The Canadian Army Needs a Paradigm Shift

by Wolfgang W. Riedel

Colonel (ret’d) Wolfgang W. Riedel, OMM, CD, QC has served for forty-four years in the ranks and as an artillery, infantry and legal officer in the Regular Force and the Reserve Force. As Deputy Judge Advocate General – Reserves he was Canada’s Senior Reserve Force Legal Officer and was a member of the Chief of Reserves and Cadets Council.

“Our defence policy is predicated on the kind of asymmetric warfare we have faced since the end of the Cold War and it really ignores the looming strategic threats that Russia, China and maybe some others pose as well.

~ Richard Cohen1

Introduction

“Paradigm Shift – a radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing.”2

Is the Canadian Army ready for the next conflict? Does it project a credible deterrence? This article argues that the answer is, clearly, no. As a consequence, Canada must re-assess what the Canadian Army’s structure ought to be, and, in particular, critically examine the role and organization of the Army’s Primary Reserve component (ARes).

Read the rest of this article in the Canadian Military Journal Vol 20 No 4

English Version: www.journal.forces.gc.ca/page19-eng.asp

Version française: www.journal.forces.gc.ca/page19-fra.asp

(This article was originally written in the fall of 2019 and was later expanded in much greater detail into the book "Unsustainable At Any Price: The Canadian Armed Forces in Crisis")