Vanguard Magazine

Aug/Sep 2013

Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR

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Vanguard E editor's note EDITOR Chris Thatcher editorvanguard@netgov.ca CONTRIBUTORS LGen Stuart Beare Col Ken Chadder Col Jeff Tasseron Lance Valcour BGen Denis Thompson RAdm Patrick Finn Roy Thomas Rami Abielmona Andrea Charron Scott Taylor EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD LGen (Ret'd) Bill Leach LGen (Ret'd) George Macdonald VAdm (Ret'd) Greg Maddison LGen (Ret'd) Michel Maisonneuve Ambassador Graham Green Professor Philippe Lagassé SALES VICE PRESIDENT PUBLIC SECTOR SALES Terri Pavelic (905) 727-4091 ext. 225 terrip@netgov.ca National Account Manager Marcello Sukhdeo (905) 727-4091 ext. 224 marcellos@netgov.ca MARKETING DIRECTOR Mary Malofy ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR Elena Pankova SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADDRESS CHANGES CIRCULATION DIRECTOR James Watson circulation@promotive.net (705) 812-0611 CORPORATE PUBLISHER John R. Jones publisher@netgov.ca Publisher's Mail Agreement: 40052410 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to circulation dept. 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, ON L4G 4B6 Vanguard magazine is published 6 times per year by Promotive Communications Inc. All opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or any person or organization associated with the magazine. Letters, submissions, comments and suggested topics are welcome, and should be sent to assoceditor@netgov.ca REPRINT INFORMATION: Reproduction or photocopying is prohibited without the publisher's prior written consent. High quality reprints of articles and additional copies of the magazine are available through circulation@netgov.ca PRIVACY POLICY: We do not sell our mailing list or share any confidential information on our subscribers. VANGUARD OFFICE 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, ON L4G 4B6 Phone: (905) 727-4091 Fax: (905) 727-4428 The ethics of care On the afternoon of June 11, a soldier retreated into the woods near CFB Kingston and took his own life. Just a few miles away, officers and academics were gathered at Fort Frontenac to debate the effects of modern warfare on the ethical and moral conduct of armed forces. Much of the annual Kingston Conference on International Security focused on the ethics of warriors operating in an asymmetrical battle space where the frontline has vanished, where an enemy blends seamlessly into the civilian population, where schools and hospitals are used as positions from which to launch projectiles, where targeted killings and drone strikes are part of the lexicon, and where attacks by the very soldiers coalition forces are attempting to assist are all too common. Such ambiguous battle spaces have prompted some fascinating studies on warrior culture, soldier identity and the character required of ethical leaders. But the organizers also spent considerable time on the ethics of nations that commit military force and the institutions that train and deploy them. There is an implicit social covenant between a nation and its military members. As delegates were reminded, militaries do not chose the wars they fight, governments do. So we who send armed forces into harm's way must be prepared to justify the cause and accept full responsibility for the consequences. That includes care of the injured and mentally ill long after their military service has ended. In an opening address, MGen Steve Bowes, the commander of Land Force Doctrine and Training System, recalled the spontaneous outpouring of sympathy and support for soldiers and their families along the Highway of Heroes. That recognition of service, he suggested, was also an understanding that we must care for the injured as well, and while military and government leaders might fret over dwindling budgets, that will be "irrelevant to most Canadians who look to senior leadership to do the right thing." The Canadian Forces Health Service is among the best, often held up by allies as an example to emulate. Nonetheless, it is struggling to identify and provide care for its reserve members and veterans, and there remain significant gaps between itself and provincial health care programs to which many of those members turn. And despite the considerable strides it has taken in recent years to improve care and address the stigma of mental health issues, stories appear in the media almost daily about personnel who have been failed by the system. As I write, a story in the local paper describes the lack of resources and burn out of staff at area Integrated Personnel Support Centres as demand continues to rise. We know little about the soldier who took his life, a captain who had served tours in Afghanistan and Haiti, but one can't help but feel we failed him – we broke that covenant. In this issue, we focus on interoperability. In interviews with LGen Stu Beare and Col Ken Chadder, we look at some of the lessons from JOINTEX 2013, in particular those around the interoperability of command elements between coalition and national headquarters. Col Jeff Tasserson explains the progress on a joint C4ISR network and Lance Valcour addresses the emerging roadmap for communications interoperability among public safety professionals – for those who recall the horrors inside the Twin Towers on 9/11, it's a heartening story. And BGen Denis Thompson describes the growing global special forces network, and what that has meant to a significant shift from crisis response to strategic engagement. Chris Thatcher, Editor 4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013 www.vanguardcanada.com

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