Size matters in things military

Re: Be proud Canada, but not complacent, Post editorial, July 20

This timely editorial quips, “Today, with 37-million people, we could not deploy five regiments.”

Hmmm … One presumably belongs to a regiment; one deploys militarily with his/her regiment (some of the time); and, one might — conceivably — even be the daughter of a regiment. But, regiments are not representative of our nation’s military strength, or size; and, in things military, size matters.

My English father, Terentius, doing his National Service during the ’50s, was first with the Royal Fusiliers regiments but then quickly made an officer into a “home” regiment, the Essex (U.K.); and, shortly thereafter, sent to “mop up” in Korea as a combat soldier with the Herefordshire Light Infantry who were engaged in the fighting there. A classicist, his most notable apophthegm about this time was, “My career nearly ended in Korea!”

The editorial comment about “regiments” is ridiculous on at least one level as there are scores of illustrious regiments across this once militarily proud land; however, only five — perhaps — are “regular.” Look at the casualty lists from Afghanistan and quite a few of the fallen were from the Canadian Reserves, units with incredibly brave, distinguished, and heroic war records. Look at Ronald Kevin Megeney, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (d. 2007), Dennis Raymond Brown, The Lincoln and Welland (Links ’n’ Winks) Regiment (d. 2009), Brian Pinksen, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment (d. 2010), Richard Gaetan Renaud, 12e Regiment Blinde du Canada (d. 2008), or Jason Patrick Warren, The Black Watch (Canada; d. 2006).

What matters, size-wise, is combat or deployment-ready battalions, groupings of up to 800. In Canada we have only nine of these which — thanks mainly to one or two (too many) Trudeaus and various Liberal administrations since the mid-1960s — is unarguably pathetic. And, because it’s 2019, we have (far) more Defence Department brief-casewielding bureaucrats and career-place-holders than actual combat-ready soldiers (probably numbering in the neighbourhood of no more than 8,000 in a Regular Force of 23,000).

Rob Bredin, Orangeville, ON.