Canada doesn’t matter to the rest of the world - and it’s our own fault

[Brad Sallows]

There are other journals dedicated to social issues. What would be appropriate for CMJ would be an article which distills the essence of observable and verifiable (meaning, no speculation or assumptions about the way things are or ought to be) points raised in those other journals. And it would reasonably be presented by someone who knows military matters well enough to situate the points in relevant ways. A shotgun blast of accusations and denunciations and wishful thinking isn't scholarship.

 

[Kirkhill]

Alan Okros, a professor at Royal Military College, writes that the military will never escape its harmful practices unless it can move beyond an identity that prioritizes “violence and aggression, institutional unity and hierarchy.”

FIRST READING: The Canadian militaryâs all-in embrace of far-left 'anti-oppression' dogma

The official position of the Canadian Armed Forces is that they – and the country they serve – are irredeemably racist

nationalpost.com

I didn't know they employed satirists at RMC. That is right up their with Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal.

An army opposed to violence and aggression, that disavows cohesion and unity of command. Great satire.

 

[QV]

All these peace-time concepts go out the window when your enemy attacks your country. If Canada was under attack, would these equal-rights progressives take-up arms or head for the border leaving the 18-50 year old males to die.

Sure, I agree with that. The problem is now you are starting on the back foot because as a country you've been weakened considerably over time as you've destroyed your own institutions.

 

[Fabius]

Random thought. I would like to see what the academics think are the good parts of the CAF culture that we need to keep. So far we just have the bad.
Violence = bad
Cohesion = bad
Ranks = bad
Hierarchy = bad
Expecting self discipline = bad
Having standards = bad
Expecting fitness = bad
Having a majority white recruit base = bad
Having a Judeo Christian historical culture = bad

 

[KevinB]

Random thought. I would like to see what the academics think are the good parts of the CAF culture that we need to keep. So far we just have the bad.
Violence = bad
Cohesion = bad
Ranks = bad
Hierarchy = bad
Expecting self discipline = bad
Having standards = bad
Expecting fitness = bad
Having a majority white recruit base = bad
Having a Judeo Christian historical culture = bad

I'd argue that the CAF did a bad job at standards and self discipline which is how this while fiasco started...
A very compelling argument can be made that had the CAF stuck to its ethos, that issues would never had happened that got it into this dilemma in the first place.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

I'd argue that the CAF did a bad job at standards and self discipline which is how this while fiasco started...
A very compelling argument can be made that had the CAF stuck to its ethos, that issues would never had happened that got it into this dilemma in the first place.

Exactly... being a rabid sex addict and committing adultery is a cardinal sin of Christianity....

Then again, the Flag Officers aren't the only offenders:

 

[KevinB]

Exactly... being a rabid sex addict and committing adultery is a cardinal sin of Christianity....

Then again, the Flag Officers aren't the only offenders:

I would say it started even before that. I peg the Somalia mission as the bellwether event.

 

[YZT580]

You know the answer to that already.

CMJ to me is a joke at this point. It used to have decent articles, but is now so out of touch it’s just a waste of time to read.

@SeaKingTacco has a fantastic point. If the Editors of CMJ want an article dealing with culture change, perhaps they should have approached a serving member to get their thoughts. As opposed to preaching from an ivory tower coming from the coal face a letter from an OC or CO would have been much better received- unless the goal is simply to print hot air for the sake of printing, and if that is the case, then CMJ should be shuttered and the costs of it saved.

a corporal is not an expert therefore his opinion doesn't matter. Sad but unfortunately this type of thinking dominates the upper echelons. In Civ. Av. for example, most of our safety committees are made up of academics with safety degrees and little experience in an operating environment in aviation. Operational types are brought in for consulting but they leave when the actual decisions are being made at least in my experience. In the same manner, experience is down-played as no longer being relevant.

 

[KevinB]

a corporal is not an expert therefore his opinion doesn't matter. Sad but unfortunately this type of thinking dominates the upper echelons. In Civ. Av. for example, most of our safety committees are made up of academics with safety degrees and little experience in an operating environment in aviation. Operational types are brought in for consulting but they leave when the actual decisions are being made at least in my experience. In the same manner, experience is down-played as no longer being relevant.

I was more thinking an OC or CO, maybe even a WO.

 

[YZT580]

I was more thinking an OC or CO, maybe even a WO.

true, applies to their input as well. Getting the junior officer's input first is the best way of ensuring an uninfluenced opinion during any discussion.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

a corporal is not an expert therefore his opinion doesn't matter. Sad but unfortunately this type of thinking dominates the upper echelons. In Civ. Av. for example, most of our safety committees are made up of academics with safety degrees and little experience in an operating environment in aviation. Operational types are brought in for consulting but they leave when the actual decisions are being made at least in my experience. In the same manner, experience is down-played as no longer being relevant.

Strange, at my workplace, our Health and Safety Committees require equal Union & Management representation to have quorum and we need one member from each department respectively.

It's helpful because often times, it's the workers who are first to note an unsafe act.

 

[Lumber]

I agree that a couple of articles would be fine. I also take umbrage with the content of a few of the articles.

This one in particular ground my gears, even more so because it feels like a thinly veiled attack disguised as scholarly work:

Canadian Military Journal

www.journal.forces.gc.ca

Yes Tammy,

Dude did you actually read the whole thing? I somehow made it through the "Theoretical Considerations" section, but I think it made my eyes bleed.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Dude did you actually read the whole thing? I somehow made it through the "Theoretical Considerations" section, but I think it made my eyes bleed.

Yes, I read all the interviews conducted by the author.

They put some words in a few peoples mouths with some interesting interpretations of what they actually meant vs what they said.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Strange, at my workplace, our Health and Safety Committees require equal Union & Management representation to have quorum and we need one member from each department respectively.

It's helpful because often times, it's the workers who are first to note an unsafe act.

FWIW, I've delivered a few 'safety improvement' projects in heavy industry and they were always successful because we pulled together a Design Team of frontline staff, no supervisors or management, to redesign the way they managed safety at the mills.

It always worked really well, mainly because of peer pressure to stick with a program they developed themselves.

 

[Lumber]

Yes, I read all the interviews conducted by the author.

They put some words in a few peoples mouths with some interesting interpretations of what they actually meant vs what they said.

I really like the one from.. Shannon I think (I refuse to re-open the article) who the author described as "uncritical" of the whole situation but nonetheless chose to use her words to further her argument.

I'm still not entirely sure what her argument is. Whiteness isn't just about skin colour. Ok. Whiteness is is also about processes and practices. Ok, sure. Whiteness is about bodies in space orientated in specific directions. Ok, wtf now?

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

I really like the one from.. Shannon I think (I refuse to re-open the article) who the author described as "uncritical" of the whole situation but nonetheless chose to use her words to further her argument.

I'm still not entirely sure what her argument is. Whiteness isn't just about skin colour. Ok. Whiteness is is also about processes and practices. Ok, sure. Whiteness is about bodies in space orientated in specific directions. Ok, wtf now?

Ahhh yes Shannon, she was the Filipino Lady who said something along the lines of:

"everyone here likes curling, hockey and darts which are Canadian things to like that I was never really interested in before but I wanted to meet people and make some friends so I got in to them"

That then got turned in to "Shannon was forced to hurl rocks against her will by the evil white colonial oppressors".

I actually related to Shannon's plight a little bit. On my last deployment, we had a majority of our Wardroom that were Asian (either Korean or Chinese). It was COVID and we were confined to the Ship in most ports but every port visit we would order in takeout to give the cooks a break.

They wanted to make it fair so they told the Wardroom they could vote on what food establishment they wanted takeout from. The Asians would get together and all vote for some form of Asian cuisine.... every single time.

It's boring and is generally some variant of rice or noodle with low quality meat and some sort of broth to give it flavour.

This went on for 5 months straight. We got to Australia and I said "finally some opportunity for quality food"... I meticulously researched top restaurants and found an Italian place that was the highest rated restaurant in Darwin. We put it to a vote and guess what.... they voted for some shit hole place selling noodles in a box with like a 2.9/5 rating on Trip Advisor LOL.

I was pissed but whatever, it's what they wanted and they had the majority vote so I just drank more beer to compensate...

When we got to NZ and were allowed ashore, my buddy Tony (Korean guy) told me they were all going out for dinner for some Asian cuisine and asked if I wanted to join them?

I said to Tony ... "Absolutely not, if I never have another variant of noodles again, it will be too soon".

I went to a top steak house in Auckland, bought a $300.00 piece of Waygu Beef and a $100.00 bottle of Red Wine. That was probably the best meal I have ever had for various reasons.

 

[Good2Golf]

Japanese scotch goes well with Wagu, HB. Just sayin’

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Japanese scotch goes well with Wagu, HB. Just sayin’

Japanese Beer is also delicious! I actually like Japanese Food a lot. Hate Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese dishes...

Indonesian Food was absolute trash and took the cake for worst cuisine out there. Worst meat by far was Camel... tasted like someone took a Moose and fed it Fertilizer lol.

Sri Lankan Food is good, they also make unreal good beer.

 

[Lumber]

 

[Kirkhill]

FWIW, I've delivered a few 'safety improvement' projects in heavy industry and they were always successful because we pulled together a Design Team of frontline staff, no supervisors or management, to redesign the way they managed safety at the mills.

It always worked really well, mainly because of peer pressure to stick with a program they developed themselves.

Forty years of selling, commissioning and trouble-shooting the plants I sold and every in every instance my effort started on the plant floor with the operators. Neither the managers nor I know what we don't know until we talk to the folks operating the kit every day.