Spec pay has always been a touchy area. Who gets it and why? And noone really can give a good answer. Too many times it is used more as a retention mechanism for trades rather that an acknowledgement of their skills. But with the ongoing war onterror, there has been highlighted a new bunch of soldiers who have traditionally been considered a not-so-bright kind of crew. That is the combat arms. When one looks at the task of an infantry MCpl or higher, they routinely conduct their missions while routinley doing other peoples jobs. And I don't mean doing them because the others can't, more so due to the manning and capabilities of some organisations prevents them from doing it en masse in the field. Some of these are as follows;
Int Op - gathering int while on patrol, especially those with a tactical questioning course;
MSE Op - Cbt arms are always planning and conductiong road moves (combat patrols). selecting the route, organizing the support etc;
Public Affairs - spreading the good of the CF to foreign people and within Canada;
Armoured operations - Inf, Arty and Eng all conduct Armd Ops with their own armd veh;
FCS/Wpns tech - more often than not, these trades are not on a three week op with a rifle company, and the soldiers have to make their guns work however they can;
Medics - more than 50% of casulties are treated by their buddies prior to a medic getting to them;
Signals - everyone is expected to make their radios and other sigs kit work, often without a signaller to assist;
MP - Cbt arms are always the first to take prisoners and on nearly every occasion been responsible for the POW movement back to a secure point; and
Geo tech - cbt arms on patrol are responsible for confirming maps, noting descripencies and forwarding them higher.
The list could go on. But also take a look at the other things the cbt arms deals with. High tech wpns, kit and vehicles. The advanced courses that are definitley a specialty. Such as the FAC course, advanced gunnery, advanced anti-armour. And above all, it takes a specialist person to lead men into combat and have the ability to make on the spot decisons under the most challenging of circumstances.
There will no doubt be many who think that this would be a bad idea, and many who think it would be a good idea. In retrospect, the normal everyday challenges for a cbt arms soldier (inf, arty, armd and eng) are well above and beyond those given to a soldier 30-50 years ago. Rather than giving spec pay as a retention tool, it should be given to those whose jobs require special skillsets and unique conditions in which they must be performed.