Can you imagine where this country would be today; how much further ahead if Collingwood of 1916 was the standard of action as opposed to the 2024 "zero action without 2 decades of study" that we have today.
I sensed a great deal of optimism tainted by the reality of how far we are behind...on everything. ....with a shot of "the government isn't reality taking any of this seriously". I'm amazed that people can function so well in a world where the most senior command; the government, are a collection of indifferent imbeciles searching for a soundbite.
The HMS Dreadnought was so advanced for its time that a whole class of battleships was named after her.
A committee was formed to draw plans for this new class of battleships in 1904 and forwarded its report in February 1905. The keel was laid in October 1905 and a year later was sent to sea for trials. A new class of battleship went from initial planning to sea trials in TWO YEARS. In 1905.
Fast forward to 2024. The Government of Canada has just released plans for new ships to replace the huge gaps in our naval capacity. The government is even considering “studying” the possibility of acquiring submarines. Does anyone think that our dysfunctional military and government apparatus can produce a REPORT in two years? I don’t, and I don’t think that I will ever see new submarines for the Canadian navy, ever. It’s all just performative nonsense.
Irving was elected to build the ships in 2011. They still haven't started. So, no. There is a zero percent chance they will have anything figured out in two more years. We may as well admit that we are a US protectorate. https://globalnews.ca/news/7614144/national-defence-60b-warship-project/
Thanks Matt Gurney for the pains you’ve taken trying to instil some awareness in us self satisfied Canadians that we shouldn’t be taking our sovereignty for granted. It’s important to hear General Eyre’s point that we live in a world where force is and will increasing be used against us and that our military has to be strong and capable and smart enough to stand up to that force. Great interview.
I'm torn -- on one hand the General comes across as an intelligent and thoughtful individual who has a very clear eyed view on the current threats facing Canada. On the other hand, he seems to be continuing the proud tradition of delivering on the CAF's primary mission of providing cover for the politicians.
Take just one item-- recruiting and personnel. How many talented people has the forces lost over the past decades? People who they invested thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars in training, and who looked around and decided that there was no future for them with the CAF. So while it's positive that the CAF is no longer hemorrhaging people (really! It is!), what's the quality of the recruits that they're bringing in and what's the quality of the existing staff who are there to train them?
All that to say, I don't think any of us should be holding our breath that the CAF is going to turn things around, despite the General's optimism.
Interesting discussion regarding recruiting, where it sounds like they're at a level where they're actually managing to recruit at a rate that exceeds attrition. It's great to stop the bleeding, but it raises the question of how far under strength are they after years where attrition exceeded recruitment, and how long is it going to take to return to that point and truly grow force size?
Can you imagine where this country would be today; how much further ahead if Collingwood of 1916 was the standard of action as opposed to the 2024 "zero action without 2 decades of study" that we have today.
I sensed a great deal of optimism tainted by the reality of how far we are behind...on everything. ....with a shot of "the government isn't reality taking any of this seriously". I'm amazed that people can function so well in a world where the most senior command; the government, are a collection of indifferent imbeciles searching for a soundbite.
The HMS Dreadnought was so advanced for its time that a whole class of battleships was named after her.
A committee was formed to draw plans for this new class of battleships in 1904 and forwarded its report in February 1905. The keel was laid in October 1905 and a year later was sent to sea for trials. A new class of battleship went from initial planning to sea trials in TWO YEARS. In 1905.
Fast forward to 2024. The Government of Canada has just released plans for new ships to replace the huge gaps in our naval capacity. The government is even considering “studying” the possibility of acquiring submarines. Does anyone think that our dysfunctional military and government apparatus can produce a REPORT in two years? I don’t, and I don’t think that I will ever see new submarines for the Canadian navy, ever. It’s all just performative nonsense.
Irving was elected to build the ships in 2011. They still haven't started. So, no. There is a zero percent chance they will have anything figured out in two more years. We may as well admit that we are a US protectorate. https://globalnews.ca/news/7614144/national-defence-60b-warship-project/
Thanks Matt Gurney for the pains you’ve taken trying to instil some awareness in us self satisfied Canadians that we shouldn’t be taking our sovereignty for granted. It’s important to hear General Eyre’s point that we live in a world where force is and will increasing be used against us and that our military has to be strong and capable and smart enough to stand up to that force. Great interview.
I'm torn -- on one hand the General comes across as an intelligent and thoughtful individual who has a very clear eyed view on the current threats facing Canada. On the other hand, he seems to be continuing the proud tradition of delivering on the CAF's primary mission of providing cover for the politicians.
Take just one item-- recruiting and personnel. How many talented people has the forces lost over the past decades? People who they invested thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars in training, and who looked around and decided that there was no future for them with the CAF. So while it's positive that the CAF is no longer hemorrhaging people (really! It is!), what's the quality of the recruits that they're bringing in and what's the quality of the existing staff who are there to train them?
All that to say, I don't think any of us should be holding our breath that the CAF is going to turn things around, despite the General's optimism.
Interesting discussion regarding recruiting, where it sounds like they're at a level where they're actually managing to recruit at a rate that exceeds attrition. It's great to stop the bleeding, but it raises the question of how far under strength are they after years where attrition exceeded recruitment, and how long is it going to take to return to that point and truly grow force size?
Good interview here too:
https://youtu.be/kibWNHr9hdg