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So the whole concept of tradition is deeply rooted in one's culture; be it Ethnic, spiritual, professional, social, or any other thing within humanity that groups humans together with other like humans.
Each subculture is shaped, not only by their commonalities in appearance, profession, identity, or belief; but by agreed upon behaviours within the group based on shared values. It's why every sport we play on earth has a rulebook. These societal norms govern each sub sect and often become codified either in regulations, but often times instead we see groups defining a social norm by either mimicking it or shunning it. That is in turn passed down through generations etc. This has been observed across the animal kingdom.
In this context, every subdivision within the bigger CAF has societal norms that are unique from each other. Passing the port is an easy one to use as an example. Some behavioral norms are formed either top down or bottom up, and it depends on if it's a regulated norm or just a "done thing" norm.
Where things get interesting is when the tradition formed out of a previous societal norm come into conflict with newer refined societal norms. Watch an episode of Friends with someone from Gen Z and see how few of the jokes land with them. It's not that they have no sense of humour, it's that the acceptable attitudes and behaviours have evolved and changed as a society.
Same thing with some of our societal norms within the CAF. I can easily see smoke pits going the way of the dodo in 20 years because smokers are starting to become fewer and farther between. It's why mess culture is on the decline, because greater societal norms have changed around alcohol.
That's where the friction point is WRT traditions in the CAF right now. We are at a crossroads where the greater society we all come from and are representing has changed certain norms and we haven't adapted to meet those. Some of them are traditions that we ourselves need to do a better job of socializing and reinforcing to newcomers to the tribe. In any case, since societal norms are very much living and adaptable concepts, so too do our traditions. Hence why BEARD/BOOT/HAIR/WEEDFORGEN hit differently across various subcultures within the CAF and veteran communities.
What we need to do as a CAF is take a holistic look at our traditions, codified or just accepted ones, and do some honest reflection and triage. Firstly, the tradition needs to be compared to the greater Canadian societal norms and the question should be "how far out of step are we?" Then, there needs to be a triage done for the following three things:
-Is the tradition still acceptable and relevant to both greater Canadian society and the CAF?
-Is the tradition more harmful than the loss of the tradition the societal norms? And
-Is the tradition adaptable in its current form to eliminate or at least narrow the gap between the conflicting norms?
And ofciurse because the structure of the CAF is basically a million different cohorts grouped together, this isn't an easy endeavor. I saw someone mention saluting further up in the thread. Junior NCMs would have a different take than Snr NCOs and WOs, or than Officers. Then you get further down the granule between CA/RCN/RCAF, Field Force vs. HQ, Aircrew vs. Maint, Ship vs. Shore. Everyone is going to place certain value to the practice because of its impact on their day to day life and the norms of their subculture.
It's doesn't mean that having to pop a high five to a commissioned officer is an inherently bad or classist thing, it's an action and behaviour that doesn't harm the organization or its members. Where we have fallen down is communicating and socializing the reason for the custom. When there is a lack of cohesive understanding, there is assumption and animosity.
Now, trying to push a tradition top down can still be a tradition, if it has the buy in and reinforcement of the collective body. I could easily tell my troop that we're going to wear pink socks for PT and that's a new tradition, but if they don't like it.. you bet your ass when I get posted out they're going back to whatever socks they want. If they are on board and accepting off it, "Someone get the new Tp Comd a set of Pink socks... he's out of dress."
In the end, our culture and societal norms can and do change; and so should our traditions. That said, throwing the baby out with the bathwater is not the preferred method. The CAF being an organization as large and diverse as it is, you can harm one subsect by doing something that will benefit another. Where we have a benefit is that we can, in fact, regulate societal norms and mandate change. Even if it's unpopular at first, enforcement and great acceptance means those friction points are lessened and removed over time. I'm positive that there was a huge push back when smoking in the office was no longer a thing. I have yet to hear a complaint in 2023 about that.
Traditions are good, but they are living and breathing aspects of culture. If they're rigid and unbending, they will be broken and discarded eventually. Where we need to get better as an organization is the triage of these traditions and communicating why we're retaining, adapting, or discarding them.
That said, I have to run. I must sacrifice a Pig to Jimmy before the next full moon or my Crypto Fill will drop.
Each subculture is shaped, not only by their commonalities in appearance, profession, identity, or belief; but by agreed upon behaviours within the group based on shared values. It's why every sport we play on earth has a rulebook. These societal norms govern each sub sect and often become codified either in regulations, but often times instead we see groups defining a social norm by either mimicking it or shunning it. That is in turn passed down through generations etc. This has been observed across the animal kingdom.
In this context, every subdivision within the bigger CAF has societal norms that are unique from each other. Passing the port is an easy one to use as an example. Some behavioral norms are formed either top down or bottom up, and it depends on if it's a regulated norm or just a "done thing" norm.
Where things get interesting is when the tradition formed out of a previous societal norm come into conflict with newer refined societal norms. Watch an episode of Friends with someone from Gen Z and see how few of the jokes land with them. It's not that they have no sense of humour, it's that the acceptable attitudes and behaviours have evolved and changed as a society.
Same thing with some of our societal norms within the CAF. I can easily see smoke pits going the way of the dodo in 20 years because smokers are starting to become fewer and farther between. It's why mess culture is on the decline, because greater societal norms have changed around alcohol.
That's where the friction point is WRT traditions in the CAF right now. We are at a crossroads where the greater society we all come from and are representing has changed certain norms and we haven't adapted to meet those. Some of them are traditions that we ourselves need to do a better job of socializing and reinforcing to newcomers to the tribe. In any case, since societal norms are very much living and adaptable concepts, so too do our traditions. Hence why BEARD/BOOT/HAIR/WEEDFORGEN hit differently across various subcultures within the CAF and veteran communities.
What we need to do as a CAF is take a holistic look at our traditions, codified or just accepted ones, and do some honest reflection and triage. Firstly, the tradition needs to be compared to the greater Canadian societal norms and the question should be "how far out of step are we?" Then, there needs to be a triage done for the following three things:
-Is the tradition still acceptable and relevant to both greater Canadian society and the CAF?
-Is the tradition more harmful than the loss of the tradition the societal norms? And
-Is the tradition adaptable in its current form to eliminate or at least narrow the gap between the conflicting norms?
And ofciurse because the structure of the CAF is basically a million different cohorts grouped together, this isn't an easy endeavor. I saw someone mention saluting further up in the thread. Junior NCMs would have a different take than Snr NCOs and WOs, or than Officers. Then you get further down the granule between CA/RCN/RCAF, Field Force vs. HQ, Aircrew vs. Maint, Ship vs. Shore. Everyone is going to place certain value to the practice because of its impact on their day to day life and the norms of their subculture.
It's doesn't mean that having to pop a high five to a commissioned officer is an inherently bad or classist thing, it's an action and behaviour that doesn't harm the organization or its members. Where we have fallen down is communicating and socializing the reason for the custom. When there is a lack of cohesive understanding, there is assumption and animosity.
Now, trying to push a tradition top down can still be a tradition, if it has the buy in and reinforcement of the collective body. I could easily tell my troop that we're going to wear pink socks for PT and that's a new tradition, but if they don't like it.. you bet your ass when I get posted out they're going back to whatever socks they want. If they are on board and accepting off it, "Someone get the new Tp Comd a set of Pink socks... he's out of dress."
In the end, our culture and societal norms can and do change; and so should our traditions. That said, throwing the baby out with the bathwater is not the preferred method. The CAF being an organization as large and diverse as it is, you can harm one subsect by doing something that will benefit another. Where we have a benefit is that we can, in fact, regulate societal norms and mandate change. Even if it's unpopular at first, enforcement and great acceptance means those friction points are lessened and removed over time. I'm positive that there was a huge push back when smoking in the office was no longer a thing. I have yet to hear a complaint in 2023 about that.
Traditions are good, but they are living and breathing aspects of culture. If they're rigid and unbending, they will be broken and discarded eventually. Where we need to get better as an organization is the triage of these traditions and communicating why we're retaining, adapting, or discarding them.
That said, I have to run. I must sacrifice a Pig to Jimmy before the next full moon or my Crypto Fill will drop.
