A role for reserves

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/03/2009 (6345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Canadian Armed Forces is grooming its reserve soldiers for an exclusive role in homeland defence, with specialized training and equipment to respond to terrorist incidents, including attacks with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. They will also be trained to work with civilian authorities, particularly police and firefighters, when disaster strikes, whether it is natural or man-made. It means that for the first time since the Second World War, Canada’s part-time soldiers will finally have a clearly defined role as the military’s first responders to domestic crisis.

Until now, Canada’s reserves have mainly been used to bolster the regular force in overseas operations. That role will continue, but the reserves are being handed primary responsibility for operations on the home front, with the regular force providing support only. In effect, the reserves are being asked to bear the most important role provided by any military force — domestic security and protection.

Some Canadians may believe that a terrorist attack on Canadian soil is unlikely, but unless the risk is zero, then the military has a duty to prepare for the worst and prepare well. The civil authorities might be able to handle a terrorist disaster in the short-term, but the demand for security and support services in the aftermath would overwhelm the police, fire and health services.

In many respects, the reserves, which number about 25,000 today compared to just 15,000 a few years ago, are the best force for such a job. The units are all locally based and familiar with their regions and the terrain. As soldiers, they will be highly motivated because the home front they are protecting will be their own neighbourhoods.

The new role should not be confused with the period from 1958 to 1963, when the reserves were reduced to a national survival force that would be deployed following a nuclear war. It was known as the "snakes-and-ladders" period because the militia was mainly trained to carry stretchers, ropes and ladders. The new concept goes beyond that role and into a leadership and security function. The reserves will also continue to provide a framework for mobilization and augment the regular force for combat duty.

During the period between the two world wars, Canada’s reserves were the country’s primary force, about 50,000 strong, while the regular forced numbered about 5,000 personnel. The job of the full-time soldiers was to train the militia so it would be ready in times of war. The two forces are now approaching a status of roughly equal importance to Canadian defence goals, a fact that will bolster the esteem of the reserves and ensure they are an integral part of the transformative changes affecting the military today.