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KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN — The Canadian Forces have been swamped with volunteers eager to be among the last troops headed to Kandahar before Parliament closes out the combat mission next year, according to the outgoing commander of the army, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie.
"Everyone knows that for the last two missions, you're part of the A team because if you don't do well in the training there are a lot of folks who are willing to step in and fill their shoes," Leslie said in a farewell interview before handing over command of the army to Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin in Ottawa on Monday.
On a recent trip to CFB Valcartier, outside Quebec City, Leslie said that he and the army sergeant major, Chief Warrant Officer Wayne Ford were stunned by how even "the trainers and instructors in the back of the room all put up their hands" to show how badly they wanted to join a group of soldiers from the Van Doo battle group that they had been helping to prepare for a deployment to Kandahar later this year.
"Soldiers like to do that which soldiers are trained to do," was Leslie's explanation of the willingness of so many to serve one last time in a theatre where 147 Canadian soldiers have died since 2002.
The army was at 99 per cent of its established manning levels, he said, adding that the infantry — the most dangerous trade in the army — was oversubscribed.
"I suspect the direct cause of the increased numbers, the lower attrition rates, the higher retention rates, and the significant capital investments in army equipment, is because Canadians are paying a great deal of attention to their army and like what they see," Leslie said.
"They may not necessarily agree with where we are doing it, but that is up to them to decide. They are supporting their soldiers not only during tragedies, but what we are doing and how we do it. The government, as well, has been very generous in building up its army."
Earlier this year, Leslie, who has had command of the army for four years, was briefly, but widely touted as the potential commander of a peacekeeping mission in Congo. That was before Ottawa turned down a formal invitation from the UN for Canada to lead that operation.
"Oh well," Leslie said when the Congo was mentioned.
The general was "excited" about his new appointment as the Force's first chief of transformation, which will see him recommend ways for the army, air force and navy to be ready for future military challenges.
"All western forces are looking at another stage of evolution in the expectation that the world is going to continue to be a dangerous and complicated place, arguably even more so," the general said. "We do not necessarily try to re-create conditions of the last war, but that will inform decisions as to how we think about how to reposition ourselves for the future.
"We've got great examples of lessons from the previous four or five years, he said, citing the reserves for having "stepped up to the plate" to help the regular forces in Afghanistan.
As an artillery officer trained as a forward air controller directing warplanes on to their targets, and having flown many times with combat aviators in Afghanistan, Leslie said he was somewhat familiar with the air force, but that he had much to learn about naval operations. Towards this end, he was going to sea for a week on a frigate and a submarine in August.
"It is not something to shoot from the hip on," he said of the need to continue modernizing the Canadian military. "There is no silver bullet. It is very much a team approach."
Whatever the future held for the Forces, Leslie said they would continue to improve their ability to operate in many diverse environments such as Haiti, where 2,000 soldiers were deployed on a humanitarian mission earlier this year on "zero notice."
Told that a U.S. army colonel in Afghanistan had recently declared that Canada already had the best small army in the world, Leslie laughed.
"I think that we have the best medium-sized army in the world," was his boastful reply.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Forces+swamped+with+deployment+requests+Afghan+mission+winds+down/3166798/story.html#ixzz0r8flWOL4
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN — The Canadian Forces have been swamped with volunteers eager to be among the last troops headed to Kandahar before Parliament closes out the combat mission next year, according to the outgoing commander of the army, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie.
"Everyone knows that for the last two missions, you're part of the A team because if you don't do well in the training there are a lot of folks who are willing to step in and fill their shoes," Leslie said in a farewell interview before handing over command of the army to Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin in Ottawa on Monday.
On a recent trip to CFB Valcartier, outside Quebec City, Leslie said that he and the army sergeant major, Chief Warrant Officer Wayne Ford were stunned by how even "the trainers and instructors in the back of the room all put up their hands" to show how badly they wanted to join a group of soldiers from the Van Doo battle group that they had been helping to prepare for a deployment to Kandahar later this year.
"Soldiers like to do that which soldiers are trained to do," was Leslie's explanation of the willingness of so many to serve one last time in a theatre where 147 Canadian soldiers have died since 2002.
The army was at 99 per cent of its established manning levels, he said, adding that the infantry — the most dangerous trade in the army — was oversubscribed.
"I suspect the direct cause of the increased numbers, the lower attrition rates, the higher retention rates, and the significant capital investments in army equipment, is because Canadians are paying a great deal of attention to their army and like what they see," Leslie said.
"They may not necessarily agree with where we are doing it, but that is up to them to decide. They are supporting their soldiers not only during tragedies, but what we are doing and how we do it. The government, as well, has been very generous in building up its army."
Earlier this year, Leslie, who has had command of the army for four years, was briefly, but widely touted as the potential commander of a peacekeeping mission in Congo. That was before Ottawa turned down a formal invitation from the UN for Canada to lead that operation.
"Oh well," Leslie said when the Congo was mentioned.
The general was "excited" about his new appointment as the Force's first chief of transformation, which will see him recommend ways for the army, air force and navy to be ready for future military challenges.
"All western forces are looking at another stage of evolution in the expectation that the world is going to continue to be a dangerous and complicated place, arguably even more so," the general said. "We do not necessarily try to re-create conditions of the last war, but that will inform decisions as to how we think about how to reposition ourselves for the future.
"We've got great examples of lessons from the previous four or five years, he said, citing the reserves for having "stepped up to the plate" to help the regular forces in Afghanistan.
As an artillery officer trained as a forward air controller directing warplanes on to their targets, and having flown many times with combat aviators in Afghanistan, Leslie said he was somewhat familiar with the air force, but that he had much to learn about naval operations. Towards this end, he was going to sea for a week on a frigate and a submarine in August.
"It is not something to shoot from the hip on," he said of the need to continue modernizing the Canadian military. "There is no silver bullet. It is very much a team approach."
Whatever the future held for the Forces, Leslie said they would continue to improve their ability to operate in many diverse environments such as Haiti, where 2,000 soldiers were deployed on a humanitarian mission earlier this year on "zero notice."
Told that a U.S. army colonel in Afghanistan had recently declared that Canada already had the best small army in the world, Leslie laughed.
"I think that we have the best medium-sized army in the world," was his boastful reply.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Forces+swamped+with+deployment+requests+Afghan+mission+winds+down/3166798/story.html#ixzz0r8flWOL4
