Army really stretched

The Chief of the Land Staff puts things clearly (as he had over two months ago):

Army to consider one-year pause by 2011
Troops, equipment stressed by Afghan mission, Leslie says

Starting in the summer of 2011, Canada's soldiers may have to take an operational pause of at least one year, the Canadian army chief said Monday [March 9].

Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, chief of the land staff, cited shifting demographics, attrition and competition from civilian industry that were draining away a talented pool of soldiers. Leslie also said damaged equipment would need to be refurbished from the rigours of combat in Afghanistan.

"Beginning in July of 2011, we will have to explore the possibility of taking a short operational break, that is well-organized and synchronized, of at least one year," Leslie testified Monday before the Senate's security and defence committee.

"Nevertheless, there is no doubt that we will always be prepared to carry out our various national and international tasks."

Canada's combat mission in Kandahar is scheduled to end in 2011. While 2,800 military personnel from all three branches of the Canadian Forces are taking part, the army contributes the vast majority of those troops, at 2,400, Leslie said.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay says 2011 is still a long way off, and the Canadian Forces will continue combat operations, as well as the training of Afghan security forces, until then.

On Monday, however, MacKay left open the possibility that Canada would still be active militarily in Afghanistan after 2011, albeit in some reconfigured form [emphasis added--my thoughts here].

"There is obviously an array of things that Canada can do post-2011," he said. "Until we get closer to 2011 and assess what the security situation is in Afghanistan, that will impact directly on that reconfiguration."

Leslie said the army was facing "huge challenges," and had a shortage of top leaders, in particular.

The army needs another 700 senior officers and 700 more non-commissioned officers, he said.

Asked after his testimony how long the operational pause could last, Leslie told reporters: "It depends on what the government of Canada wants us to do, and it depends on what intensity of equipment efforts will be required. If everything comes together quite nicely, I would say a year. With every further degradation of equipment states, then you can add a couple of extra months to that."

Leslie told the senators the army's challenges came at a time when its doctrine had evolved more quickly in the last couple of years than it had in decades, mostly because of the Afghanistan mission...

More:

Army running on empty
Broken-down vehicles pile up in Canada as Afghanwar sparks equipment 'crisis'
Need 100 more mechanics, general says

The army's fleet of armoured vehicles, battered by the demands of the Afghanistan mission, is in a state of "crisis," the head of the army says.

Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, chief of the land staff, said up to three-quarters of some specialty vehicles used for training in Canada are sidelined by maintenance woes.

"We are running out of time to keep your army functioning the way that it should because our vehicle breakage rates are now far higher than I've ever seen them," Leslie warned senators yesterday

"We've been run hard now for seven years. And the places where we run our equipment is pretty rough and ... the enemy is attacking our equipment," Leslie said.

The equipment woes, coupled with a shortage of senior personnel, may force the army to take a one-year "operational break" to rebuild starting in July 2011, once the current commitment in Afghanistan is over, Leslie said.

Despite the pause, Leslie said the army still would be ready to respond to emergencies if called upon. "We will always be prepared to carry out our various national and international tasks," he told the Senate defence committee.

But it was the sad state of the army's equipment that was in the spotlight yesterday as Leslie said he might need more money to get the vehicles up and running again.

Wear-and-tear and insurgent attacks have created a demand for replacement vehicles in Afghanistan, depleting the stocks of serviceable vehicles in Canada to the point where 70 per cent of some fleets are unusable.

Last month, 33 per cent of the army's light-armoured vehicles (LAVs) were out of service, along with 76 per cent of its reconnaissance Coyotes, 100 per cent of its tracked light-armoured vehicles (TLAVs), 73 per cent of its multi-purpose Bisons and 71 per cent of its Leopard 1 tanks, Leslie said.

And as more vehicles break down, he added, fewer are available for soldiers to train on before deploying to Afghanistan.

"We are not in a position to repair them because we don't have enough mechanics and technicians," Leslie said, noting that the army is short about 100 mechanics.

"This situation is extremely serious because the number and types of equipment that have to be repaired and replaced continues to increase at a rapid pace," he said...

But as the army struggles with its equipment woes, Leslie also revealed that 40 state-of-the-art Leopard 2A6M tanks are sitting in Montreal – unavailable for use – because Ottawa has yet to issue the contract for the vehicles to be refurbished.

The vehicles, bought second-hand from the Netherlands, have to be retrofitted to Canadian specifications. But a clearly frustrated Leslie was at a loss to explain the delay in getting the sophisticated tanks into use. While 20 of the new tanks are on the front lines in Afghanistan, Leslie is keen to get the 40 other tanks into service in Canada to train troops.

"I do not yet have my hands on those Leopard 2s with which to train our soldiers," he said.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said yesterday the government intends to get the Leopard 2s into action expeditiously, The Canadian Press reports.

Update fact: The Canadian Army now has 22,000 regulars.