Canadian sailors and aircrew to drive army trucks in Kandahar: Knowledge Driven Revolution

Related - Military considers longer tours of duty in Afghanistan

Canadian sailors and aircrew won't be thrown into the trenches, but they could be asked to drive convoys along the treacherous roads of southern Afghanistan, the country's top soldier said Wednesday.

Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, said it's one way to free up manpower and take the pressure off front-line combat units.

"We can take a bunch of sailors and train them to run our convoys," he told the Commons foreign affairs committee.

Last week, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Hillier pledged that front-line soldiers would be called upon to serve no more than one tour in Afghanistan.

To do that, the army will call on members of the navy and air force in a process called re-rolling. But since their initial comments, there's been confusion in military ranks and among the public about who will qualify and the jobs they will perform.

Both men attempted to set the record straight Wednesday.

"We're not planning to take sailors and make them infantry," said O'Connor.

Many of the specialized support trades, such as signallers and mechanics, have roughly the same qualifications no matter what branch they call home.

Hillier says those occupations - in the navy and air force - could be called over to army units.

Headquarters staff with experience in combat units could find themselves back in front-line roles, their places taken by reservists, the general added.

In addition, recruits may be ordered to serve two years in the infantry before going into the trade of their choice. Both O'Connor and Hillier denied such a measure would throw a chill into the military's recruiting drive.

The army's staffing problems stem from budget cuts in the 1990s, when moving expenses were slashed, leaving many soldiers perpetually assigned to combat units and constantly rotated overseas.

Re-rolling has since become the norm for the thinly stretched military. In Bosnia during the 1990s, soldiers who drove tanks and fired artillery were given rifles and retrained as infantry.

And the Afghanistan mission has already seen navy divers attached to mine-clearing army engineers, and air force cooks serve chow in some mess halls.

New Democrat MP Alexa McDonough questioned the need for re-rolling and pointed to a briefing note prepared for O'Connor when he became minister in February.

It said Canada has enough capacity to deploy an additional 1,200 troops overseas, if needed.

Both O'Connor and Hillier denied having ever seen the note and said there are not enough troops for a second overseas mission.

"To have gone straight to this notion of dragging our air force and naval personnel into an on-the-ground combat mission in Afghanistan seems to be fraught with problems," said McDonough.

"It also evades the question of what happened to those 1,200 troops."

The NDP and some Liberal senators have complained that Canada is focusing exclusively on Afghanistan, when it should spare peacekeeping troops for other hotspots in the world, most notably Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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HOME Canadians Should Pay NOT to be Poisoned: NDP V for Vendetta - R for Reality Canadian Bird Flu Pandemic Looming ? Shill of the Week: Stephan Harper Aspartame: The Sweetest Killer Chicken Little Terrorist of the Week: Creating Fake Terrorists Shill of the Week: Paul Martin The Number 1 Reason YOU became a Slave	Canadian sailors and aircrew to drive army trucks in Kandahar Murray Brewster - CP October 27, 2006 Related - Military considers longer tours of duty in Afghanistan Canadian sailors and aircrew won't be thrown into the trenches, but they could be asked to drive convoys along the treacherous roads of southern Afghanistan, the country's top soldier said Wednesday. Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, said it's one way to free up manpower and take the pressure off front-line combat units. "We can take a bunch of sailors and train them to run our convoys," he told the Commons foreign affairs committee. Last week, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Hillier pledged that front-line soldiers would be called upon to serve no more than one tour in Afghanistan. To do that, the army will call on members of the navy and air force in a process called re-rolling. But since their initial comments, there's been confusion in military ranks and among the public about who will qualify and the jobs they will perform. Both men attempted to set the record straight Wednesday. "We're not planning to take sailors and make them infantry," said O'Connor. Many of the specialized support trades, such as signallers and mechanics, have roughly the same qualifications no matter what branch they call home. Hillier says those occupations - in the navy and air force - could be called over to army units. Headquarters staff with experience in combat units could find themselves back in front-line roles, their places taken by reservists, the general added. In addition, recruits may be ordered to serve two years in the infantry before going into the trade of their choice. Both O'Connor and Hillier denied such a measure would throw a chill into the military's recruiting drive. The army's staffing problems stem from budget cuts in the 1990s, when moving expenses were slashed, leaving many soldiers perpetually assigned to combat units and constantly rotated overseas. Re-rolling has since become the norm for the thinly stretched military. In Bosnia during the 1990s, soldiers who drove tanks and fired artillery were given rifles and retrained as infantry. And the Afghanistan mission has already seen navy divers attached to mine-clearing army engineers, and air force cooks serve chow in some mess halls. New Democrat MP Alexa McDonough questioned the need for re-rolling and pointed to a briefing note prepared for O'Connor when he became minister in February. It said Canada has enough capacity to deploy an additional 1,200 troops overseas, if needed. Both O'Connor and Hillier denied having ever seen the note and said there are not enough troops for a second overseas mission. "To have gone straight to this notion of dragging our air force and naval personnel into an on-the-ground combat mission in Afghanistan seems to be fraught with problems," said McDonough. "It also evades the question of what happened to those 1,200 troops." The NDP and some Liberal senators have complained that Canada is focusing exclusively on Afghanistan, when it should spare peacekeeping troops for other hotspots in the world, most notably Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Read the full article here Broken Link? If the link to the original article is broken or has been altered you can view the article by clicking here. About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Features Archive
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