Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/533940
a aIr FORCE www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2015 17 ported by his own headquarters, logistics and maintenance elements, and able to deploy the requisite mix of Griffons and Chinooks. "For the [army] brigade commander, he can expect that the relationship with the Tac Avn CO – those bonds of command – will survive onto the battlefield," said Clancy. As an example, he pointed to 430 Squad- ron (Valcartier), which recently completed Exercise Maple Resolve with 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade as both confirm their high-readiness for operational deploy- ment. The squadron, led by its CO and headquarter elements, included Chinook operations and maintenance capabilities from 450. While operational capability was an ob- vious pillar on which to reframe the Wing's force employment concept, organizational structure and force generation were also ripe for change. Faced with declining budgets and an ag- ing machine in the Griffon – the Bell-built helicopter begins its 20th year of service in 2015 – 1 Wing had struggled with main- tenance issues. Each squadron had two maintenance lines of 8-10 crew per line, but the Wing was often unable to keep them fully manned. The solution was to pare down each squadron to a single line and re-roll the remaining resources into a dedicated air maintenance squadron at 400 Borden, increasing the availability and serviceability of the rotorcraft. The Wing also faced a problem with multi-tasking. Often presented as a strength of the Canadian Armed Forces, 1 Wing had squadrons performing "a mul- titude of things" and saw an opportunity to streamline their focus. As a result, force generation of air crews is now the sole purview of 403 Squadron in Gagetown while the vital role of test and evaluation to ensure technical and operational air worthiness (including simulation training for air crews) resides with 438 Squadron in St. Hubert. "With a singular mission, I expect there will be economies of scale and an increase in capability because they are not jump- ing from one mission task to the next," Clancy said. Much as the Royal Canadian Navy is emphasizing an organizing concept of "One Navy" to drive a unified culture, the central tenant of the Tac Avn concept is to deliver an integrated Wing. "In our old force employment concept, all of the squadrons had their independent nature, of being able to do things on their own. That is no longer the case," Clancy stressed. "No one squadron fights inde- pendently. Everybody has a specific mis- sion role and their product is now vital to the entire organization. Integration is one of the key vectors within the Wing and one of the underlying themes within the force employment concept." aligning with the army The change in force employment might address air force needs, but it is also di- rectly tied to air-land integration and the Canadian Army's managed readiness plan. Clancy, a Twin Huey and Griffon pilot who has served as Chief of Curriculum Development at the Army Staff College, is as well integrated into "green" thinking as anyone in an army uniform. His head- quarters is co-located with the Canadian "Integration is one of the key vectors within the Wing and one of the underlying themes within the force employment concept." – Colonel Scott Clancy