National Defence committee  Absolutely. There are multiple dimensions to the delivery of the mission, and, as I pointed out, the mission elements are more than only the fighting battle group that is there. There is a national capacity-building effort, the national training effort, the PRT effort, and the battle group.

National Defence committee  But we're an army of veterans, in the sense that since 1989-90, when the wall came down and we started experiencing the world for what it really was, our leaders are wearing their CVs on their chests in terms of the ribbons or the places they've been in and the environments they've been exposed to.

National Defence committee  They certainly do, as does the whole institution.

National Defence committee  I can't speak to the specific rules of engagement. I would expect there would be no difference in terms of what Canada has authorized as the rules of engagement for its forces and those with which we've trained. I'm not sure what the differences will be in terms of the day-to-day operational activity of the force on the ground.

National Defence committee  I believe it's public record that such interventions aren't a matter of any one force—military, civilian, governmental, NGO, IO. It's an all-of-government and in many ways it's an all-of-country engagement in something as complicated as an Afghanistan-like scenario. So ensuring, as we plan to intervene in failed and failing state-type scenarios, that we apply to the best of our capacity and ability a whole-of-government, whole-of-Canada approach within the international community to get into a realigned state, which suits the people on the ground as opposed to an end state that satisfies our perception, is really our business.

National Defence committee  ...because we would have to replace our soldiers in, let us say, six or twelve months.

National Defence committee  As there were in Bosnia.

National Defence committee  No, they're under the control of other members of the Canadian Forces. We share the training provided by the civilians with our international partners in Kandahar.

National Defence committee  No, this is basic training for every rank. When you are made a major, you receive the training to learn the duties of a major. Then you receive special training for your area of expertise, because you join the full team in order to contribute to the group.

National Defence committee  As the Commander Land Force Doctrine and Training, I am responsible for the individual training of all members of the force. It is not that we have an insufficient number of instructors for the mission. The problem is rather trying to achieve a balance between the size of our training force, the size of our operational force and what remains in Canada, because the rest of the army needs training as well.

National Defence committee  We have to take some leaders from our units and send them to our schools in order to train all of our soldiers. In a period of growth, we send more instructors and leaders to our schools. The growth rate in our training centres is linked to the pace of growth in our operational forces and in our units here, in Canada.

National Defence committee  In terms of quality, yes. The quality of our people is always guaranteed. We have two operational fields. The second group is trained to the required level so that it can be deployed following a certain number of days of advance notice. Nevertheless, in terms of quantity, we do not have the same capacity.

National Defence committee  The force is much smaller than what we have in Kandahar. If there were another deployment, that obviously would put additional pressure on training...

National Defence committee  If you speak slowly, sir, I will understand.

National Defence committee  I used to go to your military college.