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The Review Wednesday, January 30,1991 — A30

Canada’s national defence is cause for worry

by J. Cecil Berezowski
Special to The Review

Should you be worried about
Canada’s national security and the
current state of the Canadian
Armed Forces? Perhaps you
should be.

The Canadian Forces responded
in their traditional “can do” spirit
when the Prime Minister chose to
send them to the Persian Gulf, in
answering the call from the United
Nations to respond to naked
aggression by Iraq.

Crews worked around the clock
in Halifax provisioning ships with
ammunition, cannibalizing com-
munications systems from other
ships including those from the
West Coast, and borrowing guns
and anti-ship missiles from stocks
earmarked for our new frigates
under construction. Two veteran
destroyer escorts of 1960s vintage
and an oiler, or supply ship if you
prefer, were able to make way for
the Gulf in a scant two weeks.

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Enroute, the newly reinforced
crews carried out intensive training
on their newly acquired weapons.

. On patrol in the Persian Gulf, their
effectiveness gained international
respect.

The government followed up
with the commitment of a squad-
ron of CF-18 Homets from Ger-
many to Quatar. Again, because
the units lacked a full complement
of aircraft, it was necessary to
borrow planes and personnel from
neighboring squadrons to come up
to war establishment. (And this is
a unit deployed in Germany for
front-line action as part of our
NATO contribution.) Subse-
quently, eight additional CF-18s
have been sent.

Almost at the same time, an
army brigade fulfilled its difficult
task at Oka, Quebec with admira-
‘ble coolness and resolve.

But another incident concur-
rently in a different part of Canada
would have placed tremendous
Strain on the army to respond; and
even if the troops were available,
military airlift capability was
already overtaxed supporting the
“Persian Excursion.”

The cost of equipping and main-
taining the Persian Gulf task force
and the costs for the Oka incident
all came out of the already
reduced current budget of the
Department of National Defence
(DND).

The Government did not provide
DND with an additional cent until
November 30 when supplemen-
tary funding was announced.

Meanwhile, many contracts for
new equipment, spare parts, fuel,
ship refits and maintenance have
been frozen or delayed for the time
being. In turn, this is playing havoc
with our small and fragile defence
industries, some of whom could
go under if the Bovermmcnl is not
careful.

But of even greater concem, and
cause to sadden our service men
and women putting their lives on
the line in the Persian Gulf, is to
learn that their civilian leaders in
government have been talking of
further cutting personnel strength
by 10,000-15,000 troops as
another budget cutting measure.
And combat capability is already
in doubt in what many would call
a “hollow army” of undersized
units with obsolescent equipment.

So what, you say? So, instead of
replacing ships in the Gulf task
force after a six-month patrol,
whole crews are being rotated
leaving the ships in place. (This
risky undertaking has been sus-
pended with the commencement
of hostilities).

So too, the 4th Mechanized
Brigade Group @CMBG) will be
probably ordered home from Ger-
many in the near future. Conve-
niently, units returning from over-
seas have the uncanny knack of
disappearing from the order of
battle in mid-Atlantic. So, do not
seriously expect to find 4 CMBG
at Gagetown, or Petawawa, or
Shilo — or anywhere hereabouts.

Yes, all of us — even those
Canadians who ardently believe in
peace at any price — should be
concemed over the future of our
stout-hearted troops.

They are serving Canada (you
and J) in a force that is, by and
large, ill-equipped, undermanned
and often neglected by succeeding
governments of every Stripe.

Only through the unflagging
dedication and professionalism of
the people in the Canadian Forces,
have we been able to maintain a

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modicum of self-respect with our
international friends and allies —
as well as our potential foes,
whoever they may be.

Our global village is in transi-
tion. It is wrought with regional
tensions that could spill over into
conflict momentarily. Sophisti-
cated weaponry has spread to most
regions.

The number of countries that
have purchased extended range
missiles (such as Iraq) is growing.
Nuclear attack submarines con-
tinue to roam our ocean
approaches. Yes, perhaps it is time
to be seriously concerned about
the state of Canada’s national
defence and secumty.

J. Cecil Berezowski is a Central
Saanich resident who served in
the Canadian army for over 35
years, retiring with the rank of
lieutenant-colonel from National
Defence Headquarters.

z R 2598 Sidney Signal
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