Here comes the fleet!

Every once and a while it seems the much circulating Prince Rumour mill hits one, a while back it was floated around town that the Navy was planning on setting up a naval base in the city. It was a little nugget that many quickly dismissed as a rather far off option and not something to get too excited about.

But as it turns out there was a bit of fire with all of that smoke, and while it’s not quite Esquimalt North, in a military planning paper called Canada First Defence Strategy there is a plan mentioned to set up a new “naval reserve division” in the city, in recognition of the city’s destiny as a major seaport.

No time frame or real details on what a naval reserve unit would like have been provided yet. No dedicated fleet of ships nor location for a base, but it would appear that there will soon be a significantly more directed military approach to the city in the future.

The Canadian Forces would also establish a new "naval reserve division" in Prince Rupert, B.C. That move is in "recognition of Prince Rupert as a major seaport and a growing economic link between Canada and the Far East," the strategy document said.

The plan to add Prince Rupert to the Department of Defence depth chart comes as plans to expand the nation’s military presence across the country are made public.

The story first appeared in the Canwest papers and can be found below.

Ready, Aye, Ready, Rupert!


Military to move to major cities
David Pugliese
CanWest News Service
Thursday, February 01, 2007

OTTAWA -- The Harper government plans to boost military presence across the country with new units in 14 cities, as well as to shift 5,000 regular-force personnel to training and frontline missions, from support and desk jobs.

Before 2016, the army would establish "territorial response battalions" in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Niagara-Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Saint John, N.B., Halifax and St. John's, N.L. The units would react to domestic emergencies such as natural disasters or a terrorist attack.

The details are outlined in the Conservative government's Canada First Defence Strategy, which has been leaked to the Ottawa Citizen. No date has been set for the strategy to be released publicly. The report outlines the direction the military would follow over the next 15 years.
During the election, the Conservatives promised to create territorial battalions -- each unit to be 100 regular troops and 400 or more reservists -- but the strategy paper does not contain details on the size of the units.

In addition, the strategy calls for the regular force "footprint" to be increased across the country. A Northern Sovereignty Support Centre would be established in Goose Bay, N.L., and the 439 Combat Support Squadron at Canadian Forces Base Bagotville, Que., would be expanded and redesignated as an "expeditionary" unit to better support domestic and international operations.

In particular, the squadron would support deployments of the military's rapid-reaction Disaster Assistance Response Team.

The Canadian Forces would also establish a new "naval reserve division" in Prince Rupert, B.C. That move is in "recognition of Prince Rupert as a major seaport and a growing economic link between Canada and the Far East," the strategy document said.

As previously reported, the Joint Task Force 2 special forces unit would be relocated to Trenton, Ont., from Ottawa, and a new Marine Commando Regiment would be established in Comox, B.C.

The plan calls for the regular forces to increase to 70,000 by 2011 and then to 75,000 by 2016. The reserves would be increased in size to 30,000 over the next five years and then to 35,000 "over the long term."

But there would also be shifts in military personnel to better support training of new recruits, as well as bolster frontline units.

"As this process unfolds, the regular force would also become more effective by examining current assignments, including headquarters at all levels, with the aim of redistributing 5,000 military personnel from low-priority positions to further enhance frontline units," the strategy said. "As part of this process, some military positions may be transferred, eliminated or filled by civilians."

The regular force currently has about 63,800 members. The reserve force is around 24,000, according to Defence Department figures.

According to the strategy, the army reserves would undergo a fundamental transformation to be able to respond more effectively to domestic emergencies in both rural and urban areas. The reserves would provide the bulk of the personnel for the territorial battalions, in addition to volunteering for overseas missions such as in Afghanistan.

Creation of the territorial battalions would involve the army reviewing the current structure of its reserve force, as well as looking at grouping existing units in the same locations in various cities, the strategy added.

Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate's national security and defence committee, said the Conservative plan falls short because it takes too long to increase the size of the regular and reserve forces.

"If they said last year that their increase would take until 2016, they would have been laughed out of" Parliament, Kenny said.

He said the operational tempo of the Canadian Forces requires a full-time military of about 100,000 personnel -- not the 75,000 proposed by the Harper government.

The Senate committee has pushed for more funding for the Canadian Forces. It wants to see its budget increased to $25 billion to $35 billion by 2012. That money is needed, not only to boost the ranks but to purchase new equipment, the senators point out.

The government is looking at a $35-billion defence budget -- but that would not be in place until 2025.

University of Calgary defence analyst Rob Huebert said the government has no choice but to stretch out the increase in numbers of Canadian Forces personnel over a nine-year period. That's because previous cuts to the military and the ongoing war in Afghanistan are limiting the number of skilled personnel available to train the influx of new recruits, Huebert said.

"There's no shortage of volunteers," he said.

"It's just that the system is not set up to deal with them."

Ottawa Citizen
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007