Maybe folks just wanted to get as far from the farm as they could.
It's interesting to note that from 2004 to the present, while the Canadian Forces grew mainly in the land combat trades to enable the success of the mission in Afghanistan, the Royal Canadian Navy actually became smaller. That was not good. It was understood that it was where the recruiting focus had to go. We reached a point two or three years ago where we had to raise the flag and realize that if we did not give the navy a greater recruiting priority, we would not be able to sustain the readiness we needed to put the ships to sea to meet the six core CFDS missions. The Chief of Defence Staff tasked the Chief of Military Personnel, who runs the recruiting group in the Canadian Forces, to make the navy the priority. In the recruiting centres across Canada, we took in more and more sailors, and this was very good. It allowed us to get on track to recovery, and I'm pleased with where we are.
The challenge the chief and I have today is that 20% of our sailors are going through their basic training to get to their first operational functional point. This puts stress on our schools and our fleets, but it's the right kind of stress to have. The trends are all positive. The distressed trades, especially the marine systems technical trades and the naval electronics technical trades, will recover by about 2017, which is fine. The key is to continue to sustain that attraction.
What's important for me is to maintain an institution that is well led and has a clear vision, that treats people with respect and supports their families, and that attracts people to the service of their country at sea. That's where I put a lot of effort. When I visit our ships, when I talk to our sailors, as the chief and I did last week when we visited the Vancouver the Mediterranean, I see people who are happy, professional, switched on, trained, enjoying what they're doing, and feeding on the respect and recognition they get from Canadians. With that kind of environment, we will have no problem continuing to attract the finest Canadians.
I would say to you, without any bias whatsoever, that when I talk to other heads of navies, they always comment on the quality, the education, the self-confidence, the enthusiasm, of our young sailors, and they ask how we're able to do this. I think it's across the three services. We should be very proud in Canada that we continue to attract our finest men and women into uniform.