Doug Bland, Queens University, is (was
waaaaay back when, anyway) a good soldier and he is also a respected scholar, and he suggests, in
an article in the Ottawa Citizen, that the "fat" is to be found in "headquarters staffs, public service positions and infrastructure costs." He says, further, that "If Trudeau truly intends to build a “leaner, more agile” military, then he must act to protect the military muscle and cut away the bureaucratic fat. Fortunately, there is an untapped layer of fat that could provide adequate funds to reinforce the present structure and rebuild operational muscle."
Prof Bland's solution includes cutting some of the 38 bases and stations ... some he says, "are critically important to the Canadian Forces’ operations and thus to Canada’s national defence."
I agree and I would count,
inter alia, Alert (and similar stations), Comox, Esquimalt, Cold Lake, Leitrim (or some place like it to put the unit that's there), and Halifax being, obviously, essential. I'm sure we need,
must have some other good flying stations for operations and training ~ Moose Jaw, Trenton, Bagotville, Greenwood, is that enough? We also need three, preferably six full brigade bases: three "staffed" with regular force brigades and two or three "vacant," with facilities for reserve training. We need some service schools, too ... but couldn't we close Borden, for example, and move its schools to, say, primarily Cold Lake and Gagetown? A couple of bases, the Citadel in Quebec and Kingston - RMC and Fort Frontenac, at least, have great historic significance and are, probably, "permanent." But do we need the rest of CFB Kingston or could it be moved to, say, Gagetown and Trenton? Or, if we must keep Forts Frederick and Frontenac shouldn't we expand Kingston into a major military installation ... perhaps with things from Borden? Anyway, that's just musing ...
Prof Bland says we can close 12 bases ...
What do you think,
netizens?
