Notice the female peacekeeper on the new ten dollar bill, wearing a beret instead of a helmet (probably because that ridiculous bun of hair wouldn't fit in a helmet!) How nice.

In addition, look at the sentries on the War Memorial - yup, the female is front and centre there, too. How nice.

What about the continued portrayal of the Army as a peacekeeping and natural disaster relief force? It's not inherently a negative image, but it is problematic for those of us who want to preserve the skills of a warfighting army.

I think the most vivid example I have seen of this distortion was the documentary about 1CMBG on ex which appeared on Forbidden Places on the Discovery Channel. The host was almost apologetic for the fact that the brigade ex simulated a battle; he emphasized the fact that the warfighting skills were necessary for peacekeeping etc.

Now don't get me wrong; peacekeeping is valuable and important. It just bothers me that we are increasingly required to explain away our training and activities as necessary to enhance our peacekeeping prowess. Realistic military training should not be something that needs a reason or apology, but the whole "peacekeeping" identity tends to encourage this.

Just some thoughts

If you are that offended how come you don't look at everything else that has been overlooked. Did you ever stop and think that they probably portray regular force soldiers instead of reservists. How about they only portray signallers and infantry...what about the rest of us. All three look like white folksl...what about the blacks, natives, etc, etc, that have served overseas. Hold on a second, they all look like NCMs, what about the officers. Even better they only portray army guys and gals, what about the navy and airforce?

When I see the war memorial I think of service to my country. When I see the peacekeeping memorial I see my service as a soldier in Bosnia. When I see a $10 with "peacekeepers" on them, I think I have enough for lunch and a beer.

I agree with you,

Lest We Forget.

P.S. some of my best friends and those who exhibited the strongest soldierly and leadership qualities through out my career have been females. To me there is no degeneration between gender, it is the degeneration of respect for those who serve, and serve well, regardless of whom they are.

Secondly, let's put this thing in perspective. The ARMY did not issue the ten dollar bill. The GOVERNMENT did. If the government's public affairs messages do not correspond to your personal opinion of the Army's messages, that's too bad.

What would you have preferred? Perhaps a white anglo-saxon male sniper in full face cam laying cross-hairs on an enemy soldier? Tough enough for you? That would a be a really credible image for our citizens to keep in thier wallets now wouldn't it? Doesn't it just make you imagine your left-of-centre neighbour adding a note to his tax return to have his refund send to the Department of Natiuonal Defence?

If a focus on peacekeeping and equality of women in military service helps maintain a good image of the Canadian Army in the public eye, that more power to it. You can thank peacekeeping for providing the emphasis on soldier skills and the money to allow the regular battalions/battle groups (including all the participating Reservists) to achieve combat team and battle group live fire proficiency before rotations. Before FRY got busy we saw that only on RVs, when the Army could afford them. You can thank peacekeeping for keeping some of the equipment woes in the public eye and even in the House of Commons sometimes, with the (albeit slow) remedies occuring faster than they might.

While the op tempo may be tough, peacekeeping and the continued validity of the need to maintain combat skills for effective peacekeeping have resulted in a stronger Army than we might have had without it.

There are some big issues facing our Army - the picture on the back of ten dollar bill is not one of them. And I will carry and present it proudly, because it does symbolize that out Army is a positive contributor to our Nation's role in the world.