An open-ended NATO contribution

[maple_leaf_eh]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/politics...oops-1.3669952

Canada sent its German-based brigade to the Balkans in 1992-3 for UN duties. Well, parts of the brigade went south with specific equipment. Then 4CMBG was collapsed about 1995. Vehicles, bases, stores etc were sold off or shipped back to Canada.

When I heard Canada was going to return a force to Europe, I immediately speculated our best effort would be a reinforced company with a heavy HQ staff. I speculated to an old NCO that this might be a good opportunity for the department to show the Reserves that they matter. My thought was to make this trip-wire deployment a 100% Reserve task. When the first brigade was mobilized for then-West Germany, units that had done well in WW2 were offered the chance to stand up companies and battalions. The Reg F only replaced them after the Korean War took the pressure off those units.

My friend offered a second suggestion. For several years there has been a rotating brigade on a higher readiness state than the other two. The irony is those troops are untouchable when real operations arise, and other forces have to be generated from existing formations. He suggested making the Baltic's deployment the prize for being that high readiness brigade. But that would make too much sense.

[rob love]

No offense to the reserve force, but as a part time organization I doubt they would have the unit cohesiveness or the operational experience as a whole to be successful. Lives matter and it's not the time for ooopsies or learning from your mistakes.

[maple_leaf_eh]

The Reserves are populated with the kind of people who suit the jobs before them. As a young Reservist, we were almost exclusively high school, college and university students in the ranks, and our officers were mostly high school teachers. That fit the one evening a week and one weekend a month work. When I finished school, there weren't enough full time jobs in my home town to keep me there. Although there were random callouts and jobs, these were too unpredictable to plan a life.

Jump ahead to the 90s and beyond. We saw companies of reservists deploy to Bosnia and high percentages of augmentees to fill out Reg F formations in Afg. These guys were good enough for the recruiters (me included) to be quick-picked for Reg F battalion quotas right out of the armouries. How many Reserve regiments had 20% of their effective strength overseas and earned theatre honours for their colours?

If the Reserves want to be taken seriously, give them a serious job. Until then, it will be hard to keep good troops in uniform.