Canadian Army overhaul looms as DND finalizes mobilization plans

The military’s operations command is currently drawing up an “all arms defence of Canada” plan which will lead to a major reorganization of the army this fall, says the country’s top army commander.

Lt.-Gen. Mike Wright, speaking at a land forces conference at the University of Calgary on Thursday, said the army’s existing four-division structure, which is largely administrative, is being torn down and replaced.

“The army we have is not the army we need,” Wright said.

“That is not a critique of our people. It’s a sober assessment of the strategic environment — one that led us to lay out a plan of action.”

The new system will make it easier for the army to not only defend Canadian soil, but also deploy overseas and mobilize perhaps hundreds of thousands of volunteers in the event of a major crisis.

Wright did not speak to precisely what will be in the “defence of Canada” plan since it is being written outside of the army with input from the other services. 

What he did say was that the army will be reorganized into three divisions — one of which will be dedicated specifically to the defence of Canada, notably the Arctic.

“Restoration of divisional-level war fighting capability is the baseline for credible deterrence,” Wright told the conference, adding that “an army that is capable of fielding and generating a 15,000-strong division is essential” because “it signals national sovereignty, national credibility and national agency.”

The last time the Canadian Army operated and trained with a full divisional structure was more than three decades ago at the tail end of the Cold War. 

The army’s “defence of Canada” division will have units from all across the country and a “footprint in 120 communities.” 

It will “also provide the basis for future growth, and mobilization for the Canadian Army and the Canadian Armed Forces,” Wright said.

One of the functions of soldiers attached to this homeland defence force will be the “protection of critical infrastructure.”

It will be headquartered in Montreal.

The second division — known as the manoeuvre division — will form the basis of Canada’s overseas contributions to NATO, including the mission in Latvia where over 2,000 soldiers serve, and other multinational deployments. It will be headquartered in Edmonton.

There will also be a support division based in Kingston, Ont., and training will be consolidated and given its own command.

Wright said the changes are necessary because the world has become so unstable and the army needs to be more nimble.

In addition to the overhaul of the army, the Department of National Defence is developing a plan for mobilization, which would see a massive increase in the size of the reserve force — both primary and supplemental. Last fall, it was revealed the military was considering increasing the full-time reserves to 100,000 troops and adding a lightly trained citizen soldier force of 300,000.

WATCH | More about the proposed citizen soldier force:

Plan to create citizens’ army of 300,000 reservists met with skepticism

The Canadian military is proposing to expand part-time reserves by up to 300,000 troops, but military experts say the ambitious plan comes with numerous challenges, especially how to equip and mobilize that many more people.

 The country’s top military commander, Gen. Jennie Carignan, said last fall they’re preparing a mobilization plan to put before the federal government this year.

Brig.-Gen. Shawn Bindon, the Defence Department’s director of mobilization, told the conference that they’re “preparing feasible options for the government to consider in the very near future.”

He wasn’t prepared to discuss specifics of what will likely be proposed, but said the military’s view is that the probability of Canada being involved over the next several years in “large-scale combat operations has been much increased” and a lot of his time is being spent figuring out how to assemble, equip and train a mobilized force.

“What I can sit there and say right now is: if we go into conflict, the list of things we’re missing is huge,” said Bindon during his remarks Friday. “It’s as long as this arm, this arm and everybody else’s arms.”

An internal slide deck presentation obtained last year by CBC News showed the extent of the concern at the Defence Department and how “existing supply chains, inventories and personnel systems” were already at capacity and overwhelmed.

Article source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/army-canada-mobilization-soldiers-9.7145446?cmp=rss