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Divining the right role, capabilities, structure, and Regimental System for Canada's Army Reserves

  • Thread starter Thread starter Yard Ape
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Speaking as a newbie reservist; I would like something akin to the American system for the reserves adopted. We loose our Thursday night training, and we gain a two week full field ex over the summer; or at some time during the year. Now the advantages of this are fairly obvious: 1) There is very very little one can do in three hours out side of cleaning weapons and the occasional lectures; 2) Weekends provide enough time to refresh both the practical and theoretical aspects of concepts such as bayonet fighting, and FIBUA (IE: one day spent learning theory, the other spent applying it); 3) A two week long excessive each year could provide soldier with much more then a single week long excesses, and if implemented properly could allow reserves to work at the battalion and brigade level, which is something not often accomplished.
 
Unfotunately you'd lose half you reservists who can't take the time...

  IMHO there is a need to creat different tiers of reserve units/service - with those who can get more time (ideally low ranking students) getting offered more employment and operational interweaving with a regular unit.

That way IF we need a unit in a hurry you could mobilize the reserve agmentation to it - and send it off at 100% strength.  These troops could be easily shifted to a lower level of readiness unit when they progress to full tiem employment (if ever...)

Thoughts?

 
KevinB said:
  IMHO there is a need to creat different tiers of reserve units/service - with those who can get more time (ideally low ranking students) getting offered more employment and operational interweaving with a regular unit.

That way IF we need a unit in a hurry you could mobilize the reserve agmentation to it - and send it off at 100% strength.   These troops could be easily shifted to a lower level of readiness unit when they progress to full tiem employment (if ever...)

Thoughts?

Me and another guy discussed that.  There could be two "classes" of reservists - one who sticks to the class "A" sign in sheet and comes when he can and another who signs a contract to do the Army thing part time.

When I was a reservist/student I would have loved the opportunity to give more time - I would have signed a contract that would have held me to more.  But the Reserve system has to hold up its end of the bargin as well.  If we are going to make a "part-time professional", they need to be guaranteed access to better training opportunities (perhaps in the Reg pipeline) and assured that they won't stand just stand around the parade square.
 
I think IF the CF guaranteed it (and stuck to it) it woudl work - but you are 100% right in that they woudl have to hold to it and provide training/employment better than euchre or other cardgames...
 
Infanteer said:
When I was a reservist/student I would have loved the opportunity to give more time - I would have signed a contract that would have held me to more.
How much more exactly?  Would the more have been all four months of the summer, and then the remaining 8 months been the regular class A stuff?  The problem with such a program is that only college & university studnets would be able to take advantage of it.  So, at best you have your junior leadership and the regular force would have to shut-down to fill-out the rest (Kevin, I remember you posting about your joy at the prospect of supporting the reserve concentration that never was in 03, so I know you would not be a fan of this).
 
MCG - I am a big fan of training - but I think that reg/res trg should be a two way street - the idea of being a demo (again) for patrolling or other tasks - Imagine three stands of Patrol order and all the prep again and again and again. >:(

No offence but for most taskings we want the reserve junior personnel not the senior pers.  Any moron can drop the back ramp of a LAV (or admittedly do anything in a LAV crew as well...) - so such personnel could be identified and shuttled to a unit - or effectively create LAV dismounts when combined with a 011 crew.

Or if we have them for four months guaranteed and say 1 weekday a week (plus 2 weekends/month) we could place them in the Para Coy's and train them for NEO tasks...

The added advantage is that the "normal" reserve structure will then receive a much more skilled and experienced NCO at the end of this phase (4-5years)
 
Me and another guy discussed that.  There could be two "classes" of reservists - one who sticks to the class "A" sign in sheet and comes when he can and another who signs a contract to do the Army thing part time.

Isn't that really what we have now? Class A parade at the unit as they can, Class B serve where full time service is needed on a limited contract, and Class C engage for all-up ops with the RegF. You really need this mixture because I sincerely doubt you will raise an entire unit of "full-timers". If you just "cherry pick" the available full-timers out of a pool, what you are missing is that the "goose" that produces the "golden egg" of trained Res soldiers to go on ops is a healthy, properly manned Res unit with good leadership and training that offers something to everybody in the community, not just that tiny number who can't/won't join the RegF but are available for extended periods of full-time Res service.

I would like something akin to the American system for the reserves adopted

There are some important differences between the ARNG system and our Army Reserve. One is that when an ARNG soldier starts out, he gets his DP1 equivalent by attending full-time at the RegF school of his arm/branch, training to the same CTS as a Reg soldier. Unless we are going to  a) bring in job protection; or  b) severely narrow our recruiting base, this is a non-starter for us.

After he gets to his unit, the "traditional" ARNG soldier has his uniform on one weekend a month, and a couple of weeks in the summer.
( Or, at least, that was how it worked before GWOT broke out with its very heavy demand on the ARNG and USAR.) The result of this traditional system was an ARNG soldier who, as compared to the average Cdn Army Res soldier, was often not as well trained particularly in basic soldier skills, and inevitably suffered from skill fade. I think that this opinion has been well borne out by the observations of a number of people on this board based on experiences doing trg with the ARNG or USAR. If we go to a single weekend a month, without the full time DP1 trg, we risk a severe decline in the current standards of Res trg.

In order to maintain the same amount of training time a unit would need to parade at least two weekends/month. This has been implemented by at least one unit in our Bde and while it has some great advantages, it also resulted in attrition of individuals who were regular parade night attenders but could not make the extra weekends. The trade offs would have to be weighed, but my personal opinion is that weekend training, at the Armoury or in the field is much more productive and less "hit-and-miss" than the frantic efforts during the two or three productive hours that are actually available on a drill night. Cheers.

 
PBI,

I (as you and others started out as a reservist) and this is no huge slap (just a small one) but I consider it the fair weather army.  IF we can cherry pick from it and get a viable force I am all for it.

I was terrible unimpressed by the reserve attendance at the Fires in BC, ditto for the Flood and Ice Storms.  The current system just does not work - even for the 2 week Ex's the attendance is low (especially in the senior leadership positions)  Units have to be amalgamated just to have forces to field.

If we can create a better motivation to employ personnel than Class C we need to jump at it. Getting a Class C can be a bitch and then unless you are sitting at the NDHQ Puzzle Palace it is only for operations.(I did a Class C tour 92/93) but we need bodies not just for set rotations - we need to be able to 100% man our units.
  The ATOF cycle mentality has to be abandond and our Army must be fit to fight at all times not just 1/3 of the time...
 


 
but I consider it the fair weather army.  IF we can cherry pick from it and get a viable force I am all for it.

The danger of just employing and encouraging the "bayonets" (ie: using the Res as a source of cheap privates) is that it will inevitably run down the real force generators: the Reserve units themselves. Why bother becoming a leader in a Res unit if the Army sends you a clear message that they don't want you and certainly have no interest in you? What's the anwer-post in all RegF to fill the unit posns? What RegF?

I was terrible unimpressed by the reserve attendance at the Fires in BC, ditto for the Flood and Ice Storms

But why were you unimpressed? And who is really to blame? I would say that certainly in the Red River Flood, the RegF(LFWA) did its level best to ignore the possibility of serious force generation from 38 CBG, which was in situ, despite constant offers from the Bde. During the BC Fires(OP PEREGRINE) my impression was that the Reserve turnout was very strong: in our Bde alone we raised and dispatched two full strength coys and were working on a third when we were told no more Res troops were required. Keep in mind that these soldiers had to volunteer their time with the good graces of schools or employers-there is no "magic wand" as there is in the US.

The current system just does not work - even for the 2 week Ex's the attendance is low

If you are talking about ACTIVE EDGE, LFWA was warned over and over again that it was at the wrong time of year, and was not really a good use of Res trg resources. Some LFWA staff insisted on inflating the anticipated Res attendance in order to make the concept of the ex "look good". I think we sent about  150 folks from across our Bde. By contrast, we held our own Bde Lvl III/IV ex in Kenora in the spring and turned out around 400. The idea of these Area Cons really needs to be measured against the actual return on the dollar, especialy when so few leaders can attend. If the actual required trg can be achieved within hte Bde AO without all the logistic nightmare, so much the better.

Units have to be amalgamated just to have forces to field.

I'm with you here. Some units should be amalgamated, period. You might be quite surprised how much support you will find for that idea in the Res world.  It is "other players" who tend to fight it.


Getting a Class C can be a ***** and then unless you are sitting at the NDHQ Puzzle Palace it is only for operations.(I did a Class C tour 92/93) but we need bodies not just for set rotations - we need to be able to 100% man our units.

Ack, but isn't this really about manning the RegF properly, not using Res as stop-gaps?

The ATOF cycle mentality has to be abandond and our Army must be fit to fight at all times not just 1/3 of the time...

ATOF "per se" never really worked and is morphing into another readiness system that will see two BGs, a Bde HQ and some sp elements ready to deploy (with some TMST...), with the rest preparing or recovering. To keep the entire Army at full readiness would, I agree, be excellent and I would love to serve in a bn or Bde like that, but it is not on our $$$ horizon. Not even the US can afford that. Cheers.





 
Why are they below standard, THE F***ing MESS thats why. I was in the reserves and most went there to drink. Ask any RSS, training? Whats that? I have been down to Armouries and see more people in the mess or just sign in. When a unit has a SGT for a SSM. You know there is something wrong!
There are soldiers out there that would showup and train. On one course I had to teach a driver to drive. I don't have time to teach a course on a course. Basic things can be taught. You don't have to go anywhere to teach weapons, drills, NBC, orders, etc. All you need is a class room and students.
You cannot organize training when you don't even know how many people will show.
 
Why are they below standard, THE F***ing

I'm not sure what Recce41 is on about here.  PBI et al are spot on here, and have been gracious enough not to mention standards.  Yes, there is something wrong with a unit when a Sgt is doing an MWO's job, but it is not wrong with the soldiers or the Sgt.  If we're talking reserve armoured recce here the problem is with the availability of courses.  It is easy to get to MCpl in Armoured Recce units as all that is needed is PLQ (JLC).  6A's are 12 weeks in Gagetown on Leopards.  A Res Unit would be lucky to send one Sgt a year, and I'm sure most don't send that many.  All atrit at least one if not more Senior NCO per year.

but I consider it the fair weather army.  IF we can cherry pick from it and get a viable force I am all for it.

KevinB, I hate to break it to you, but the REG Force DOES cherry pick from the reserves.  The PRes is the best recruiting pool of NCM's the CF has.  The reservists who are young, fit and want to soldier inevitably CT to the RegF.  Conversely, those leaving the RegF after 6/7, 20, 25 years rarely find themselves in Reserve units.  What reserve units would give for even 1 6yr cpl a year, or 1 20 year Sgt/WO a decade.

Class B contracts are not for those who want to soldier more as those jobs are RQ, HQ, CFRC taskings.  If anything they erode the quality of the soldier.

The quality of reserve soldier up to MCpl level as I have seen on operations is easily on par with their reg force counter parts.  As it has been eluded to, where the ResF is weak is at the Snr NCO / WO level.  It really takes more than 37.5 days a year to be proficient at the senior ranks.  They also lack trg in the way of advanced courses and in the infantry, Mech Ops.

Solutions:

1.  Speed up the CT and Recruiting Process.  If the PRes is the best recruiting pool the RegF has, then lets get more soldiers in, and train them.  If they choose to CT, get them over as soon as possible.  The 365 days/year the RegF needs them is more important than the 37.5 Class A days the reserves need them.

2.  For the soldier, sort out the Trg.  It takes two summers of trg to qualify a soldier to Basic Infantry.  It should take no more than one summer complete to train a soldier from Civvy to Trade Qual plus a specialized qual. 

3.  National courses should be funded nationally.  Currently all crse costs are footed by the home unit.  For 8 - 12 week advanced courses at the Sgt/WO levels, unit DCO's are not to keen to cough up the cash if it hasn't been budgeted for the year prior.  The doors have to be opened so that we have the ability to train Snr NCO's to be what they are supposed to be.  Masters in their trades. 

Soldier on,



 
If you where unimpressed by the reserve attendance at the BC Fires you would of been downright depressed at the projected attendance for Active Edge (the exercise that was to have run in the same time period). I believe the reserves where able to provide 3? full companies to fight the fires and there was barely a weak company that was signed up to atend the exercise.
 
C4th
What I'm on about is most just go to drink on Tues/Thursday. Res Crewman don't do a LEO 6A,6B or 7s course. They do a iltis 6A which is 4 weeks, 6B which is 4-5 weeks and only do Mod 1 of the 7s unless they want to stay! Most 6A, 6B now called DP3 Recce Ptl Commander/DP3 Ptl C/ DP3 TpWO can each have upto 36 students. Before it was 36 for a Recce course and 36 for a Cougar course. That is 108 students. That would average about 7-8 students from each unit. A MCpl cannot CC unless he is CC qual! As directed by the ARMY.
A National course is just that a National course. Units don't pay unless they, run only for their unit. If they run a National course and invite others, and with the School's OK. They don't pay. This helps us at the school.
We DS start in the field ( ie this yr. 12 Jan-March Brake (if your lucky)-24 May) then out (ie 1June -26 Aug). This is 90% of the DS. This does not course time if they are on DP3 CC,DP3Tp WO, DP4 SSM, ILQ,etc. We are hoping to get Res DS in for the summer. We now have to run every course here at the school. We now run DP1AO CC,Tp Ldr, DP3 CC-TP WO. This yr the number maybe 12-24 students a reserve course.
This is from first hand knowledge, being in RHQ Ops and as a  DS.  :evil: :tank:
 
[sarcasm]Oh, yes, of course: whenever I needed to find someone who wasn't in the usual office or classroom, the first place I would look was the mess.[/sarcasm]  OK: it's no secret that some units go through alternating periods of mastery and uselessness.  Do we need to keep beating that particular mass of unidentifiable tissue on the road?

As our modern armed forces become progressively more technically oriented, with a wider range of skills to master, I observe that the reserve threshold ("essential") falls further and further below "supplemental" and "residual".  37.5 days in 1955 could impart and maintain more of the total expected skill set than 37.5 days in 2005.  Instead of casting about for a set of skills easily maintainable (ie. minimal equipment and facilities) within some arbitrary funded-day envelope, we should first establish what a reasonable expectation of commitment is per year (37.5? 45? 60? full day equivalents), use that to set the per-soldier funding envelope, and then fit the skill sets to it with a sliding balance of "train" and "maintain".  (Presumably the more one learns, the larger the share of time one must devote to proving essential competency.)  As long as finances drive the requirements, we will suffer moving targets in everything ranging from BTS to budgets, with a commensurate waste of Class A days among the administrative and training echelon.

A senior reservist - for the sake of discussion, let's at least say the COs, OCs, RSMs, and CSMs - should be measured against the applicable job requirements of running a reserve unit, not the equivalent regular element.  This is nearly independent of unit size (eg. a battalion which is really only of company strength) because most of the administrivia does not scale linearly with nominal roll numbers.  It is on that basis of responsibility that reserve promotion is (or should be) granted.  The increasing (with rank) capability gap between a Res F and Reg F member is an obvious and continuing point of heated debate.  Has it ever been proposed that the Res F should have a rank structure in which each person has a "substantive" (all component) rank and a "while-so-employed" (reserve component) rank, such that a member might hold an elevated "WSE" rank while filling senior reserve appointments, but revert to the "substantive" rank on attachment to the Reg F or Special F for any purpose?
 
Just some thoughts (from an over tired old guy):
I think we need to look at the way we look at reserves.
Also how we schedule crses, ex's & employ reserves
We don't all fit into one pattern; so you can't use generalizations.
-There are students that are avail during the summer but they aren't all available during march break because there is more there isn't a single march break period depending on whether your in high school, college or university.
-There are students who are not avail during the summer because of the change in schooling with the intro of non traditional semester systems and the intro of more work terms during the summer.
-There are workers that spend their vacation time every year away with the army.
-There are workers (like myself) have their vacation scheduled for them by their employers without the option of taking any other time or other LOA .
-There are those who have a willing employer who will allow them to have time off, even some that will top off their pay so that they won't be earning less money.
-There are those who are unemployed and are looking for any way to keep money coming in, and unfortunately
-you have the unemployable that if they weren't on class B or C would be at the welfare office.

The CF should also look at how they put out for taskings:
They assign certain tasks to certain bdes who don't have a hope in hell of filling them while other bdes have more than enough pers to fill the pos'n but aren't allowed to fill (or if they are it will come in only at the last minute). Then when they can't fill the instructors they cancel the course. As an example the MSE-OP TQ 5 or 6 in Borden last summer, staff was tasked from the west without any one to fill the positions (The bde tasked had identified that they didn't have anyone) while my unit had 3 Sgt waiting for some employment....They cancelled the crse.

Another thing, they should look at giving more credit for civilian quals.
The reserve world has a great span of civilian skills that are transferable to the CF but there is no structure for the CF to take advantage of these skills.
(I think of skills such as cartography (Engr/Arty), chemistry (POL/H2O Purification/NBCD etc).
I'm a mechanical designer that had my own company designing equipment for vehicles the CF and other militarys but there is no accreditation for my skills in the in the EME world.

P.S. Drinking in the reserves is changing the same way has in the civy world and in the Regs.... We have trouble keeping enough revenue flowing thru the messes to even keep them open. Those who come just to drink are a waste of rations and should be dealt with....of course we don't have the scope of options to address the problem.
If a person who comes to the mess and gets "Sh** faced" doesn't get noticed as not performing the next morning because there not there.
Getting a reservist on a abuse program takes an act of Parliament (last time I checked)
 
Brad,

Honestly I think that if the unit is only a compnay then it should have an OC not a CO, and be pruned of its entirely useless senior ranks.
I refuse to believe that a reserve company sized element can generate more admin that a regular force company - I mean we have 4-6 more days a week to get in shit...

I think the scalpel needs to cut deep into the fat underbelly of the reserves and create operational effective units - not the current cardboard cutouts.  The idea a Reserve Bde did a good job scraping 2 amalgamted companies is ridiculous - that is a Bn(-) not a Bde sourcing.

I really think the sacred cows have to get slaughtered here - and while it is nice to recall past glories and dream about a mobilization army - thats tripe.  We need Effective (Combat Effective) soliders to prop up the reg force (and yes I used prop intentionally, for there are need changes in that arena too). The orginization has to be ground/grass roots operational, and everybody in the ORBAT shoudl be fit to fight (but heck it does not happen in the regs...)  I happen to think company is the highest we should organize the reserves at and have the Admin of higher headquaters done by a regular "sponsor" unit.



 
The way I like to explain PRes trg vice Reg Role and trg is to use a cahir anology. Let me explain.
Think of all the things that a MOC has to do.... this is the lumber
when all of these things are put together they form a chair..capable of suppporting something.
Now the PRes has less lumber.
If we ask them to build the same sort of chair it won't work. A leg will be missing, no back...you get the picture.
Why would anyone want half a chair?
Don't expect a full size chair from us...However, we can build a smaller chair that can be load bearing.

Does this make sense? I just got back from a night out.
 
quote]Why are they below standard, THE F***ing MESS thats why. I was in the reserves and most went there to drink
I was in the Res too, and I have done unit RSS, and now I work with the Res again at Bde level. Your statement might have reflected the circumstances in your unit at that time, but as a general statement IMHO it is false today, not to mention pretty insulting. Most Res soldiers go to the armoury to train-the fact that they might end up in the Mess when they should be training is a leadership failure. Either not enough leaders (a much more common problem in many Res units than alot of people in the RegF seem to want to realize...) or bad leaders, which certainly exist in the Res, just as they do in the RegF. There are mess hounds in Res units, just as there are MIR commandos and oxygen thieves in Regular units. Get off the high horse.

We have trouble keeping enough revenue flowing thru the messes to even keep them open

Glad you mentioned this: I was going to. Most messes are in our Bde are barely staying above the red line.


When a unit has a SGT for a SSM. You know there is something wrong!

Yes, you're right, you do. We had one unit in our Bde like that until recently. This kind of thing happens for many reasons: in particular an Indiv Trg system that has until very recently IMHO failed to realize the unique demands of training Res soldiers and has insisted on a Gagetown-centric "one standard means one school" approach to life instead of figuring out how to devolve trg to LFAs or Bdes. I will not even mention CFSTG at Borden and the hash that has been made of Res CSS training over the years, effectively guaranteeing that most Res CSS units are almost completely lacking technical supervision capability, or much leadership either. A recruiting system that makes it painfully frustrating and slow to get into a Reserve unit, and is not designed to support the type of local recruit flow the Res requires, guarantees that attrition will be replaced only slowly, thus cutting into the gene pool from which a unit must grow its own NCOs. Except for a tiny RegF element, the Army will not "post in" an NCO to a Res unit -they grow their own or they don't have any. As well, as a Res soldier reaches the age at which they are typically becoming MWOs and Majs, the responsibilities of their civ lives often start to catch up with them. So what should they do? Just quit? Back to square one.

You cannot organize training when you don't even know how many people will show.

I disagree: you can, and in the better units they do just that, with training plans that have flex built in. But, I agree that you've identified one of the biggest weaknesses of our Res system: its completely voluntary nature. But, just for a second, ask yourself what would happen in some RegF units if the CO got out on the square and said: "OK, troops, who really feels like going to Wainwright for the 100th time? Don't wanna go? Oh, come on, please..." Because that's what a Res CO is up against. If the unit has solid leaders and good training, they may do OK. If not, it's back to "who gets off the bus". I was a volunteer firefighter and they often face the same problems. It's in the nature of voluntary organizations: they're all about leadership and motivation.

6A's are 12 weeks in Gagetown on Leopards.

Really? For Res Recce NCOs? Why would that be if the Res has lost the "tank" (Cougar) role?

Class B contracts are not for those who want to soldier more as those jobs are RQ, HQ, CFRC taskings.   If anything they erode the quality of the soldier.

Whoah! Pretty broad statement there! Don't you think it depends on how they're led and managed? The Class B in the unit are under the control of the CO-no reason they can't go to the field. The Class B's at CBG HQ should be available to the units by arrangement: all the regulations say is that you can't FORCE them to parade with their home units. We encourage our Class B's in Bde HQ to take courses and to parade and train with their units.After all, they're still soldiers.

The quality of reserve soldier up to MCpl level as I have seen on operations is easily on par with their reg force counter parts

I am   sympathetic with this but sadly it is still not completely true. We still have problems with fitness and some skill weaknesses with Res soldiers, although the fitness issue seems to be improving as more Res soldiers make fitness part of their normal daily life. If we can give them the 90 days training the Army says they are supposed to get before deployment, they are usually OK. Unfortunately, the Army has started to shave off days under pressure of op requirements: we recently mounted a platoon with about 30 days of pre-depl training.

Honestly I think that if the unit is only a compnay then it should have an OC not a CO, and be pruned of its entirely useless senior ranks
.

A fair number of Res soldiers are not all that opposed to amalgamation, which is basically what you are referring to here. It is not so much that the senior leaders are useless (granted some are...) but that many units simply cannot generate adequate candidates in the first place, so we are back to Sgts as SSMs/RSMs, recycled COs, and RSMs extended until they are CRA.

refuse to believe that a reserve company sized element can generate more admin that a regular force company - I mean we have 4-6 more days a week to get in crap

It is not so much that a Res unit of this size generates more admin, per se. It does generate quite a bit: PERs, PDRs, summary investigations, boards of inquiry, grievances, promotions, releases, B and C contracts, screenings for overseas missions, operating biudget management, etc. are all done in Res units, using the same or very similar formats as RegF. The difference is the horsepower available to do it.A Regular sub-unit typically has a full-time 2IC or AO, CSM, a full time clerk, and usually a "company jet" or two who help out in the Coy OR. Then, over in the BOR, you have a full time Chief Clerk, a full time NCO IC, full time clerks in all the positions. There are full time officers in every company who can be tasked to do summary investigations and BofIs. Platoons have full time Pl Comds and 2ICs. It goes on...

A Reserve unit is treated as a unit by the Army and must do all of its admin with, typically, one RegF clerk and one Class B Clerk. The unit (may) have some Class A clerks but like any Class A soldiers their attendance is periodic (a few hours a week) and not totally predictable. But, the Army demands that the admin be done, on time. Of course, alot of it isn't done on time, but that doesn't lighten the load much. In our Bde, we have tried to ease the burden by creating admin pools in our multi-unit garrisons, but this has had mixed success. If you don't do the work at Res unit, you will just have to shift it somewhere else, but now you will create other problems. The burden is just too much for the horsepower, believe me. I get to see the results. The answer is either reduce the admin load (not too likely....) or make sure that we start giving Res unts an adequate full time cadre of either Regulars, Reserves or both.

I think the scalpel needs to cut deep into the fat underbelly of the reserves and create operational effective units - not the current cardboard cutouts.   The idea a Reserve Bde did a good job scraping 2 amalgamted companies is ridiculous - that is a Bn(-) not a Bde sourcing.

Actually 200 plus out of a total strength all ranks of 1200 almost all of whom are Class A Reservists and thus not obligated for full time duty, is not too bad on very short notice, considering many soldiers had been away for the summer on course and were getting ready to go   back to school or work when the call came for troops. You are right that we don't put out the full strength of a "real" Bde, but there are a whole bunch of reasons why that is. I would be careful not to blame the Res entirely for it. And, you and I have both seen a few RegF units that were a bit on the "hollow" side, haven't we.....? In the long term I am a believer in some amalgamation too: it is inevitable and useful, but it has to be done intelligently: ie: not with a sledgehammer. Cheers.







 
PBI
Your statement might have reflected the circumstances in your unit at that time, but as a general statement IMHO it is false today, not to mention pretty insulting. Most Res soldiers go to the armoury to train-the fact that they might end up in the Mess when they should be training is a leadership failure. Either not enough leaders (a much more common problem in many Res units than alot of people in the RegF seem to want to realize...) or bad leaders, which certainly exist in the Res, just as they do in the RegF. There are mess hounds in Res units, just as there are MIR commandos and oxygen thieves in Regular units. Get off the high horse.
This is from my visits to some units in Ontario and in NB. And as for MIR Commandos, they are getting theirs now. No field, your gone. As of now. Any soldier that cannot do his job can be gone.
Reserves never did leadership  courses on Leos. It was Cougar or Ilitis. The only a few a Sqn, 8CH did get a drivers or gunners, the 90/10 Regt. Good ones get bored and leave or stay and get left behind and bad ones stay and get ahead.
Bottom line. There should be a standard, for all units. If your unit does not meet standard, you loose money, If you pass standard you get more. When a unit has good goes ie to Knox, Florida, Cal or Bragg. people come out of the would work. But if it's to go out in a cold wet field. you get 25-50 %.
I remember my father/uncles in the Regs and Res. There would be a full Armouries. They would parade out of the Armouries and down the street then back. It was pride in the Regts. Now. I know they don't do that anymore. Dave?

Thats my 2 cents.
 
This is from my visits to some units in Ontario and in NB.

OK-that's more like it. "Some units".

Any soldier that cannot do his job can be gone.

What happened to the "accomodation"policy in the RegF? Anyway, MIR commandos usually never had any real long term problems: they just knew when to be sick.

Reserves never did leadership  courses on Leos

I thought not. We have two Armd Recce units in our Bde and I had not heard of their NCOs doing Leo trg.

There should be a standard, for all units

There is: its called the Bde Operating Plan, which is based on the Area Operating Plan, which in turn comes from the CLS annual directing (the SORD) The Bde Op Plan tells the Res unit exactly what it must achieve in the year, amd what resources it will get to do it, including what strength it is to maintain. The Unit Operating Plan that the CO signs off and briefs to his Bde Comd is his commitment to meet that direction. What happens after that is a question of the personalities involved. Some Bde Comds hold their COs feet to the fire, some don't.

But if it's to go out in a cold wet field. you get 25-50 %.

Yes-this is still a problem in some units, and the "fair-weather" soldier thing still hurts the image of those Res soldiers who try toi be professional. It was a problem when I was a Res soldier in 1974. The answer now is the same as it was then: the kind of leadership and motivation in the unit. They're volunteers, remember: there is no obligation to serve.

There would be a full Armouries. They would parade out of the Armouries and down the street then back

When was this, though? And where? I was in the Res in Toronto 1974-1982 and I never, never, saw one unit that could fill an Armoury by itself. The only times we ever "filled the square" was when we had garrison parades. Most units were at about the manning level they are now, or less.

It was pride in the Regts

So Reserve soldiers aren't proud of their units anymore? Are you sure?

Cheers.









 
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