Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to appear before you today.
I am Colonel Allan Darch, the medical advisor to the Chief of the Land Staff.
I'd like to briefly explain my background and the roles and responsibilities of my current position. I feel that it's important to note that I do not have a direct role in mental health care, and I do not work specifically on occupational stress injuries or on PTSD.
As a doctor, I'm a general practitioner by training, and most of my career has been spent providing medical support to the army. During my career I've had four operational deployments. I started as the unit medical officer for a mechanized infantry battalion—and I'm very pleased to see my first commanding officer here today, General Cox. I gradually progressed over the years to my current position as the medical advisor to the Chief of the Land Staff.
In broad terms, I'm the liaison between the army and the health services group. More specifically, I advise the commander of the army and his senior staff on medical matters, and I'm the point of contact for the senior army headquarters staff for matters related to health services. I also function as senior staff officer for the land staff. Parallel to this, I provide the commander of the health services group and her senior staff with advice, information, and situational awareness on the army, and I'm their point of contact for army-related medical issues. I also function as a senior staff officer within the health services group and represent Canada on international military health care working groups.
Additionally, I provide medical, professional, and technical guidance and leadership to the four army regional surgeons, although I do not have a command and control relationship over them.
I'm also the military occupation advisor for general duty medical officers. In this role, I'm responsible for the coordination and control of where medical officers are employed across Canada and I contribute to their career management. As part of this, I chair the post-graduate training board and participate in merit boards.
To assist me, I have a staff of one subordinate, a major, who is a health service officer.
I welcome your questions.