Vanguard Magazine

26 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com IntervIew I that can look at challenges not just through the lens of the old school combat estimate but that can think widely, analyze and get things done. And that do so in an environment that encourages a bit of in- dividualism, a bit of creativity, that allows the best people to feel confident. That's how we are going to win, in the future… so we need to change the policy base to encourage people to be conformist where they have to be, always following the law of the land but recognizing that there is going to be an element of care, duty of care, that has an individual quality to it. Q: Which fits within the 60 per cent looking aer the institu- tion, including obviously Op Honor. Op Honor, diversity, and for example my express support to Roy- al Military College Saint-Jean becoming a degree-granting insti- tution to make sure that we continue to draw future officers from Quebec and Francophones across Canada. Q: Certainly on that aspect, the programs in the Humanities that we will be putting in place in Saint-Jean in anthropology, sociology, philosophy, ethics and foreign languages and cul- tures, these are programs that will be very useful for Canadian Forces officers. I was thinking after we spoke that we've never had the Presidio kind of idea that the U.S. has: the place to educate foreign service specialists, those going to be an Attaché in a specific region. Q: Right, where you can get a certificate in a specific discipline. The university level at RMC Saint-Jean will also help us eventu- ally provide accreditation for our Non-Commissioned Officers who go through all their programs at the Osside Institute so they see the benefits of education for professional military personnel dealing with new conflict environments. This is a good example of how we have to be a learning institu- tion. So we are not broken at all, we are better than most institu- tions in the free world but I don't want us to rest on our laurels. Q: Turning now to mental illness in the Canadian Armed Forces. You heard about the tragic events at RMC of Canada. In your view does that all fits into looking aer our people and making sure they have the place to serve that they should have? We don't have all the answers. We do know that we need to look very closely at it. Suicide prevention, getting people the care they need, that's going to help. Ill, injured and sick, we have to make certain that was notwithstanding universality of service, we stop people from thinking that declaring an illness or a hurt is going to automatically have a negative career effect, particularly on promo- tion. So, in some cases people hide or keep an injury or an illness quiet until they are promoted – because you can't be promoted if there is a question – but once promoted, they're fine and meeting universality of service; that's crazy. As long as you get better and continue to serve, why would we put you through that, to deny you the medical care? So we've got to look at that writ large: we are going to make sure that people understand that we care about their health. They need to care about their health and to uncouple their recovery from illness or injury from promotion and their move up the chain. We are looking to modernize that, exactly the kind of policies we need to review. Q: And what about those folks who come back from opera- tions ill or injured. Do you see them having more of a place? I've heard what you said about universality of service and that can- not go away. Is there a way we can find room for some of the folks that want to continue to serve in uniform in some sort of capacity? Do you have the power as CDS to say I want to keep that guy and if you did so, would that opens the flood gates to a whole pile of others? We are going to stick to universality of service. You have to be able to deploy. You have to make those thresholds. One of the reasons I'm looking at the JPSU structure is that if you think that serving healthy people need an element of customization in their life, those people who are in transition and need support must also have a custom-fit transition plan. In my opinion, you have one of two missions if you are in that category of complex of injury: the first one, to recover and go back to duty. So you need to be doing all that stuff that you need to build your recovery plan: that's your job, every day, getting back to full duty. The other mission may be successful transition out of uniform. Some people will take weeks to do that and some will take years. And it doesn't matter to me how long it takes. I want to make certain that I have the flexibility in policy that will keep you until That's difficult space, particularly because we all came from a world where policies were very clear: you're in or you're out.

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