Vanguard Magazine

RUSSIA'S INVASION OF UKRAINE HAS HAD A PROFOUND INTERNATIONAL EFFECT, PUSHING WESTERN MILITARIES, THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES INCLUDED, TO RETHINK THEIR MISSIONS AND POSITION IN THE WORLD. P ersonnel are at the core of armed forces' success and this rethinking of the CAF cannot exclude its members. Person- nel management is all the more important as Canada's military has had to deal with compounded crises: one of recruitment and retention aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of culture, which resurfaced through sexual misconduct scandals involving some of the CAF's most senior leaders. Cognizant of how much the world and social circumstances have changed, many have argued that the current defence poli- cy, Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE) needed revisions. For this reason, Budget 2022 promised a defence policy review, one that 18 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 www.vanguardcanada.com POLICY PEOPLE FIRST: BY CHARLOTTE DUVAL-LANTOINE RETHINKING PERSONNEL POLICY would steer the CAF towards operational effectiveness for the plethora of security challenges characterizing the 21st century. The validity of such a policy review is under debate, but this piece argues that the CAF would benefit from one in terms of its personnel management. Since SSE's publication in 2017, Operation Honour has faced its demise, job dissatisfaction in the ranks is high and it is clear that the CAF will not be able to meet its diversity targets set for 2026. Added to those issues are a CAF that is overstretched and under- staffed (by at least 7,500 people, accord- ing to Chief of the Defence Staff Wayne Eyre) and costs of living are once more becoming an issue in the ranks. While it is an ambitious policy that claims to put personnel first, SSE has gaps that a poli- cy review needs to address sooner rather than later. Strong, Secure, Engaged: The Broad Strokes The topic of personnel management is SSE's first chapter. Titled "Well-Support- ed, Diverse, Resilient People and Family," this chapter acknowledges the complexity of personnel issues. The policy seeks to address recruitment, training, and reten- tion; job satisfaction, benefits, and com- pensation; wellness and mental health; sexual misconduct; diversity; and military- to-civilian transition. To tackle concerns and fulfil objectives such as "ensuring effective recruitment,

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