Retention and Recruitment Crisis
- Thread starter RackMaster
- Start date
Po-lease that moo-stache
Devildoc
Verified Military
Doc proclaims, "stop me, bitches..."
ThunderHorse
Verified Military
Airborne Realignment: Army Restructures Paratrooper Force for the Future
Interesting article. The 13,000 slot increase from 2002 is ridiculous. Notably the slots did not go to FORSCOM units but random training commands. Obviously they are cutting 23,000 slots. Essentially maintaining FORSCOM only jump capability which is smart.
The part about fewer volunteers for Airborne School is interesting or is that more a unit funding and idiot CSM issue . I don't think the volunteer drop was new recruits only. But it's good that they're trimming the fat.
Interesting article. The 13,000 slot increase from 2002 is ridiculous. Notably the slots did not go to FORSCOM units but random training commands. Obviously they are cutting 23,000 slots. Essentially maintaining FORSCOM only jump capability which is smart.
The part about fewer volunteers for Airborne School is interesting or is that more a unit funding and idiot CSM issue . I don't think the volunteer drop was new recruits only. But it's good that they're trimming the fat.
We invest a whole lot in airborne ops, which very few units actually ever use in combat. And IMO, even the few times we have done airborne ops in the recent decades have been for show, and/or because there's a prestigious badge associated with it.
I think there is still a legit reason to have airborne slots and airborne school, but far fewer people need to be on airborne status. We could save a whole bunch of time, money, energy, and injuries by greatly paring back airborne billets.
I think there is still a legit reason to have airborne slots and airborne school, but far fewer people need to be on airborne status. We could save a whole bunch of time, money, energy, and injuries by greatly paring back airborne billets.
I know with something like JRTC ops group the logic is likely that they need the capability to advise, evaluate, and improve on it.
You do have an airborne infantry BN embedded in the command, which honestly let them have that if they’re going to be OpFor.
I wonder if asymmetric warfare group were airborne billets, since those would have just gotten eaten across whatever other T2COM organizations.
I know we're lead by complete fucking morons up here in Canuckistan. But even I didn't see this one coming... They just need to say it out loud that we're joining Europe in attacking Russia.
Canadian military will rely on an army of public servants to boost its ranks by 300,000 - Yahoo News Canada
"The Canadian Forces is counting on public servants to volunteer for military service as it tries to ramp up an army of 300,000 as part of a mobilization plan, according to a defence department directive.
Federal and provincial employees would be given a one-week training course in how to handle firearms, drive trucks and fly drones, according to the directive, signed by Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan and defence deputy minister Stefanie Beck on May 30, 2025.
The public servants would be inducted into the Supplementary Reserve, which is currently made up of inactive or retired members of the Canadian Forces who are willing to return to duty if called. At this point, there are 4,384 personnel in the Supplementary Reserves, but in the case of an emergency, that would be boosted to 300,000, according to the directive from Beck and Carignan.
While the supplementary recruiting push will “prioritize volunteer public servants at the federal and provincial/territorial level” the entry standards wouldn’t be strict, according to the nine-page unclassified directive.
“The entry criteria for the Supplementary or other Reserve should be less restrictive than the Reserve Force for age limits as well as physical and fitness requirements,” the document noted.
After the initial entry into the ranks, the public servants would be required to do one week’s worth of military training each year but would not be issued uniforms. Medical coverage would be provided for their annual military service, but that time would not count towards their pensions, the directive pointed out.
The training focus would be on “basic skills (e.g. shoot, move, and communicate; drive a truck; fly a drone: etc.)”, Beck and Carignan wrote.
Their directive approved the creation of a “tiger team” which will work on setting the stage for a Defence Mobilization Plan or DMP. That team will examine what changes are needed to government legislation as well as examine other factors required to allow for such a massive influx of Canadians into the military.
Department of National Defence spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin confirmed in an email that participation in the expanded reserve force would be voluntary. “Initial planning has begun to explore how the CAF (Canadian Armed Forces) could contribute to greater national resilience, including leveraging increased readiness from an expanded Reserve Force for defence purposes, in times of crisis, or for natural disasters for example,” she added.
Neither DND nor the military would provide comment on the timelines for the creation of the mobilization plan.
Work on the initiative by the tiger team located at DND’s Carling Campus in Ottawa began on June 4. DND would not comment on whether Carignan and Beck have been briefed on the initial work of the team.
The directive also points to a massive increase in the number of Canadian Forces reservists. The reserves are made up of volunteers who are in current military units. Although they are considered part-time, they are involved in training on a year-round basis.
The current reserve force would jump from 23,561 to 100,000 for the mobilization plan. There are no details on how that increase would be handled.
Beck and Carignan pointed out that the plan would require a Whole of Society (or WoS) effort, meaning that all Canadians would have to contribute to the initiative. That would require the Privy Council Office to lead a government “approach to population engagement to advance servant culture around sovereignty and public accountability,” according to their directive.
“Defence will not accomplish the outcome alone, rather it will necessitate shaping, facilitation and engagement with the Privy Council Office, other government departments and agencies as well as socialization with the Canadian public,” they added.
The tiger team will also consult with Canada’s allies, “including Finland which is a recognized leader in this area,” the document pointed out.
Finland has a conscription-based military. Every male Finnish citizen aged 18-60 is liable for military service, and women can apply for military service on a voluntary basis, according to the Finnish defence department website.
After Finnish citizens complete their compulsory full-time military service, they are transferred to the reserves. In May, the Finnish government proposed an initiative that would raise the age limit of conscript reservists to 65.
DND and the Canadian Forces also declined to comment on how ongoing recruitment problems might impact its mobilization plan.
A new report by Auditor General Karen Hogan revealed that the Canadian Forces is not currently recruiting enough individuals to meet its operational needs. “The Canadian Armed Forces continued to have challenges attracting and training enough highly skilled recruits to staff many occupations such as pilots and ammunition technicians,” Hogan said of the report, which was released Oct. 21.
In their document, Beck and Carignan noted the Canadian government has called for greater resiliency and autonomy on security matters. In order to achieve that goal, the Defence Mobilization Plan is needed, they added.
The document does not set out the specific criteria for the mobilization plan to be put into action. But it does mention that global security has been dramatically affected by the rise of strategic competition among states.
Some Canadian Forces leaders have claimed that a war between western nations and China or Russia could happen in the near future. In June 2025, Brig.-Gen. Brendan Cook, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s director general of air and space force development, warned that Canada needed to rearm for a potential war with China or Russia. That war could come between 2028 and 2030, Cook suggested.
In October 2023, the Ottawa Citizen reported on a document issued by then Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre pointed out that Canada is already at war with Russia and China."
Canadian military will rely on an army of public servants to boost its ranks by 300,000 - Yahoo News Canada
"The Canadian Forces is counting on public servants to volunteer for military service as it tries to ramp up an army of 300,000 as part of a mobilization plan, according to a defence department directive.
Federal and provincial employees would be given a one-week training course in how to handle firearms, drive trucks and fly drones, according to the directive, signed by Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan and defence deputy minister Stefanie Beck on May 30, 2025.
The public servants would be inducted into the Supplementary Reserve, which is currently made up of inactive or retired members of the Canadian Forces who are willing to return to duty if called. At this point, there are 4,384 personnel in the Supplementary Reserves, but in the case of an emergency, that would be boosted to 300,000, according to the directive from Beck and Carignan.
While the supplementary recruiting push will “prioritize volunteer public servants at the federal and provincial/territorial level” the entry standards wouldn’t be strict, according to the nine-page unclassified directive.
“The entry criteria for the Supplementary or other Reserve should be less restrictive than the Reserve Force for age limits as well as physical and fitness requirements,” the document noted.
After the initial entry into the ranks, the public servants would be required to do one week’s worth of military training each year but would not be issued uniforms. Medical coverage would be provided for their annual military service, but that time would not count towards their pensions, the directive pointed out.
The training focus would be on “basic skills (e.g. shoot, move, and communicate; drive a truck; fly a drone: etc.)”, Beck and Carignan wrote.
Their directive approved the creation of a “tiger team” which will work on setting the stage for a Defence Mobilization Plan or DMP. That team will examine what changes are needed to government legislation as well as examine other factors required to allow for such a massive influx of Canadians into the military.
Department of National Defence spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin confirmed in an email that participation in the expanded reserve force would be voluntary. “Initial planning has begun to explore how the CAF (Canadian Armed Forces) could contribute to greater national resilience, including leveraging increased readiness from an expanded Reserve Force for defence purposes, in times of crisis, or for natural disasters for example,” she added.
Neither DND nor the military would provide comment on the timelines for the creation of the mobilization plan.
Work on the initiative by the tiger team located at DND’s Carling Campus in Ottawa began on June 4. DND would not comment on whether Carignan and Beck have been briefed on the initial work of the team.
The directive also points to a massive increase in the number of Canadian Forces reservists. The reserves are made up of volunteers who are in current military units. Although they are considered part-time, they are involved in training on a year-round basis.
The current reserve force would jump from 23,561 to 100,000 for the mobilization plan. There are no details on how that increase would be handled.
Beck and Carignan pointed out that the plan would require a Whole of Society (or WoS) effort, meaning that all Canadians would have to contribute to the initiative. That would require the Privy Council Office to lead a government “approach to population engagement to advance servant culture around sovereignty and public accountability,” according to their directive.
“Defence will not accomplish the outcome alone, rather it will necessitate shaping, facilitation and engagement with the Privy Council Office, other government departments and agencies as well as socialization with the Canadian public,” they added.
The tiger team will also consult with Canada’s allies, “including Finland which is a recognized leader in this area,” the document pointed out.
Finland has a conscription-based military. Every male Finnish citizen aged 18-60 is liable for military service, and women can apply for military service on a voluntary basis, according to the Finnish defence department website.
After Finnish citizens complete their compulsory full-time military service, they are transferred to the reserves. In May, the Finnish government proposed an initiative that would raise the age limit of conscript reservists to 65.
DND and the Canadian Forces also declined to comment on how ongoing recruitment problems might impact its mobilization plan.
A new report by Auditor General Karen Hogan revealed that the Canadian Forces is not currently recruiting enough individuals to meet its operational needs. “The Canadian Armed Forces continued to have challenges attracting and training enough highly skilled recruits to staff many occupations such as pilots and ammunition technicians,” Hogan said of the report, which was released Oct. 21.
In their document, Beck and Carignan noted the Canadian government has called for greater resiliency and autonomy on security matters. In order to achieve that goal, the Defence Mobilization Plan is needed, they added.
The document does not set out the specific criteria for the mobilization plan to be put into action. But it does mention that global security has been dramatically affected by the rise of strategic competition among states.
Some Canadian Forces leaders have claimed that a war between western nations and China or Russia could happen in the near future. In June 2025, Brig.-Gen. Brendan Cook, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s director general of air and space force development, warned that Canada needed to rearm for a potential war with China or Russia. That war could come between 2028 and 2030, Cook suggested.
In October 2023, the Ottawa Citizen reported on a document issued by then Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre pointed out that Canada is already at war with Russia and China."
What did I just read? That sounds idiotic.
Countries that want to cut on defense because...reasons, fine. Instead of half-assing military service why don't they half-ass civil service. Build roads, bridges, maintain them, transpo networks, moving supplies, maintaining railroads, operating trucks and trains, building, maintaining, and operating communications networks...
See, those skills are vital during a mobilization and subsequent war. They also translate well to helping a country function in peacetime, especially one as vast as Canada.
Unless your goal is to build a pseudo police state with a few hundred thousand reserves to police your own people...
