Posted by Michael A. Dorosh from Canada on June 16, 2021 at 20:21:27:
In Reply to: Reserve Force posted by Brad on June 16, 2021 at 14:46:19:
36 army reserve units not viable, says military study
Tuesday, 15 June 2021 - OTTAWA (CP)
THIRTY-SIX OF Canada's 134 army reserve units are not viable,
according to documents attached to a letter signed by army commander
Lt.-Gen. Bill Leach. The list, obtained under the Access to Information Act,
describes as "non-viable" many of the better-known Canadian regiments from
the Second World War.
Militia units were rated on their size, how well they did on evaluations of
their skills as a group and as individual soldiers, administration,
completing assigned tasks such as providing soldiers for natural disasters,
recruiting and retaining soldiers.
"The critical nature of the evaluation . . . cannot be overstated,"
Brig.-Gen. R.S. Millar, the deputy commander of the army's western area,
wrote to reserve units in 1997.
"It is the most important factor in deciding the fate of a unit."
Since then, however, the Forces have downplayed the audit.
"The viability evaluation . . . is not the only factor for determining a
unit's outcome during restructuring but is an important input for the
decision process," Leach wrote in response to questions from Defence
Minister Art Eggleton's monitoring commission.
Final decisions about the fate of individual regiments won't be made until
November. Brig.-Gen Ken Quinn, Leach's adviser on the militia, cautioned in
an interview against jumping to conclusions based on the list.
Units Leach listed as non-viable include:
- The Toronto-based Queen's Own Rifles, the Royal Regiment of Canada
� and the St. Catharine's-based Lincoln and Welland Regiment.
- Both infantry militia units in Saskatchewan: the Royal Regina Rifles� and
the North Saskatchewan Regiment.
- Both infantry militia units in Manitoba: the Queen's Own Cameron
Highlanders and the Royal Winnipeg Rifles.
- Both battalions of the Royal New Brunswick Regiment.
- The second battalion of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, which is
recruited in the west of the island.
� - All army reserve units in Alberta, including the King's Own Calgary
Regiment, the South Alberta Light Horse, the Loyal Edmonton Regiment,
and the Calgary Highlanders.
In Alberta's case, Quinn said the failures turned out not to be the
fault of the units concerned and they are unlikely to affect final decisions
about their future.
Many regiments concerned have rich histories. Toronto's Royal
Regiment of Canada, for instance, landed at Dieppe in 1942. Nine out of 10
soldiers who landed were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
Restructuring could result in the most fundamental changes to
Canada's army reserves in decades.
One possibility is that the militia may change from a force that
emphasizes combat roles like infantry, artillery and armour into one that
focuses on rear support tasks such as bridging, water purification or
chemical decontamination. The British Territorial Army, or army reserve, is
changing in this direction.
That option was raised in a discussion paper that became the
subject of angry debate in the Commons in May.
"What we're trying to produce is a militia that is viable and
sustainable, and able to contribute to being a significant component of the
regular force," said Quinn.
Retired lieutenant-colonel Peter Hunter, speaking for the militia
activist group Reserves 2000, sees restructuring as a plot by the regulars
to get their hands on the reservists' budget.
"We really believe that the reserve army is the basis for mobilization, if
it should ever be required," said Hunter.
"If the regular army gets its way, it will be a much-diminished
thing and it will go down by 30 or 40 more units."