The current personnel crisis is the end result of decades of neglect and priorities that have little to do with military readiness
since the end of the Cold War, dropping from 88,000 in 1989 to 72,000 in 2019. It currently stands at 63,781 — 10,000 short of where military brass think it needs to be to meet current demands — putting us behind adversaries and allies alike. Canada has about 1.9for every 1,000 people, compared to 2.1 in the United Kingdom, 2.5 in Australia, 4.2 in the United States and 7.
On the Pacific front, China has taken an increasingly aggressive stance against democracies in the West and within its own sphere of influence. Beijing has already crushed Hong Kong’s democratic institutions, and has now set its sights on Taiwan.
None of this is lost on our military leaders. “Russia and China are not just looking at regime survival but regime expansion. They consider themselves to be at war with the West,”the House of Commons standing committee on national security. “They strive to destroy the social cohesion of liberal democracies and the credibility of our own institutions,” along with “the rules-based international order, which has underpinned world stability, and indeed our national prosperity for generations.
Although the reconstitution order represents a drastic change for our Armed Forces — shifting its focus from overseas deployments to recruitment and retention efforts at home — it is one that is clearly necessary given our diminished troop strength. Yet it is also one that is indicative of a military that is increasingly beholden to the faddish whims of the current government in Ottawa.
It’s telling, for example, that while Eyre said he is “concerned that as the threats to the world’s security situation increase … our readiness is going down,” and admitted “the military that we have today is not the military that we need for the threats that are occurring in the future,” he refused to tell MPs whether he needs more funding. The answer, of course, is that the current defence budget is woefully inadequate.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Jesse Kline: Armed Forces admit there's no one left to use its rusted out gearThe current personnel crisis is the end result of decades of neglect and priorities that have little to do with military readiness
Read more »
Rangers forward Vitali Kravtsov leaves Tuesday's game with upper-body injury - Daily FaceoffKravtsov left the game against Tampa Bay after playing just 1:28 in the first period.
Read more »
Ukraine vows to strengthen armed forces after Russian strikesUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday and wrote on Telegram afterwards that air defense was the “number 1…
Read more »
'There's a culture to change': Hockey Canada resignations just 'first step', Trudeau saysFederal Minister of Sport Pascale St\u002DOnge said the government is looking to overhaul its own policies so her department is not just a funder of sports
Read more »
'There's a culture to change': Hockey Canada resignations just 'first step', Trudeau saysFederal Minister of Sport Pascale St\u002DOnge said the government is looking to overhaul its own policies so her department is not just a funder of sports
Read more »