Re: Ideal CF Size?

[Gunner <randr1@home.com>]

This is always a great topic of discusion and, as always, Mike hits the
nail on the head.  A nations force structure is dictated by two main
themes.  First is the threat to the nation which can be explained as ...
no threat...no military, or conversely, large threat...large military. 
The second theme is the role the nation wants to play in the world. 
Does it want to be capable of policy (read force - ecomomic, military,
etc, etc) projection to areas other then its own?  
Canada does not have a threat.  Hence we have a small military.  As I
have mentioned before, the major threat to Canada is the United
States...how do you defend your soveignty against a super power?  Lord
knows Ms Copps has been wrestling with that question for years.
Canada wants to use "soft power" to help nations in need and only a
small part of this is in the form of the "boy scouts".  The RCMP, CIDA,
NGOs, etc are all part of the Governments policy of using federal and
NGOs to nation build (as we're doing in Bosnia) vice, the traditional
forms of peacekeeping and peacemaking.
Canadians are generally supportive of a military, however, we have been
extremely fortunate to have lived in a land of peace and stability. 
Hence, there are no political will to spend alot of money on a very
expensive military.  I can't necessary fault that.  
Cheers!
Michael O'Leary wrote:
> 
> At 08:55 PM 6/22/00 +0000, Albert King wrote:
> >Currently the Cf has about 60,000 people in uniform, that's way down from
> >about 78,000 just a few years ago. What would be a good size for the CF? I
> >think to do an effective job we would need around 250,00 reg. force and maybe
> >350,000 reserves. Whether that's a reasonable goal I don't know.
> >
> 
> The CF currently has under 55,000 Regukar Force personnel, well under the
> 60,000 ceiling. And I hear that recruiting targets have fallen short in
> recent years, so that we may suffer more attrition before things get better.
> 
> That aside, I wonder how you decided that 250,000 plus 350,000 would be
> reasonable. What missions do you foresee, what is the 'threat' we need to
> be prepared to meet?
> 
> What breakdown would you give to the Army, Navy, and Air Force?
> What primary roles would each service have, and what manpower would you
> apply to each?
> What principal equipment would each service have? More of the same, or new
> significant additions? And to meet what mission tasks? (For example, a
> carrier battle group would look very impressive in Halifax Harbour, but
> what force projection does Canada do? The last operational use of Canada's
> aircraft carriers, the 'Maggie' and the 'Bonnie' were to deploy UN mission
> equipment and troops, cheaper by hired RO-RO and aircraft now.)
> 
> If we focus on the Army for a minute, would you propose a proportionate
> increase of existing roles and units allocations? If not, what restructure
> would you apply to the Regular Force? How about to the Reserve Force?
> 
> What generic line of reasoning would you see the government using to
> explain such a force strength to the average Canadian?
> How would you justify the expenditure? Would you raise taxes, or reduce
> spending elsewhere, if so, where?
> 
> It's all simple enough to throw generic force strength number around, but
> it starts to get complicated when you have to base it in the real world. If
> a concerned party were to propose a significant force strength increase to
> the MND, thse are a few of the questions they would be expected to cover.
> 
> (Albert, I don't mean to seem to be on the assault, I just thought that we
> needed a broader base on which to discuss viable/necessary force levels.)
> 
> Pro Patria
> 
> mike
> 
> Michael, Miriam and Roland O'Leary
> 
> Visit The Regimental Rogue at:
> http://regimentalrogue.tripod.com/index.htm
> 
> The address moleary@bmts.com will cease to be effective on 27 Jun 2000.
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