It’s looking to be a busy year for the Canadian Armed Forces.
Renewed operations, infrastructure improvements and at long last more “working” equipment,
ah sorry that’s supposed to say “more..
equipment to work with”.
Canada’s Defence Policy Promises to look long term this year with the features and
flexibility needed to respond to our changing world.
The motto for which cries out as: Strong Secure and Engaged, sounds like the emergency break
on my LSVW.
Many of last year's operations will be continuing missions that extend into our new year and
so before we completely floor this thing to 85 on a downslope.
Let us also reflect on a year past: Glorious 2021 and all that it brought to our inbox.
Like a lost Canadian looking for a bar that’s still serving, the Can Arm Forces spread itself
far and wide across not just our beautiful country but the world.
Over 2,000 serving members have been deployed on more than 20 different operations.
Here are just some of those highlights:
We took to numerous seas in our continuing mission to train in warmer climates.
These had our floatiest boats like the Halifax Class Frigates and Harry Dewolf Vessels deployed
to South America and the Caribbean basin to engage with local security partners.
Here they combined forces for training, exercises and a little bit of obstruction to organized
crime on the high seas.
Can’t wait to see your tans boys.
Meanwhile Canadian Air and Sea people worked on stopping terrorism to further ensure security
in Middle Eastern and East African waters.
Multiple ship deployments would be involved while CP-140 Aurora aircraft attempted to
prove to the world we had an airforce by conducting maritime surveillance in these areas.
These Operations are part of a larger naval partnership with 33 other nations and one
of the primary goals is to disrupt pirate activities by blocking the flow of illicit
drugs and trafficking while also ensuring Tom Hanks can safely move about the region.
Treasures must be protected.
Several Operations saw us deploy to support old and new friends in Europe.
Most notably, our Nato buddy Latvia, who continued putting us up on their couch ever since we
came over for a visit in 2014.
Now, I don’t know if we pitch in on the rent but Latvia appreciates our efforts to
increase defence, deterrence and de-escalation in the region.
Well Clearly they haven’t seen how we handle the Canucks losing.
Luckily it's a multinational effort involving several NATO allies and for Canada it has
become our largest international military operation with up to 915 troops working in
the region as part of the Battlegroup.
Don’t worry there is a tim hortons on site and as of right now Canada has no plans to
shut it down in 2022.
Some people like to say Canada has a great nack for training and mentoring, that's me
I just said that.
So we carried on doing just that in Ukraine where we employ about 200 CAF members to offer
a taste of Canadian professionalism along with our splendid equipment.
Expect this deployment, which displays strength and solidarity, to continue into the future
as we work to foster reform of the western leaning variety in the country.
So far we have provided 623 training courses of various specialities, none of which endorse
the consumption of vodka as a primary food group.
I don't like sand.
It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.
Much like the Canadians troops working to do their part to ensure stability and security
in the Middle East.
Operation Impact saw yet another successful year in which up to 850 serving troops worked
to train, advise and assist in the ooooon-going mission to support the Iraqi security forces
and our objective to provide them with Leadership and support.
The Canadian Government has currently extended op Impact into March 2022 and longtime fans
of the series will have to wait and see if another extension is announced to carry on
a CAF presence in the region.
Canadian Armed Forces will also continue their commitments to various annual Humanitarian
and Training missions with our partners and allies across the world.
Were in Africa, airlifting people and cargo on behalf of UN Peace operations.
We hang out around the Koreas, making sure the North stays in the sanction corner and
generally we respond to requests for Canadian Aid with a smile and a fine assortment of
plaid.
Closer to home, we will continue our contributions to NORAD which entails detecting threats of
the Aerospace and Maritime variety around North America.
In the Home Country, our efforts remain focused on 3 key areas.
First pandemic bad, Op Laser and Vector were created as Canada’s Domestic response and
these were accelerated to mach chicken as we supported wide distribution of the vaccine
to our serving troops as well as the general public.
Kudos to those members who spent considerable time within the civilian population and who
went above and beyond in our elderly care homes, finding and correcting policy and practice
that amounted to a few sprinklings of grievous negligence.
The 2nd area of focus was the chilly Canadian north where we continue to ramp up our presence
on land, in the air and sea.
A great emphasis on advancing relationships with our many northern communities is ongoing
and the Canadian Ranger Patrol groups are a big part of this endeavour.
Along with those weird CAF members who enjoy the cold, these teams spend their time connecting
directly with the local indigenous populations.
Together we stand ready for emergencies, bear incursions or when it becomes warm enough
for future condo developments.
Speaking of which, our last major effort in Canada will be our presence to the growing
calls for civil aid when disaster and extreme climate events occur.
Floods and Fires are demanding an ever growing response each year but don’t worry we are
equipped with sandbags and I recycle my bottles every month.
So, they say no plan survives first contact with the enemy, that enemy being our budget.
Yet, just like that one time we were allowed to order our own office supplies, we can expect
several shiny items to arrive mysteriously throughout the year to our benefit.
The third Arctic and Offshore Patrol ship was launched in 2021.
The HMCS Max Bernays was sea ready last October while the first vessel of its type, the Harry
Dewolf, recently sailed through the Northwest passage to complete training exercises and
strengthen northern relationships.
The Navy will also continue its progress on the building of 15 new vessels as part of
the Canadian Surface Combatant program.
Better known as the Type 26 Frigate, these ships will become the backbone of Canada’s
naval Power for many years.
Approval and Implementation of the project are expected to go forward this year with
the first delivery expected early next… next decade.
Until then feast your eyes on the new joint support ships.
The HMCS Protector and Preserver, the first which will hopefully be completed this year
or the next.
Well, I guess Canadian pleasantries don't fly without…
supply ships
As for the Air Force they will be on the edge of their chair force this year as they expect
the announcement of the winning bid for Canada’s next Jet Fighter.
The Future Fighter Capability project is neck and neck between the Saab Gripen E and the
F35, fanboys run wild in the comments, I know you wanna.
Beside the final Ch 148 cyclones being delivered late this year, there is a myriad of improvement,
modernization and extension projects ongoing for various equipment.
The Cf-18, Cp-140 Aurora, Fixed wing SAR aircraft and the Victoria class subs.
Ok.
Anyone who has been to some of our bases can tell you that we're just one quick wardrobe
change away from jumping into a WW2 reenactment.
So it should come as no surprise that a large focus in the new year will be continued modernization
of our bases by investing in multiple construction programs.
There's new accommodations coming, newly finished dining halls and a spectacularly well designed
set of base clinics which have been springing up across Canada.
In total over 156 projects are to be completed or continued into 2022.
Blended training programs are undergoing wider implementation in an effort to address upcoming
shortfalls of trained soldiers.
Regular and reserve force members in several different trades can now receive digital learning
packages from their home bases across Canada.
For better or worse, this could be great news considering CAF recruiting levels have bounced
back and even exceeded pre pandemic levels.
While the attrition rate for members dropped to around 5%.
What's all of this going to cost?
Well, Remaining Strong, Secure and Engaged doesn’t come cheap and our current military
spending sits around 23.3 billion dollars.
The Canadian Government has reaffirmed its commitment to increase its defence and military
spending.
We can expect to slowly increase our annual spending up to 32.7 billion by 2036.
On the bright side we are replacing major aspects of our army, navy and air force in
quick succession and plan to continue doing so far into the future.
This year, You should expect our current priorities of Northern Defence and Domestic disaster
response to grow stronger.
Anticipate a boom in the development of UAVs, Cyber security and those virtual coffee courses.
All in all not a bad year with plenty of silver lining on the horizon considering the paralyzed
state that most of the world has been in for the last several years.So to the future I
say:
May your claims be swift and your duty taskings short.
Have a great 2022.
Check out our other videos highlighting the military, here's one of the boats I was talking
about, the navy hates when you call them that.