Vanguard Magazine

22 APRIL/MAY 2025 www.vanguardcanada.com S E R V I C E C H I E F S this is new for the Canadian Army, to have a post command, division commander go- ing into that position. Stéph has the con- tacts and the credibility, and we've also formed underneath Stéph the Directorate of Digital Army Combat Systems Integra- tion (DDACSI) Colonel Aaron Luhning, who I know several of you in the room know from the Hack FD we had at the end of November. So, when it comes to Project Olympus we're certainly working with General Dawe and the CCSI team. Bold Quest was anoth- er one where all the organizations on the stage here were very much involved. Project Convergence is one that I'm personally in- volved with. In March I'm going down to the United States. The US Chief of Staff of the Army General Randy George is hosting a small number of international colleagues to do the latest version of Project Conver- gence. We are looking at what the US Army is doing in terms of their modernization and how they're taking industry innovation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, and making sure that we can be interoper- able with them and with our key allies mov- ing forward. I think I can also add what am I doing personally. It is always a challenge for com- manders writ large and for Army command- ers to get fascinated by the day to day. But I have to put the trust in the division com- manders and my Chief of Staff Operations to keep the pulse on that. Obviously, I need to remain abreast of what's happening, but I really need to make sure that I'm putting my money where my mouth is. Brig SANDRY: Q: General Smyth, when it comes to integrated air missile defense, what are the gaps and then what is the CAF doing to get aer those gaps? MGen SMYTH: Broadly speaking, when it comes to inte- grated air and missile defense, it's tying to- gether all the major projects that we have within the Air Force. And there are two key linchpins to it. One of them is cloud-based command and control, the ability to really understand where our aircraft are, where our platforms are through space links, and where our adversaries are operating. And, how to be able to do that sensing, make sense, and then act. That's one of the key aspects of it. But the other one is the actual command and control node. Our combined air oper- ation centre in Winnipeg is ancient. We've added some new apps and connectivity, but it has passed its useful lifespan in many ways. So, what is the future of that com- mand-and-control system? We're working very closely with US Air Force on this, on what it will look like in a future conflict scenario. That may not necessarily hap- pen on Canadian soil. We probably don't want to put all our eggs into one big juicy fat target. Because one well-placed missile means we don't have a command and con- trol capability. So, there will probably be a building for them to operate in. But it's the ability to disperse and put small teams out and be able to do it from a Starbucks or from your mom's basement if you need to, wherever we can disperse those troops. A lot of the work that's going on through things like Project Convergence are where we're investing in some of those experi- mentation capabilities. What can we do to put a small team up during a NORAD ex- ercise and to see what the data flow is com- ing from the AWACS, from the jets that are flying, and see how that plugs in? How do we get the SATCOM working? How do we plug all these different capabilities into that network and make sure that we can sense, make sense, and act? Brig SANDRY: Q: But how do you manage talent? MGen YARKER: That actually takes an awful lot of our at- tention. And in fact, it's one of the major advantages of having stood up a cyber command, which is to be a home for some of that talent. Our goal isn't to build the entire cyber force by only recruiting indi- viduals who are already domain experts. Quite the opposite. What we are looking for are people who are dedicated and with an interest in service. And we will then train them to be the cyber operators and to have the skill sets we need. That offers us several advantages. First, it means I'm not trying to compete with Google. But it also means that if this is where our focus is, it gives us the opportunity for retention. Be- cause I will tell you a cyber operator who joined out of high school and has already had the opportunity to fight in cyberspace, on the front lines if you will, in Latvia, in Ukraine and elsewhere, those are very highly motivated, very talented people. Brig SANDRY: Q: Jason, you've got a big data pool. How do you access that and what sys- tems do you bring in place to make that happen? Cmdre ARMSTRONG: We have to trust our sailors. They under- stand how the technology works, and we need to enable them to bring that stuff in and study it. They're doing incredible things on board ships with data manage- ment, sifting through the data, using the different sensors, and then communicat- ing out to our allies. We need to give them the problem and let them work through the solution. I would really like to see in- creased dialogue between us, again, at that tactical level. Brig SANDRY: Q: How are your commands currently working with industry to identify and develop the solutions you need? What kind of signals are you sending to show where help is needed, and at what point can industry actively come on board to be part of building those solutions? LGen WRIGHT: At the beginning of the day, we spoke about the notion of self-reflection. The self-reflection from the Army is that over the past few years we have not been pres- ent at the forums where we've needed to be present. I can tell you you're going to see a marked change in the Army's pres- ence, and in the interest and the dialogue we want to have. Also, in September we had the first ever Army Appreciation Day on Parliament Hill. The question is why did it take so long when we've had Air Force and Navy appreciation days? Brigadier General Stéph Masson, if I may, I'm going to have you come up and give a brief overview on how we're trying to do some of the industry days, and some of the focused initiatives that will bring people in to talk about some of the specific priorities that we have.

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