Now that's soldiering

Sandhurst Academy Sergeant-Major J.C. Lord, MVO, MBE, in a speech to the British Staff College

"I am going to relate to you something that happened to me which I think highlights this business. In my parachute battalion we had a Corporal Sheriff. He was a good corporal but he had his share of rockets and so on. He didn't make sergeant when there was plenty of promotion flying about but he was a good battalion and a good company man. He joined us in 41, fought with us in North Africa, Sicily and Italy and finally at Arnhem, and it was at Arnhem that he was wounded. We had been in the prison camp for I should think about three months with no knowledge of him at all when I was told that he was in the reception hut, and so I scrounged a few cigarettes which were available, because I was told he was in bad shape, and went up to the hut.

"I shall never forget it. As I opened the door everything stopped: there was a deathly silence and everybody looked round as they do under those circumstances. The hut was full of foreigners of various nationalities, a smell of unwashed bodies and a strange atmosphere. I looked around and saw Corporal Sheriff in some strange uniform — if you could call it a uniform — which had been supplied to him. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, head hanging down, looking very dejected.

"I walked across towards him and you could have heard a pin drop. I went up to him and I said something to the effect, "Hello Corporal Sheriff, how are you getting on?" And in front of all those foreigners he stood up. It was three months since we had seen one another and he had no particular cause to love me. In front of all those foreiegners he stood up and he stood to attention and you could almost hear their astonishment.

"He turned his head towards me and said, "Hello Sir, it's good to hear your voice." He was blind. Even in those circumstances he was a member of the family, he felt he belonged again and he was back in the bosom of the family. Now that's soldiering, that's spirit, that's understanding. That's all the things I've been trying to say."

• Napoleon Series Archive 2006 – Academy Sergeant Major J.C. Lord, MVO MBE
• ParaData – Warrant Officer Class 1 John C Lord, MVO MBE
• PegasusArchive – Regimental Sergeant Major John Clifford Lord
• Tales from the Academy – ASM J C Lord

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Frugality in an Age of Austerity

In Defence of Canada; From the Great War to the Great Depression, James Eayrs, 1964;
as quoted in
Wait for the Waggons: the Story of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps, Arnold Warren, 1958

… I was a Captain commanding the Supply Details. We had a Horse Transport Company. We had harness. The troops were trained to take the harness apart, put it back together, and hang it up in the Quartermaster's Stores. That is about as far as it went. We never did have a horse. We never did have a waggon.

We had a Mechanical Transport unit… They had no equipment whatsoever—absolutely none. From 1926 until the outbreak of war we never had one item of mechanical transport issued to us. Not a motorcycle, not a van, not a truck…

Training was possible only by using our own imaginations and ingenuity. … I heard … about 1933 or '34 … that the Post Office had decided to write off two vans. … I went down and begged them, and got them. A firm in town had a big, solid-tired flat-top, which I got from them. … We had a couple of motor-cycles which we purchased out of our own funds, and in order to train our motorcyclists we produced a device with rollers which were held in place by a heavy steel and timber form which sat on the floor … We taught motorcyclists without going anywhere…

We got no pay. We waived our pay into the regimental fund—every cent of it. … When we attested a private soldier, he signed a waiver of pay along with his attestation card, or he wasn't accepted. … We used the money to buy equipment, to look after our weekend exercises, and to assist the sergeants and the other ranks to have some comforts in their common quarters. …

I got the Army printing done on the Board of Education presses operated by the apprentices that came in for training. I got my annual exer cises printed in the same way. There was no money for things of that kind. We bought our own typewriter for the Orderly Room and we coaxed someone to come in and type. Really my Orderly Room was at home.

• Royal Canadian Army Service Corps - rcasc.com
• Royal Canadian Army Service Corps - rcasc.org
• Wikipedia - Royal Canadian Army Service Corps

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Fuller on Operational Staff Duties

Armoured Warfare; An Annotated Edition of Fifteen Lectures on Operations Between Mechanized Forces, by Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, 1943

Orders, Instructions, Reports and Messages

As I have pointed out more than once, orders, instructions, reports and messages will have to abandon their many official frills and step out stark naked unto the reality of war. The object of an operation order is to impart information you cannot actually convey by voice. It may be the word "move," or "halt," or it may be a long rigamarole; in either case it is seldom necessary to turn it into a ritual so holy that it is considered almost sacrilegious not to begin an operation order with "information" … "intention," and so on, etc., etc.

All order will have to be as brief as possible, and not as formal as possible. They should be based on a profound appreciation of possibilities and probabilities, which, as I have explained, will generally lead to a series of alternatives. Therefore an order should not be suited to one operation but to several possible phases of this operation. It should possess a central idea and several radii working out towards the final circumference — victory to you and defeat to the other man.

If we wish to prepare ourselves for mechanized warfare, it is time we broke away from existing conventions, substituting common-sense for ritual. A methodical soldier may be able to find everything, like a tidy person. This is excellent, but what is infinitely better is being able to make use of things instantaneously — anything, ground, tanks, infantry, broomsticks. What above all the fighting soldier requires is not a brain which works by rules, but a brain which rules by work — that is, immediate action.

A great deal of this training in spontaneity of action will depend on our orders and instructions. In the future much more must be left to the initiative of the individual than in the past. Though the central idea must be maintained, actions should be as flexible as possible. Reports must be as brief as possible and should always, when possible, suggest actions. To state that the enemy is blowing his nose may be interesting, but to report that he is looking eastward and is open to a backside kick from the west is something of real importance. Messages should be in code, and when sent in clear between units in battle they should generally be in clear. Time, time, and the saving of it, should be the soul of every order and instruction, of every report and of every message.

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Image from the magazine of the Canadian Armed Forces: Sentinel, Vol. 6, No. 2, February, 1970.

Graduating Ceremony
Combat Arms School August 1976

Address By Major General Bruce F. Macdonald, DSO, CD
Colonel Commandant RCAC
At Graduating Ceremony, Combat Arms School August 1976

Armour Newsletter, No 7, January 1977

Your Honour, (The Lieutenant Governor), General McGregor, Colonel Nicholson, Distinguished Guests, Visitors, Officer Candidates, Ladies and Gentlemen.

You young gentlemen by your presence and your performance here today do credit and honour to Canada, to the Armed Forces and to yourselves. I congratulate you.

I am sure your training program has been vigorous and difficult. Indeed I hope this is the case for you are all embarked on a difficult, hazardous and demanding profession. Those who aspire to lead Canadians in combat must be stressed and tested in their training. If the training is easy then it is not good.

You are fortunate to be getting your training here. This Combat Arms School is unique. For here you train as you will fight — not as Infantry, Armour or Artillery but as members of the ground team of combined arms.

Let me, for a moment, address myself to those of you who will join the Regular Forces:

a.     You have not chosen an easy profession.

b.     Your effectiveness rests on three bases, namely moral, mental, and physical fitness. Guard them well.

c.     You walk in the steps of some giants of history; men of the category of Wavell, Eisenhower, Marshall and Montgomery.

d.     Indeed, in a Canadian context we are all honoured today to have here with us General Jean Victor Allard. It might interest you to know that General Allard started his military career as a Second Lieutenant in the Three Rivers Regiment. Following a most distinguished wartime career he remained in the Regular Forces and became Chief of the Defence Staff.

If you are going to be professional soldiers you should expect to face some criticism and misunderstanding. Let me suggest what some of the charges may be and what your reply might be:

a.     People may charge that you, as a soldier, like war. This is like suggesting that the doctor who spends his life in the study and cure of cancer likes cancer.

b.     Some people may comment upon the futility of armed forces and allege that they contribute to the danger of war. May I suggest that you quote to them the following maxim "Love without power exposes the world to the frightening hazards of power without love".

c.     Thirdly, people may comment on how expensive the military are. I urge you to ask how expensive is unpreparedness? I think the record of history is entirely clear. It indicates that had the Allies been prepared to fight in 1914 or 1939 both of these wars could have been avoided — at a vast saving in lives and treasure.

d.     Last Spring I heard an address by Dr. Luns, the Secretary General of NATO. He made the point that the greatest act of provocation is to be unprepared for war. This is a very great truth. It should be remembered by all.

Finally, I wish to address a few words to those of you who upon graduation are proposing to enter Canada's militia:

a.     You also have chosen a challenging avocation.

b.     You are citizen soldiers who walk hand in hand with your Regular Force colleagues who are the soldier citizens.

c.     Your greatest enemies are frustration and public apathy. Remember that all the problems you confront have been experienced before. They happened in the days before 1914 and again in the days before 1939.

You who choose to serve in Canada's Reserve Forces are the present day embodiment of some one and one quarter million Canadians, living and dead, who proudly wore the uniform of the Armed Forces of Canada in World War II. You can serve proudly for you fill a great and fundamental need; though at any point in history this may not be recognized by some.

God forbid that there should be either war or revolution but the lesson of history is terribly clear. Heretofore there has always been war and revolution; there is nothing to suggest that the nature of man has changed.

In closing let me offer you this final thought. Sometimes it is suggested that Canada does not need armed forces in peacetime because if war comes we will be able to find the necessary experts. It is true that we can recruit doctors, engineers and the logisticians from civilian life. However, what is not understood is that we cannot find and we cannot hire from any civilian profession men who are skilled in the art of leading and training men for war. This is the special expertise possessed only by those of you who are trained in the art of military leadership. Men like you cannot be hired, they must be grown and educated in Canada, in peacetime.

Yours is an honourable profession that bears great responsibility. You must be proud of your task, you must be worthy of your great responsibility. I salute you for what you have done, for what you are doing and for what you will do.

Good fortune to all of you.

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Canada Has Mutiny

Sixteen Men Confined in Halifax Barracks
Resisted Arrest and Rioted
Gunners Refused to Assist in Capture of Two Recalcitrant Members of Artillery

The Montreal Gazette, 4 August, 1906

Halifax, N.S., August 3.—(Special)—An incipient mutiny among the Royal Canadian Artillerymen broke out at the Citadel last evening, no less than sixteen men being placed in the guard room, under close confinement, as being the cause of the trouble.

The military authorities are angry about the matter, but from facts gleaned by your corespondent, it appears that one of the garrison police entered a saloon on one of the upper streets for the purpose of arresting two members of the artillery boat crew, who were in dishabile. One of the soldiers resented this and struck the arresting soldier a severe blow on the face. After a scuffle the offending men ran to the barracks, as did the guard policeman, who called for assistance to arrest the soldiers.

Several of the gunners on being warmed for escort duty refused to act. Extra assistance was obtained and with the aid of an unarmed picket and guard the mutineers were placed in confinement.

This caused further trouble and the rioting soldiers smashed the windows in the guard room, where they were in confinement, and tried to escape. Two of them succeeded, but were recaptured during the evening.

Besides the mutinous prisoners two senior non coms were placed under arrest for drunkenness. The prisoners will be arraigned in the morning.

Mutineers are Sentenced

By Associated Press
Dawson Daily News, 7 August, 1906

Halifax, Aug. 7.—The three men accused of being thre ringleaders in the recent mutiny of the Canadian artillery soldiers, have been sentenced today to ten days in the cells of the military prison at Melville Island.

The remainder of the prisoners, except two non-commissioned officers, are confined to the barracks for seven days, where they will do fatigue duty and be compelled to answer to their names every half-hour, night and day

The non-commissioned officers were reprimanded, which means that for six months their chances of promotion are taken away.

The matter proved at the hearing to be more a question of turbulence and riot, and perhaps of high spirits, with little of a serious nature excepting so far as it is undermining of discipline.

The men declare they are well satisfied with the punishment, if it will only result in the remedying of abuses complained of.

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Private Heath Matthews of 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment awaiting medical attention outside a regimental aid post, June 1952.

A Message to the Canadian Army from the Chief of the General Staff

Canadian Army Journal, Vol 6, No 5, December 1952

There are few national activities of our country in which Canadians ought to take greater satisfaction than in the record and achievements of the Canadian Army. To serve it has always been my greatest pride and I believe that every soldier who has the privilege to belong to it should share that feeling. I believe the Canadian Army today is fulfilling its duty to Canada in a manner fully in keeping with its high record of service in the past. If I did not hold that conviction, I would not continue as its head. The high tributes paid to Canadian troops serving in Korea and Europe have not come from me or from any other Canadian officer or civilian. They have come unsolicited from Supreme Commanders and a number of highly responsible observers, whose impartiality is beyond a doubt. Canadian soldiers serving at home are every bit as good as the Canadian soldiers serving abroad. Many have already served in Canada, Korea and Europe. The appreciation of their service is probably less openly expressed because they are not in the position of being compared with other armies by impartial critics. Canadians are notoriously critical of their own institutions. In recent weeks and months the Army has been the target of unremitting attacks from many sources. We have been criticized for the indiscipline of Canadian soldiers. We have been criticized for too much discipline. We have been criticized for extravagance and criticized for not providing a whole host of things which cost a very great deal of money. We have been criticized for lack of morale and accused of complacency and arrogance when we have shown or proclaimed a pride in the Canadian Army. We must expect and welcome constructive criticism. No one of us would claim that the Canadian Army is perfect and the expansion of the last two years has accentuated faults and weaknesses. These faults and weaknesses call for our full attention and the application of corrective action and improvement. Dishonesty, lack of integrity or indifference to sound administration are intolerable and will continue to be ruthlessly removed from the Canadian Army as diseased flesh from its body. None of this should give cause for any discouragement or depression. The only justification for the existence of the Canadian Army is to defend democracy of which free public criticism is an essential element. Some of this criticism has been, and will continue to be, unfairly biased and irresponsible but that will be as clear to the citizens and taxpayers outside the Army as to those serve in it. The Canadian Army today is certainly not perfect and in several respects falls far short of the standards which I hope and believe we can attain. I have made our policies and objectives abundantly clear to General Officers of Commands and to Commanders abroad. I have confidence that these will be conveyed to all the Army and pressed with loyalty and vigour. I charge every soldier to apply himself in all those matters where we clearly need improvement but not to be discouraged or depressed by criticisms which are neither founded on truth nor justified in the light of our positive achievements.

G.G. Simonds
Lieutenant-General
Chief of the General Staff

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TOW missile being fired by the Armoured Defence Platoon of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at CFB Shilo. Photo by Mr. Doug Devin. From the back cover of the Canadian Armed Forces Sentinel magazine 1977, Vol. 13, Number 2.

Canada buys anti-tank missile

$30 million cost

By the Canadian Press
Ottawa Citizen, 11 January 1974

The armed forces will spend about $30 million on a new anti-tank weapon comparable to anything that was used by either side in the recent Middle east hostilities.

The forces have announced they are acquiring TOW—tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided—an American missile being used by several countries, including Israel.

TOW is a highly accurate, semi-automatic missile system capable of destroying a tank at ranges from 70 yards to about two miles.

Col. Philip Neatby of Regina and Ottawa, director of land plans and of armor in the armed forces, said in an interview Friday that the highly-sophisticated weapon involved a computer attached to a missile by wires.

The forces will start taking delivery in 1975 of 150 of the anti-tank units, which weigh 200 pounds and can be mounted on vehicles, helicopters and on the ground. It will be used by Canadian NATO. forces in Europe as well as infantry and reconnaissance units in Canada.

Announcement of acquisition of the new weapon comes only a short time after the Middle East war focused attention on the tank and anti-tank weapons. Both sides had big losses and there was some talk that the role of the tank was on the way out.

But Col. Neatby said the tank will be very much a part of land forces at least until almost the end of this century.

It would not be until the summer of 1976 that the first TOW missiles would be fired in a demonstration at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown. By 1977 the weapon system would be deployed with Canadian army units in Canada and Europe.

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The Royal Canadian Rifles

Canadian Military Heritage, Vol II, 1755-1871, Rene Chartrand, 1995

"In 1842 and 1843 the [British Army] regiments that had been brought in to deal with the 1838 emergency withdrew. In 1844, however, the regular British garrison in the Province of Canada, with its 7,700 soldiers, was still three times larger than it had been in 1837. But each year there were a few hundred fewer soldiers. Some did not wait for their regiment to return to England before they left Canada, preferring to go to the United States! The Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment was formed in 1840-41 precisely to put a stop to the exodus. It was not a Canadian regiment, as its name would suggest, but rather a unit of veterans from line regiments, and it was pat of the regular army. But its soldiers were not rotated; it was a Sedentary regiment whose companies were placed along the border to watch the United States, of course, but even more so to prevent deserters from going there."

Standing Orders of the Royal Canadian Rifles

May 1881

Officers on Regimental Duty.

The uniform of The Royal Canadian Rifles, as presented in Canadian Military Heritage, Vol II, 1755-1871, Rene Chartrand, 1995. (Reconstitution by Derek Fitzjames.)

1.     When the number of Officers at a post admit of it, there be a Captain and a Subaltern on duty.

The Captain from Rouse on Sunday morning until the following Sunday at the same hour;—the Subaltern from Rouse on one day will Rouse the next.

2.     If the number of Officers will not allow of the Captains having at least two weeks and the Subalterns five days clear, then the Orderly Officers' duty will be taken from the Senior Captain to the Junior Subaltern.

3.     As it is difficult to draw up a Report suitable to all posts and circumstances, a form for the time being will always be found for reference in the Orderly Room. The Report any portion of be numbered by paragraphs, and in the event of the duties not being performed, the number of the paragraph must nevertheless be inserted, and opposite to it the reason for the omission. The Captain will send in a report of what he has done with any remarks he has to make. He may call upon the Orderly Officer to perform any of his own duties, and in like manner he may notify to the Subaltern that he will take certain portions of the duties of the latter. In these cases, he will add to his own report what duties he has performed for the Subaltern, who is to be considered a sort of auxiliary to the Captain.

4.     As the Captain is on for a whole week, he need not confine himself to Barracks but the Subaltern must not leave them unless temporarily obliged to do so from the nature of his duties.

5.     When an Orderly Officer is stationed out of Barracks, he must confine himself to his quarters when not actually out on duty. Orderly Officers will attend all parades and drills with their Companies, unless otherwise ordered.

6.     An Orderly Officer visiting a guard, acts for the time being as on guard. He should enter the guard room, examine the boards of orders, and everything under charge. He will visit the sentries by day and night, observe whether they are officer soldier-like and alert on their posts, and personally ascertain that they know their orders. Officers are specially warned against that worse than useless mode of visiting a guard, which consists only in receiving its salute. Guards must be turned out at least once by day and once by night,— the day reckoning between guard-mounting and retreat, the night between that time and reveille. Ten o'clock p.m. is, from the custom of the service, recognised as the earliest hour for the night visit. The Orderly Officer, however, will not confine himself to any particular time, if he has reason to suspect laxity or irregularity.

A loose way of doing sentry duty appears to be very readily fallen into by old soldiers, and the Lieutenant-Colonel calls not only upon the officers on duty, but all officers and non-commissioned officers, to notice and report any instance of this that they observe on their walks.

7.     In the event of any complaint being made against rations of provisions, fuel, light, or forage, at the time of inspection, the Orderly Officer will stop the issue and report at once to the commanding or senior officer in barracks. (For further information in a ease of this kind, see Commissariat Regulations.) Any complaint made of rations after they are cooked, will be noticed in his report, unless the grievance was one that he was able to remedy then and there.

8.     The Orderly Officer will refrain from ordering men any punishment for irregularities that may come under his notice, but he will direct a report in writing to be made to the Captain of the Company, who will either dispose of the matter or submit it, if necessary, to the Commanding Officer. When such a case is settled by the Captain, he will write upon the report the punishment he ordered, and forward the same to the Orderly Room.

9.     The practice of the Orderly Officer allowing men who have been reported absent from Tattoo, but returning before "Lights out," to go to their rooms, has a bad tendency and must be discountenanced. Once a man is reported absent, he is guilty of a breach of regulations, and should be confined and brought before the Commanding Officer.

10.     It is not the duty of the Barrack Orderly Sergeant to look Orderly Officer when the bugle sounds. The Officer himself must find his way to barracks by the time his presence is required.

11.     The men will not commence their meals before the second bugle, but they are never expected to wait beyond that time, whether an Officer makes his appearance or not.

12. When there is a Captain and Subaltern on duty together, the latter will forward his report through the former.

13.     When visiting meals, barrack-rooms, cook-houses, rations, and school, the Orderly Officer may for the time lay aside his sword, though not his pouch-belt, which is the badge of duty.

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Advice to Officers

Gallant Gentlemen; a portrait of the British Officer 1600-1956, E.S. Turner, 1956

One of the most telling, and enduring, satires at the expense of the British officer appeared in 1782. It is attributed to Francis Grose, a one-time adjutant of militia. His Advice to Officers of the British Army has been reprinted many times, and deservedly

Admirably pinned down is the subaltern, whose failings change but slightly from one generation to another. In his advice to commanding officers, the writer says:

"The subalterns of the British army are but too apt to think themselves gentlemen; a mistake which it is your business to rectify. Put them, as often as you can, upon the most disagreeable and ungentlemanly duties; and endeavour by every means to bring them upon a level with the subaltern officers of the German armies."

Then the writer offers his advice to subalterns:

"The fashion of your clothes must depend on that ordered in the corps; that is to say, must be in direct opposition to it: for it would show a deplorable poverty of genius if you had not some ideas of your own in dress.

"Never wear your uniform in quarters, when you can avoid it. A green or a brown coat shows you have other clothes besides your regimentals, and likewise that you have courage to disobey a standing order…

"If you belong to a mess, eat with it as seldom as possible, to let folks see you want neither money nor credit. And when you do, in order to show that you are used to good living, find fault with every dish that is set on the table, damn the wine, and throw the plates at the mess-man's head … if you have pewter plates, spin them on the point of your fork, or do some other mischief, to punish the fellow for making you wait.

"When ordered for duty, always grumble and question the roster. This will procure you the character of one that will not be imposed on.

"Never read the daily orders. It is beneath an officer of spirit to bestow any attention upon such nonsense … it will be sufficient to ask the sergeant if you are for any duty.

"When on leave of absence, never come back to your time; as that might cause people to think that you had nowhere to stay, or that your friends were tired of you."

No rank or category of officer escapes without a well-placed barb in a tender spot. For example:

The aide-de-camp: "Let your deportment be haughty and insolent to your inferiors, humble and fawning to your superiors, solemn and distant to your equals."

The quartermaster: "The standing maxim of your office is to receive whatever is offered you, or you can get hold of, but not to part with anything you can keep."

The surgeon: "Keep two lancets, a blunt one for the soldiers and a sharp one for the officers: this will be making a proper distinction between them."

The paymaster: "Always grumble and make difficulties when officers go to you for money that is due to them: when you are obliged to pay them endeavour to make it appear granting them a favour, and tell them they are lucky dogs to get it."

The chaplain: "At the mess always provide yourself with a spare plate to secure a slice of pudding, pie or other scarce article which else might vanish before you were ready for it; for the good things of this world are of a very transitory nature, particularly at a military mess."

The adjutant: "When at any time there is a blundering or confusion in a manoeuvre, ride in amongst the soldiers, and lay about you from right to left. This will convince people that it was not your fault."

The major: "In exercising the regiment, call out frequently to the most attentive men and officers to dress, cover or something of that nature: the less they are reprehensible, the greater will your discernment appear to the bystanders, in finding out a fault invisible to them."

No one who has served in the Army can have failed to see the latter technique applied--more usually by sergeant-majors and drill sergeants.

The satirist, it will be seen, uses the phrase "If you belong to a mess." By no means all regiments kept up an officers" mess as it would be recognised today; such communal life as the officers enjoyed was usually found in taverns. The mess proper was largely a nineteenth-century growth. A general who inspected the Buffs in 1774 wrote in his report: "The officers eat and live together in friendship, Major Nicholson excepted." No clue is given as to why Major Nicholson was thus invidiously named. It may be that he had taken to himself a wife, but as a major he would be perfectly entitled to do so.

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The United States Military Academy (USMA), Color Guard on Parade. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Positive Command Climate

Duty, Honor, Company; West Point Fundamentals for Business Success, Gil Dorland and John Dorland, 1992

The [Positive Command Climate] program … details specific actions a leader can take to build a positive command climate. These concepts, noted in Manual of Common Tasks, are not altogether new; they are very similar to the leadership fundamentals that were ingrained in us as cadets.

1.     Communicate a sense of vision or focus.

2.     Maintain a proper focus in all training activities.

3.     Establish high, attainable, clearly understood standards.

4.     Encourage competition against standards rather than each other.

5.     Allow subordinates the freedom to exercise initiative.

6.     Establish accountability at the proper level.

7.     Show confidence in subordinates.

8.     Encourage and reward prudent risk taking.

9.     Achieve high performance through positive motivation and rewards.

10.     Underwrite honest mistakes.

11.     Share decision making with subordinates when appropriate.

12.     Give clear missions and indicate where subordinates have discretion and where they do not.

13.     Listen to your subordinates and seek their ideas.

14.     Demonstrate concern about the welfare of subordinates.

15.     Establish and model high standards.

16.     Practice what you preach.

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Regimental Standing Orders
for
The Canadian Airborne Regiment
1976

Chapter 1: Section 8 - Organization

1.12     General

a.     The Canadian Airborne Regiment is a Mobile Command formation and a lodger on Air Command Base Edmonton. The base is divided into two parts — Griesbach, the home of the Regiment and Lancaster Park, the air base. Most of the aircraft used by the Regiment are located at Lancaster Park. with 435 Transport Squadron flying C-130 (Hercules), 440 Transport and Rescue Squadron flying CC-138 (Twin Otter), a detachment of 450 Transport Helicopter Squadron with CC-147 (Chinook) helicopters, 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron with CH-l35 (Huey) and the CH-136 (Kiowa), and 4 Air Reserve Wing flying CC-138 (Twin Otter) aircraft. Also located at Lancaster Park, is a training drop zone, DZ Buxton.

b.     The Regiment draws its paratroopers from the combat arms, combat support arms and services throughout the Canadian Forces, and all three elements are represented. All regimental members are volunteers who serve a normal two year tour of duty. although a significant number request extension beyond the normal tour.

c.     The regimental establishment (less 3 Mech Cdo) is 1044 all ranks which includes six units and a staff that performs most functions of a combat group headquarters. Each unit in the formation is commanded by a major. The Regiment is organized as follows:

(1)     The Airborne Headquarters and Signal Squadron. Including Regimental Headquarters, this unit totals 90 all ranks (15-75). The squadron comprises a headquarters, support troop and a radio troop. The squadron provides internal and external communications for the Regiment.

(2)     Commandos. The infantry component of the Regiment consists of two identical Airborne Commandos. They are actually two small infantry parachute battalions each of 278 man strength. One is Anglophone and the other is Francophone. Each Commando consists of a headquarters company and a reconnaissance pIatoon and three rifle companies. Each rifle company consists of 61 all ranks organized into two rifle platoons, a support weapons platoon and a small headquarters.

(3)     First Airborne Battery. The Battery has 80 all ranks (8-72) and consists of a battery headquarters, including the Battery Commander's tactical headquarters and two identical troops each equipped with three 105 MM Pack Howitzers (L5) and six 81 MM medium mortars. The unit is trained to deploy and operate with either the howitzers or the mortars.

(4)     First Airborne Engineer Field Squadron. The squadron has 81 all ranks (4-77) and consists of a headquarters, a field troop, and a support troop. Heavy equipment inventory includes two D-4 dozers, two graders, a crane, a front-end loader and specialized snow compaction equipment, all of which can be dropped or are being trialed for parachute delivery. The squadron possesses a bridging capability employing the light airtransportable floating bridge.

(5)     First Airborne Service Support Unit. This group provides first and second line logistic support for the Regiment. It consists of 231 all ranks (9-222) organized into five platoons; administration, transport, maintenance, supply and medical. Unit personnel parachute into the area of operations to form the Regimental Echelon and normally air land at the Forward Administrative Area to provide first and second line support respectively.

d.     Also located in Edmonton, but not part of the Regiment, are the Canadian Airborne Centre and Canadian Forces Parachute Maintenance Depot. The former trains basic and advanced parachutists and conducts trials on personnel and heavy equipment delivery. The Parachute Maintenance Depot packs and maintains all types of parachutes and the associated equipments.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Corporal T.C. Mackenzie [Loyal Edmonton Regiment], Sergeant R.W. Williams [Calgary Highlanders], Private N.E. Smith [North Nova Scotia Highlanders] and Gunner H.D. Gingell [13 Canadian Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery], who all received Military Medals, at Buckingham Palace, London, England, 27 June 1945. Photographer: Harold D. Robinson. Mikan Number: 3205673. From the Library and Archives Canada virtual exhibit "Faces of War."

Principles Of Training

Army Information Digest (U.S.), reprinted in the Canadian Army Journal, Vol 7, No 3, October 1953

Supervision over replacement training by Army Ground Forces [in World War II] was guided by five basic principles, established early and adhered to throughout World War II. In general, these principles are applicable to the Army's training today:

1. The individual must learn to work and fight as a member of a team. Throughout all aspects and levels of training this concept of teamwork is constantly emphasized.

2. The troop commander himself is responsible for training, rather than the specialist who might actually conduct it. This reflects the basic military principle of personal leadership.

3. General military proficiency is stressed. Create the soldier first, the technician later.

4. Rigid performance tests are given to insure uniformity, adjustment to exacting standards and the earliest efficient completion of the training mission.

5. Realism characterizes all training whenever possible. Live ammunition and rugged training areas are concrete expressions of this fundamental requirement.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Detail from The Thin Red Line (The Sutherland Highlanders at the Battle of Balaclava 1854), by Robert Gibb

Esprit de Corps

The Soul and Body of an Army, General Ian Hamilton, G.C.B., 1921

Thus, automatically, our Army remains brimful of esprit de corps. This spirit is not, as used to be the case in Germany, brewed by the State. Clerks in the War Office used to be always on the nibble at any speciality in custom or dress upon which corps took a particular pride. Nor, in posting to corps, did the Military Secretary treat ancestors very nicely. On the contrary three generations in a regiment count for less in the eyes of our Army Council than three miserable marks in a miserable competitive exam. Still, the spirit is brewed and flows in, so to say, on its own. Officers as well as men manage to get back into old corps in which served their fathers and grandfathers. Units have their own private gala days; uniforms and colours blossom out with roses again on each 1st of August in memory of the battle amongst the roses at Minden in 1759; badges are fixed to the back of the helmet to commemorate 1801, when cavalry were beaten off by the rear rank facing "about" instead of forming square; mourning lace is worn by the corps which took part in the burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna or of Wolfe at Quebec. In fact, in any and every possible way, tradition puts its marks upon something of which helmets, lace and nicknames are only the outward and visible signs. One way or another the roots of tradition strike down deep. The soldier feels the regiment solid about him, The Regiment! It is impossible for a foreigner to realise what that word means to a British soldier. The splendour — the greatness — the romance of this awe-inspiring, wonderful creation in which he himself is privileged to have his being!

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Click for larger image. Image published in Jane's Fighting Ships 1967-68.

Royal Canadian Navy Report Busy and Eventful Year (1962)

The Shawanigan Standard, 19 Dec 1962

The Navy's Year — International exercises, training, cruises, operational patrols --- and a sprinkling of those unscheduled activities that befall ships at sea — made 1962 a busy and eventful year for ships of the Royal Canadian Navy. It was a year, too, in which there was tangible evidence of progress, both in the building of new ships and re-equipping of those already in service.

One of 1962's dramatic events was the search for and rescue of survivors from an airliner that ditched in the North Atlantic. HMCS Bonaventure, en route to Rotterdam, backtracked 350 miles to join in the operation. By helicopter, medical aid was given to survivors picked up by a Swiss freighter, and the more seriously injured were transferred to the Bonaventure for treatment in the carrier's hospital.

All told ships of the RCN spent more than 7,000 days at sea and logged more than 1,200,000 nautical miles. Their travels took them to the Great lakes, and to Southeast Asia, to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, to Hawaii and Hudson Bay.

Of the nine international exercises in which Canadian warships too part, three stood out: Dawn Breeze Seven, a NATO exercise off Gibraltar involving units of four countries; Sharp Squall Six, a five-country NATO exercise in the eastern Atlantic, and Jet 62, a Commonwealth exercise in the Indian Ocean. In Jet 62, destroyer escorts from Canada worked with naval units from Australia, Britain, India, Malaya and New Zealand; and en route they had the benefit of practice with ships, aircraft and submarines of the Unites States Navy.

Informally and formally, the navy served Canada also in an ambassadorial capacity. Ships of the RCN were conspicuously present at the opening of Canadian trade fairs in the capitals of Nigeria and Ghana, and at Independence Day celebrations in Jamaica and Trinidad.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Must Fight Hun With Own Weapons, Says Canadian

Only Way to Beat Him Is To Use Gas, Asserts a Hero of Langemark

(Special to the Gazette)

The Montreal Gazette, 21 May 1915

Halifax, N.S., May 29—James W. Johnstone, a Halifax boy, and great grandson of Hon. J.W. Johnstone, the Conservative leader in Nova Scotia in the early days of Joe Howe, is at the front as a private in the Second Battalion. In a letter received today, dated May 5, written after the battle of Langemarck, Private Johnstone describes the battle. He says:

"We are now back from the fighting line, about 15 miles, to rest and reorganize. We have nearly 700 casualties in our battalion alone, not enough remaining to make two full companies, even with a draft of ninety new men, and nearly all the Canadian battalions have about the same number of casualties as ours. Everyone behaved splendidly and did what was required of them in spite of the fact that it was really the very first time they had done any serious fighting. For two days we got a merciless shell-fire, I don't know how I escaped for men on either side of me got struck by shrapnel. A Jack Johnson exploded just outside our trench and covered us with the parapet it blew in, so it required some little digging to get out. Those gas shells the Germans use are awful things. The gas affects the eyes and throat and one has not even a fighting chance against them. The only way for the British to do is to fight the Hun with his own weapons.

"The say that there were nearly 100,000 Germans opposed to use but we held the lines until reinforcements came up. Our company, old No. 3 company, was in the trench holding it while the rest retired. Our major was the last man to leave the trench, and as we passed him he told everyone to keep low and run for it. How I got through I don't know. Two bullets went through the pack I was carrying and later I was struck on the side. The iron entrenching tool I was carrying saved me. The bullet glanced off, denting the tool and stunning me for a bit."

• Canadian Memorial - Gemeente Langemark-Poelkapelle
• World War One Battlefields - Langemarck
• The British observe strange greenish-yellow clouds at Langemarck
• Gas Warfare

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

Updated: Friday, 14 March 2014 7:11 PM EDT

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Infantrymen of Lieutenant D.S. Barrie's platoon of The Highland Light Infantry of Canada relaxing during a rest period, France, 20 June 1944. Location: France. Date: June 20, 1944. Photographer: Ken Bell. Mikan Number: 3205673. From the Library and Arcives Canada virtual exhibit "Faces of War."

Have you thought much about why your men go AWL?

Canadian Army Training Memorandum, No 39, June 1944

Whether you have or haven't, you should be interested in the survey of the causes of AWL and desertions, made by the Research and Information Section, NDHQ.

Based on replies in Morale Reports from officers of 200 units, the survey finds that most AWL occurs at the end of ordinary week-end leave, furlough, or special leave, (agricultural, industrial, etc). Desertion is mainly a "prolonged delay in return".

In order of frequency of specification, the principal causes of absenteeism are:

(a)     Failure of the leave system to meet individual requirements.
(b)     Dislike of the Army.
(c)     Trouble at home.
(d)     Exacting and monotonous duties.
(e)     Unattractive, lonely and isolated surroundings.
(f)     Homesickness.
(g)     Family influence.
(h)     Hope for discharge and higher wages outside.
(i)     Waiting around for postings.
(j)     Dissatisfaction with Corps.
(k)     "Atlantic" Fever (Fear of going overseas).
(l)     Ignorance.
(m)     Faulty Esprit de Corps and Poor Leadership.
(n)     Women.
(o)     Drunkenness.

It is pointed out that men seldom pack up with the intention of leaving their unit for an unwarranted length of time. Usually it is after they have gone on leave that they are tempted to prolong the holiday for a little, and sometimes for an indefinite period. Rare leaves, compassionate circumstances, travelling time, unfair and arbitrary restrictions, and inconvenient train schedules only add to this temptation.

Ignorance of the compassionate leave privileges available is one of the prime reasons for absenteeism. All offrs should see that their men understand these privileges, so that when they have just reason for desiring leave this may be granted.

Since much AWL is minor and unpremeditated most offrs contributing to the survey naturally tended to concentrate their attention on those who habitually go "on the loose". It was found that these were of 4 main types:

(a)     Irresponsible and undisciplined individuals who find it difficult or impossible to conform; they may be products of faulty social teaching or persons whose civilian record does not bear examination.

(b)     NRMA soldiers, among whom are many "reluctant patriots".

(c)     "Homesick boys".

(d)     Soldiers who are below average mentally or who are emotionally unstable.

While it is generally the individual and his own reasoning that results in his going AWL, it is interesting to note that tps at different levels of trg exhibit certain characteristics peculiar to themselves and to the role they are playing. For example, it is found that in Corps Training Centres and in Operational Units the chief cause of illegal absenteeism is lack of Leaves; in Infantry Regiments and Trained Soldiers Units, Trouble at Home and Family Influence; in Basic Training Centres, Lack of Discipline and Homesickness; in HWE and RCA, Boring and Exacting Duties; and also in RCA, the generally isolated and miserable locations.

Corps Training Centres and Trained Soldier Units are chiefly subject to the demoralizing effects of waiting around for postings and "Atlantic" fever. Most affected by corps reallocations are Basic and Corps Training Centres.

Now, what solutions can be tried to remedy these problems? Recommendations offered by the survey are:

(i)     The unit leave system revised to provide a more equitable distribution of leave privileges.

(ii)     Rotation of personnel and of units engaged in monotonous work.

(iii)     Inculcation of respect for mil law and duty from the recruit level on, which also implies full realization of what is constituted in them.

(iv)     Stem and impartial handling of offenders.

(v)     Close co-operation of mil and civil authorities in dealing with desertion.

(vi)     Combining furlough and special leaves in certain cases where men are stationed great distances from home.

(vii)     A good extra-curricular program -sports, movies, etc.

These are only recommendations, but remember that well disciplined soldiers, who are kept busy with good interesting trg programmes are NOT likely to go AWL. Think this over and then survey your situation.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Major General James Cowan's Six Tips on Etiquette

In March 2014, Major General James Cowan, General Officer Commanding 3 UK Division, issued a letter to his formation on his opinion and expectations of his officers in their messes. In his comments, he reflects back on traditional practices that would have been in place in his early carreer, but have since been eroded by changing social habits. Maj-Gen Cowan directs a return to traditional expectations with his Six Rules of Etiquette. Perhaps more changes will follow as his staff and subordinate commanders latch onto this trend as way to remain in the General's good graces.

Sandwiches

"Quite a few officers in the divisional mess seem to be under the impression that they can eat their food with their hands. The practice of serving rolls and sandwiches in the mess is to stop. A gentleman or lady always uses a knife and fork."

Dinner party

"A good party relies on good conversation. This requires you to come prepared to be free, funny and entertaining.Thank you letters are an art form not a chore. It is generally considered better manners if the spouse is the person who writes."

Knife and fork

"The fork always goes in the left hand and the knife in the right. Holding either like a pen is unacceptable, as are stabbing techniques. The knife and fork should remain in the bottom third of the plate and never be laid down in the top half."

Officers

"Ten years ago, officers would stand up when the commanding officer walked into the room. This doesn’t happen any more. I expect a junior officer to make an effort at conversation. Start by introducing yourself and talk on any civilised subject outside work."

Successful marriage

"I recently went to a Burns night, spoilt only by a curious decision to sit husbands next to wives. The secret of a successful marriage is never to sit next to your spouse at dinner, except when dining alone at home. It displays a marked degree of insecurity."

Grammar

"In common with officialdom the world over, military writers love to use pompous words over simpler language. Combined with underlining and italics, the wanton use of capitals, abbreviations and acronyms assaults the eye and leaves the reader exhausted."

• The Telegraph - Army commander bans sandwiches in attack on 'barbaric habits'

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 5 March 2014 9:59 PM EST

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J.F.C. Fuller, On Instructing the Soldier

Brevet Colonel J.F.C. Fuller, D.S.O., "Moral, Instruction and Leadership," Journal of the Royal United Services Institution, Vol. LXV, February to November, 1920

Instruction is like a map which the instructor opens and explains. He points out the short cuts and the good roads, but the actual movement over the ground itself must be left to the instructed; to drag a man across it would be a deplorable waste of time.

There are three main ways of instructing a man:—

(1)     By interesting him in his work, that is by increasing his knowledge, for knowledge creates interest, and when a man is interested the effort of learning is reduced to a minimum. To be interesting an instructor must be skilful, and as a magnifying glass concentrates rays of light, so must he be able to concentrate the attention of his men. This can only be done if he continually varies his subjects, makes the men run through them at maximum speed, and so gives no time for their thoughts to wander.

(2)     By repeating a subject again and again until it sinks into a man and becomes part of him. This method is not so good as the- first, but with some men it is necessary; at best it is most tiring for the instructor, who should, however, guard against turning himself into a human gramophone, for even repetition requires skill and individuality.

(3)     By terrorizing. This is a bad way and it should never be used unless (1) and (2) have failed. It is bad because it creates fear. — We do not want fear, we want courage. If a man will not learn by the first two methods, there is nothing for it but to teach him by the third; for it is better to be hated and followed than to be despised and abandoned. It is better than nothing, for it maintains unity of action.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

Updated: Friday, 21 March 2014 12:03 AM EDT

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The Heller Antitank Missile, the AVRO Arrow fighter, The Bra d'Or hydrofoil and the Bobcat armoured personnal carrier: all Canadian miltary programs that were cancelled.

'Split personality' hampering Forces, say generals

The Montreal Gazette, 16 April 1980
By Jo Ann Gosselin, for Southam News

Ottawa — Canada's security as a nation and the development of the country's high-technology industrial base are restricted by the split personality of her military force, say three former chiefs of defence.

Generals J.A. Dextraze, F.R. Sharpe and J.V. Allard told a meeting of the Air Industries Association of Canada that the problem lies in equipping and sustaining a capable fighting force whose strongest international identity is that of a peacekeeper.

Allard, who was Chief of Defence Staff from 1966 to 1969, said much of the problem was due to a difference in approach between those in the military who sought equipment to support NATO and NORAD forces and those in government who accepted roles on behalf of the military where such equipment was unnecessary.

Until the division between 'warrior' and 'peacekeeper' forces was resolved, Allard said, it was futile for Canada to attempt to define defence policy or issue a white paper on it.

He traced the problem back to the post-Korean War period when Canada's military found itself with obsolete Second World War equipment and a defence budget with little, if any, growth.

With three services clamoring for re-equipment funds, defence chiefs had to struggle to fit requirements into the money available.

Ottawa, Allard says, decided not only to reduce manpower levels to help trim costs, but also to abandon Canadian military-industrial programs — including the AVRO Arrow and the Bobcat personnel carrier.

The scrambling to cover all remaining bases has meant the military has been unable to put a sound, long-term planning program into effect, Allard said.

Sharpe, defence chief from 1969 to 1972, suggested that not few of the firms represented at the meeting would prosper if they had to depend on the Canadian military market.

Limited purchases by the Canadian military had forced industry to seek international markets and other applications of advanced technology for domestic use.

He said that in order to maximize defence spending in Canadian industry, government and the military must co-operate in the formulation of defence policy.

Share said this initial input from all three areas would stop the tug-of-war for benefits and performance that hamper most military purchasing.

Dextraze, head of the military from 1972 to 1977, said good planning depended on a stable budget and that many of the problems were due to fluctuations in fundss promised and funds available.

He too called for firm direction. There was often too much talk and not enough action.

He did not absolver the military, however. There were times, he said, systems were developed when no one knew to what use they would be put. The hydrofoil Bras d'Or was one example.

Dextraze said it was important that the military have the best tools to do the job and that if security of the country meant anything to Canadians it was time to face facts and screw up the necessary courage to get the job done.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Annual Militia Report Down (1907)

Reference Made to St. John Building
Weak Points of the Ross Rifle Discussed

The St John Sun, 22 March 1907

(Special to the Sun)

Ottawa, March 21.#8212;The annual report of the militia department was brought down today. The report notes the transfer of Halifax and Esquimalt to Canada's defence. Scarcity of funds prevented militia expansion in the Canadian Northwest.

Recruiting was difficult owning to the demand for labor in Canada and enlisting for the Canadian permanent force was carried on in Great Britain. A Canadian army pay corps was organized. The branch companies and medical corps were organized into field ambulances and medical corps.

Mobilization and defence of Canada have been carefully studied. Military surveying has been done at Niagara peninsula and the country below the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers in Ontario.

There is a deficiency of subalterns and section commanders.

The condition of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery has not been satisfactory and steps will be taken to improve it.

The permanent force now numbers 3,055.

The enlargement of the present building at St. John will be a great boom for the proper housing of the increasing equipment.

Field batteries are now all armed with 12-pounder guns and the obsolete 9-pounder will be called in and not re-issued.

As the 12-pounder is being replaced in other armories with a quick firing weapon, a supply of the new 18-pounder quick firing guns adopted by the British service has been ordered from England and delivery is expected shortly.

In field defences outside Halifax and Esquimalt by the autumn of 1908 modern 7 ½ inch and 6-inch breech-loaders and 12 and 6-pounder quick firing Hotchkiss guns will be placed throughout Canada.

The weak points of the Ross rifle have been ascertained and good progress made toward remedying them. A rifle with improvements in sights, barrels, butt plates, magazine feed and extractor will shortly be submitted to the government by the manufacturers.

During the year the militia gave aid to the civil authorities at Winnipeg, Kingston, Hamilton and Buckingham. Militia expenditure amounted to $5,594,009, which was $1,644,167 greater than the year before.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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