduct simulations for each operational force we plan to deploy.
Mr. Chairman, we will fulfill the requirements of our mission until 2009. Our planning and our managed readiness system have enabled us to respond to the additional demands placed upon us as part of the enhancement to Task Force Afghanistan announced in mid-September.
I also want to stress that it is not easy for us to fulfill the requirements of our mission. As committee members are aware, for a number of years, the Army as maintained a very high operational tempo with an insufficient number of soldiers. We are therefore very happy to be able to increase our strength, and we are looking forward to the day that our soldiers will lead lives where deployments, various tasks, training and time spent with their families will be more balanced. That will not happen overnight. It will take years for the Army to totally recover from the long period during which it had to be prepared at all times and with seriously reduced strength to meet the demands of continuous overseas rotations, while fulfilling its obligations here at home.
Mr. Chairman, I now want to go into greater details on some personnel related issues. While we are able to honour our deployment commitments, we are unable to increase our strength quickly enough, and this is a source of some stress. We are therefore putting some solutions in place that will help fill in the gaps until the recruits have been integrated into the field forces.
One of the situations where there is considerable pressure is the one facing our senior non-commissioned officers. These men and women are the spearhead of the Army. We ask them to lead our soldiers in operations, to train them in combat schools, and to carry out very important duties, even though there are simply not enough of them.
Paradoxically, increasing our strength in the Army is amplifying the problem. We will need an even larger number of these highly qualified soldiers to train recruits as they integrate their units and take specialized courses. We have identified a certain number of areas where civilian contractors can provide basic courses, thus freeing up our NCOs and soldiers for more demanding duties. These changes are being made as part of our highly effective training capacity enhancement program.
For example, civilians can replace NCOs in training soldiers requiring to manoeuvre vehicles on streets. They can also teach the basic skills required for operations in mountainous terrain, some parts of our communications training, as well as how to operate the turret on a LAV, for example.
In addition, we currently need role players to play Afghan civilians during exercises at the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre in Wainwright, Alberta.
It's a unique initiative in which these Afghan civilians, Canadians, are doing those roles they know so well, replicating the circumstances that our soldiers will face overseas.
Then we can replace the soldiers whom we would usually call upon to play the role of Afghan citizens by Canadian civilians hired under contract. I must stress the fact that we are not asking civilians to teach combat techniques. These techniques are always taught by competent members of the Army.
Mr. Chairman, we also use more Army reservists. Thus, within the framework of the program called the Pool of Instructors for Individual Training, we hire class B reservists to deliver a part of the individual training. This program should free up some 400 members of the regular forces who could be assigned to other tasks during the coming year.
Moreover, we were recently authorized to hire another group of 1,000 to 1,500 class B reservists, part-time and full-time. It will not be easy to motivate that many to serve us full-time because many of them have demanding jobs in civilian life and because others prefer to serve only on a part-time basis. But if we succeed in gathering enough people, we would have partly solved our current shortage of personnel.
We must also deal with the fact that our establishment chart in peacetime does not match the structures that we are deploying within the framework of operations such as the one in Afghanistan.
Another problem we face is that our peacetime establishment does not match the structures we deploy in operations, such as in Afghanistan. For example, an infantry company here at home is usually 100 to 110 soldiers. The companies we have in theatre are about 145 to 150 strong. That means when we stand up an infantry company for deployment, we have to draw on at least two other companies, thereby essentially attenuating the established structure within the battalions and brigades.
I have directed that our peacetime establishment here in Canada be restructured to mirror how we form up our operations. A regular field force structure will migrate towards one that would be based on three brigades and nine, perhaps ten, infantry-based battle groups. These brigades and battle groups are to be organized, trained, and equipped just as they will deploy in operations.
Incidentally, following its rotation in Afghanistan next year, the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment will be designated for a five-year trial as a standing battle group. I just saw them on exercise in Wainwright. They are getting fully prepared for the tasks that lie ahead of them in February.
The planned restructure to mirror force posture in operations will take some time to achieve, but we're starting the process now. Indeed, we started a couple of months ago.
The issue I've just raised is mainly a structural problem. However, it is exacerbated if, in order to form a company for Afghanistan, we are forced to draw on two or more companies that are hollow or are well below strength. This is sometimes the case today, and will only be resolved once we've added the new personnel that the Government of Canada is sending our way. These personnel have already started to enter our ranks.
Members of this committee will know that the army continues to undergo a major transformation that will enable us to meet the challenges of this young century. Because of the acute demands of operations in training, however, some parts of transformation may have to be slowed or somewhat delayed. Other requirements or tasks may also be delayed. Accordingly, I have directed that operational requirements must and shall take priority over some of these subsequent activities.
To summarize the situation, Mr. Chairman, we're going to do all we can to meet our operational commitments right up to 2009 and beyond. Unfortunately, it is impossible to grow the army quickly enough to eliminate all the many problems we face, causing us some stress. I'd be more than willing to discuss some of these details with you.
The problems we now have will ease as the army grows. Unlike previous army commanders, I can look in you in the eye and tell you that we're growing. We're applying some creative solutions that will help us reach the point where we will fill all personnel requirements without resorting to stopgap or special interim measures such as those as I've already alluded to, the 1,000 to 1,500 reservists brought in for a couple of years.
Finally, I'd like to turn briefly to the question of equipment. The way in which we acquired equipment during the Cold War period--for instance, it could take up to 15 or more years from the time we identified a requirement until the time the equipment entered service--is no longer viable. In today's strategic environment, speed and flexibility are paramount. I know you will be pleased to know that we've enjoyed some notable successes in Afghanistan, and indeed across town, in this regard.
Several successes spring to mind. I'm a gunner, so I'll bring to your attention the M-77 lightweight artillery howitzer that was acquired and put into service. From the moment the requirement was identified until it was in action against the foe, it took four months. There are others, of course--much smaller unattended aerial vehicles, used for reconnaissance work, and the armoured patrol vehicle that General Howard referred to.
That said, we must of course be careful to ensure that what we buy will serve a requirement in the army for many years to come. If we buy in a hurry too often, we wind up with that which is available rather than that which will serve our particular requirements for the foreseeable coming decades. But in cases where we have identified a pressing requirement, we're now a great deal better at getting kit into the hands of the soldiers in the field quickly, thanks to a whole bunch of senior officers, civilians, members of government, members of opposition, and indeed the whole town putting their shoulders behind the wheel and pushing to get the right kit to the soldiers, giving them enhanced levels of protection and security.
Mr. Chairman, I'd like to remind the committee that everything we have done, everything we do, is to set the soldiers up for success. We're very proud of the way they're conducting themselves in Afghanistan. They are serving with great courage and skill to ensure that the Afghan people can rebuild their lives, their communities, and their country after so many years of war and brutal Taliban rule. I am confident that we can count on you to support these outstanding young Canadians, who are conducting themselves with great distinction and to international acclaim.
Merci, monsieur. I am now more than ready to respond to any of your questions.