T
his article, which formed the
basis for a brief presentation
to the Strategic Army Leader-
ship Symposium in September
2020, reflects on three points:
1. where the Army fits in North American
defence and NORAD modernization;
2. why destabilizing issues such as cli-
mate change, political and social polar-
ization, and extremism mean that the
Army must be adaptable and respon-
sive to emerging threats to and within
our continent; and
3. how/why to pursue ideas for en-
hanced, constructive engagement with
Indigenous peoples
12 JUNE/JULY 2021 www.vanguardcanada.com
ARMY
BY P. WHITNEY LACKENBAUER
THE CANADIAN ARMY
IN A CHANGING NOR TH AMERICAN
DEFENCE AND SECURITY
ENVIRONMENT
The discussions about North American
defence modernization to date strike me
as heavily focused on NORAD mod-
ernization (and the future of the North
Warning System in particular), and typi-
cally emphasize how we must better in-
tegrate technology to detect, deter, and
defeat threats in the space, cyber, air, mar-
itime, and cognitive domains. We might
note that the Army is conspicuously side-
lined in most of these public discussions.
The emerging architecture for North
American defence – like US NORTH-
COM and NORAD's SHIELD (the Stra-
tegic Homeland Integrated Ecosystem for
Layered Defense) – is all-domain, span-
ning "sea floor to orbit," and is at its core
about using the latest advances in Artificial
Intelligence and Machine Learning to ana-
lyze patterns, anticipate moves, and enable
decision-making superiority. Many aspects
of JADC2 (Joint All-Domain Command
and Control) and other systems also have
direct applications and implications for the
Canadian Army – obviously in terms of
command, control, and communications,
and connecting sensors to shooters. There
are interesting opportunities to conceptual-
ize how land forces (Army systems, vehicle
fleets, and even individual soldiers) will fit
within the broader networked and integrat-
ed layered defence ecosystem of sensors, fu-
