Sir, absolutely.
As an example of some of the challenges and the lessons learned, we reacted very fast to an emerging improvised explosive device and suicide bomber threat. In Afghanistan during my first tour, the challenges in that environment weren't seen and evolved quite rapidly. We reacted in a way that allowed us to acquire the capability, the doctrine, and now the tactics, techniques, and procedures, that our allies are very interested in. That's an example of a hard won lesson; we lost lives. That's a capability we do not want to see pass because, if we look around the world, in just about any scenario we could go into, we could find similar threats. So that's an example of a lesson learned that we need to retain and be pretty good at. I could go toward intelligence, cultural awareness, and apply it to theatres in a different standard.
With regard to the reserve force, there's not a senior leader who would diminish the role the reserve played in sustaining our role in Afghanistan. We could not have done that mission without them. Where the regular and reserve components of the army were seven to ten years ago and where they're at today, it's phenomenal. We will not lose that either.
In the immediate missions that just went out the door, we might not have achieved the percentage of reservists that we would like. But I can tell you that in a subsequent rotation that will come of the Secteur Québec de la force terrestre, we'll have close to 25% reservists. So we're going to continue to go down that road, because of the skills they bring to the table. They are value added.
The reserve force also serves in a domestic context. In my previous job as commander of Land Force Atlantic Area in Halifax, two-thirds of the soldiers who responded on the ground to Hurricane Igor in Newfoundland were reservists, and they performed brilliantly. We can't do without them.