SHOULD CANADA STRIVE TO MAINTAIN MILITARY CAPABILITY ACROSS THE FULL SPECTRUM OF OPERATIONS? ARE THERE SPECIFIC NICHE AREAS OF CAPABILITY IN WHICH CANADA SHOULD SPECIALIZE?

The Department of National Defence has launched public consultations for the development of a new defence policy for Canada. Canadian Defence Matters is attempting to come up with some answers to the ten questions contained in the public consultation paper.

Question seven is "Should Canada strive to maintain military capability across the full spectrum of operations? Are there specific niche areas of capability in which Canada should specialize?"

In a report entitled “The State of Readiness of the Canadian Armed Forces” prepared by the Standing Committee on National Defence in 2012 it was noted that “ Overall, it is essential to have a multi-purpose force that is trained and equipped to fight through the full spectrum of combat — from low to high intensity warfare.”

The Canada First Defence Strategy set out six core missions for the Canadian Forces, those missions were;

·        Conduct daily domestic and continental operations, including in the Arctic and through NORAD;

·        Support a major international event in Canada, such as the 2010 Olympics;

·        Respond to a major terrorist attack;

·        Support civilian authorities during a crisis in Canada such as a natural disaster;

·        Lead and/or conduct a major international operation for an extended period; and

·        Deploy forces in response to crises elsewhere in the world for shorter periods.

In order to fulfill these missions it was expected that the Canadian Forces would need to be “a fully integrated, flexible, multi-role and combat-capable military”.  

It seems unlikely that the Canadian Armed Forces, or the any government, would wish to eliminate one of these basic missions. That being the case, then a “fully integrated, flexible, multi-role and combat-capable military trained and equipped to fight through the full spectrum of combat — from low to high intensity warfare” would appear to be a given.

It further stands to reason that any “niche capabilities” that the government or the DND might wish to pursue should never come at the cost of losing the ability to maintain military capability across the full spectrum of operations that are seen as core missions.

Defence Policy Review

http://jgmjgm516.blogspot.ca/search/label/DEFENCE%20POLICY%20REVIEW

THE STATE OF READINESS OF THE CANADIAN FORCES Report of the Standing Committee on National Defence James Bezan, M.P. Chair DECEMBER 2012

http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/hoc/Committee/411/NDDN/Reports/RP5881736/nddnrp05/nddnrp05-e.pdf