Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/274231
EDITOR Chris Thatcher editorvanguard@netgov.ca CONTRIBUTORS LGen Stu Beare Nick Martyn George Macdonald Pierre Bilodeau Garnet Hunter Louise Mericer Bruce Jackson Ian McDonald Jack Granatstein Amy Allen 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 WHAT'S THE GREATEST RISk TO THE CANADIAN ARmED FORCES? I put that question to Nick Martyn last month over a coffee in his Almonte office. Aer re- tiring from the Forces following a 27-year career, Nick opened a small consultancy and soware firm that builds on the risk-modelling he developed in the Army, on General Rick Hillier's transformation team, and in Afghanistan. It struck me that, like torrential floods and destructive hurricanes, decreases in defence budgets are a recurring event, albeit with plenty of years in between. We will ramp up expenditures when operations demand, but as fiscal reality sets in and national budgets need to be rebalanced, defence spending will always be an area ripe for the knife. As with natural and man-made disasters, if we know the risk, is there a way to understand and mitigate its worst effects? In other words, can we build greater resilience into the defence organization? Organizations of all stripes are asking these sorts of questions as they assess the impact of global events and recent natural disasters on their workforce, supply chains, networks and infrastructure. Nick broke it down into two kinds of resilience: organizational and operational. Lieutenant-General Guy Thibault, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, touched on an aspect of the former in an address to CADSI's recent DRDC/Joint Force Devel- opment Outlook, suggesting National Defence treat defence more as a business. Efficiencies through Defence Renewal, a refreshed Canada First Defence Strategy (CFDS), an affordable investment plan for the short, medium and long terms, and changes to the problems associated with defence procurement are all key steps. But he seemed to go father, suggesting that rather than being solely stewards of government resources, the Canadian Armed Forces must also recognize they are executive officers of a large corporation. Nick would agree, I think, but he pointed to a far greater immediate organizational risk – reputational – evidenced by the recent spate of suicides. His main focus, though, was on operational risk and cuts to operational training, the consequences of which he said could be profound and lasting. We may be a far cry from what some have characterized as a decade of darkness in the 1990s, but there are real concerns about the impact of budget cuts on operational readiness. The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Tom Lawson, acknowledged the possible tradeoffs required with respect to equipment, capability, training, etc, in an address to the Conference of Defence Associations. "What should readiness comprise of in 2014?" he posed. Nick has some thoughts on that which I encourage you to read. Bruce Jackson, who has been exploring issues around security for many years, draws some interesting lessons from The Walking Dead about resilience and the decisions we make when bad events happens – like zombies running amok. And George MacDonald, a former vice chief of the defence staff, discusses those trad- eoffs as they relate to a review of CFDS. Government officials and military leaders are fond of quoting Churchill these days: "Gentlemen, we have run out of money; now we have to think." I don't think we are there yet, but creative thinking never hurts. Chris Thatcher, Editor E EDITOR'S NOTE 4 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014 www.vanguardcanada.com Now we have to think mastering the seas lock on to mbda solutions ASTER by MBDA www.mbda-systems.com CAP.MER/ASTER_206.4x276.2_Vanguard_uk.indd 1 17/04/12 10:07