Will Canada’s military role in Afghanistan improve the Canadian military? That’s the opinion of retired Major-General Lewis MacKenzie. In an article MacKenzie states that those soldiers who have gone from a peacekeeping appointment to one of combat will help shape the future of the Canadian military.
He even goes so far as to say that years ago, after the cold war ended, it was detrimental to a soldier’s career to be deployed overseas. With them being so far away from their supervisor’s attention it was possible that their yearly performance evaluations suffered while they were doing their duty.
I find the thought of this more than a little disturbing. I believe if a soldier does time overseas they should automatically get a “peachy” P.E.R. This does seem to be the case with the mission in Afghanistan but a spokeswoman at National Defense Headquarters said there isn’t a crowd of military members beating down their doors to go to Kandahar in order to further their careers.
I can’t really say as I blame them but those that do eventually become veterans of the Afghan War will have had war experience, something Canada’s military hasn’t seen in many years. Peacekeeping is a noble act and our troops are experts at it but in a world where terrorist are aplenty and more active than ever, we need a military that can stand up to them.
Thankfully, a look at Canada’s 80 or so generals shows that many of them in key positions have cut their leadership teeth on missions like Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. This trend may well continue as those now serving in the war climb the ranks in the years to come.
I sincerely hope this is the case. For years Canada’s military has seen it’s numbers and budget cut back to drastic proportions. Our soldiers have always been world class and I have no doubt that they’re up to the task of this new role. With proper leadership and, hopefully a more respectable budget, our military will be ready to fight the war on terror.