Vanguard Magazine

F E AT U R E www.vanguardcanada.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025 17 HMCS WINDSOR Ship's Company gathered form up for a group photo, HMC Dockyard Halifax, June 9, 2021. Photo: DND became law on 1 February 1968. On that date, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force ceased to exist as separate services and one service, the Canadian Armed Forces was established. Notwithstanding a return to traditional names in 2011, the organization of a unified armed forces remains, where all recruiting, training, assignments (postings) and retention are the responsibility of the Chief of Military Personnel reporting to the Chief of the Defence Staff, not the Commanders of the RCN, CA & RCAF. 3. A personnel establishment is a docu- ment which defines the rank, occupa- tion and unique qualification for each position in the unit. For example, in a submarine establishment, the position of Commanding Officer will call for a Lieutenant-Commander (rank), Naval Warfare Officer (occupation) who is submarine command qualified (spe- ciality qualification necessary to fill the position). 4. See: https://www.canada.ca/en/ public-services-procurement/ news/2025/08/government-of- canada-advances-to-next-step-in- canadian-patrol-submarine-project- procurement.html accessed 26 August 2025. 5. Minutes of the 564th meeting of the Naval Board 2 April 1958 6. To "over establish" would be to authorize more than the allocated numbers of personnel in each unit, as defined in the establishment, by rank, occupation and specialty qualification. For example, if the establishment of the submarine called for three petty officer 2nd class marine engineering techs at a certain certification level, by authorizing two more personnel of the same rank and qualification & certification level would allow for the inevitable critical personnel shortfalls during the transition to steady state and speed the build-up of a cadre of qualified personnel. Once in steady state, the additional qualified person- nel can replace those having to attend training, medical, etc without impact- ing the submarine's ability to sail. 7. As a result of a seminal study by the Navy into submarine personnel is- sues, in April 1988 the "Report on the Personnel Structure of the Submarine Service of Canada" (known as the Pollard Report) was released – the research was conducted in consulta- tion with allied submarine nations, which anecdotally determined that while four submarines running from one geographic area is possible, the optimal number of six crews in each geographic area allowed for a critical mass to deal with day-to-day person- nel issues. 8. The 2024 RFI for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project's high level mandatory requirements called for the "Ability to deliver submarine, mainte- nance facilities and training systems to achieve Initial Operating Capability (IOC) no later than 2037" which was amplified that to avoid a capability gap with the Victoria-class submarines and allow for crew generation the require- ment is for the first Canadian Patrol Submarine (CPS) to be delivered by 2035. IOC is defined as the first CPS being operational with requisite in- frastructure and in-service-support in place". The author was the staff officer charged with personnel and training issues for the Navy's Project Direc- tor for the nuclear submarine project, which required close liaison with the CASAP-SSN Project Management Office which was responsible to ADM (Materiel). 9. Notwithstanding the terms of service under which a member is serving, personnel can request voluntary release from the CAF on 6 months notice. A return of service obliga- tion is where an individual commits to serve a set period after receiving specific education/training – normally on a one for one basis (e.g. four years of university equating to four years of post graduation service). This policy is used mainly for officers undergo- ing education (e.g. Regular Officer Training Program). Will there be an obligation or a financial incentive to agree to serve for a fixed period after submarine training, particularly senior NCMs? 10. As a minimum the simulators required, in each geographic area, should include: a six-degree ship con- trol trainer (similar to aviation train- ers), control room for sensor operator and attack training, propulsion system (operation & maintenance), weapons handling and submarine damage con- trol. Other common fleet simulators, such as bridge navigation can have software updates to reflect the han- dling characteristics of the submarine on the surface. Less frequently used training systems, such as Submarine Escape Tank Training (SETT) can be located in one geographic area. Capt(N) Norman Jolin (Ret'd) is an As- sociate Consultant with CFN Consultants specializing in naval and maritime issues. Prior to joining CFN, he provided advice on Canadian defence procurement in the pri- vate sector, following a 37-year career in the Royal Canadian Navy.

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