Soldiers face special forces block

Brass concerned over drain on conventional forces, documents reveal

Some commanding officers are trying to prevent soldiers from applying to Canada’s special forces, a development that could limit the ability of the Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 and other related formations to do their job.

Special forces officers raised their concerns in October with then-Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk, asking him to deal with the problem, according to documents obtained by the Citizen. They told the general that applications for service with the units of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, known as CANSOFCOM, were being limited by regular force unit commanders.

CANSOFCOM is the umbrella organization for Joint Task Force 2, the country’s main counterterrorism and special operations unit; the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron at Petawawa; the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit, which deals with weapons of mass destruction and is located at CFB Trenton; and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, also situated at Petawawa.

CANSOFCOM asked Natynczyk to issue a directive to inform commanding officers they had to forward on the applications from eligible soldiers.

“Given the heavy reliance on volunteers to fill vacancies both for Operator and Support positions, a CO’s decision to stop the processing of an eligible candidate for service has the potential of reducing the applicant pool and limiting the ability of CANSOFCOM to provide the necessary personnel resources to meet operational requirements,” warned the briefing note sent to Natynczyk.

Asked to comment, the Department of National Defence sent an email noting that commanding officers are not permitted to stop applications for military personnel interested in applying to become a special forces operator or chemical biological radiological and nuclear operator.

No details were provided on whether the problems raised by special forces officers 11 months ago have been resolved.

DND also did not respond to questions about whether the Chief of the Defence Staff sent out the directive requested by CANSOFCOM.

But Liberal senator Colin Kenny said the dispute reflects ongoing concerns in the military that the special forces are draining regular units of some of their best personnel.

“This has been the concern right from the beginning and it is a legitimate concern,” said Kenny, the former chairman of the senate defence committee. “What you’re likely seeing is a push-back from the regular units.”

While chairman of the defence committee, Kenny raised that issue and others, pointing out that the special forces command structure created during the Afghan war was draining money and staff from the conventional forces.

The creation of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment in 2006 also sparked an internal debate in the Canadian military on whether to have the unit within the army, instead of in special forces.

There was also resistance from some quarters in the military about the creation of CANSOFCOM and the expansion of special forces that same year. Officers questioned whether the creation of a new command was simply adding more bureaucracy to the military.

Army officers complained that JTF2 had already taken some of their best personnel and the addition of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, also known as CSOR, only made the problem worse.

Members of CSOR have privately told the Citizen that the unit is facing challenges attracting enough mature and skilled soldiers. Part of the issue is that special forces duty requires large amounts of time away from home for both training and operations, prompting some soldiers with families to shy away from joining the unit.

Service with special forces is voluntary and interested military personnel must apply through their chain of command. That is followed by a screening interview with a personnel selection officer, fitness testing and criminal records check. The completed application is then forwarded to the applicable CANSOFCOM unit.

But CANSOFCOM officers pointed out in their briefing for Natynczyk that there is no direction that requires commanding officers to forward applications for consideration.

The DND email also noted “mechanisms to protect occupations’ trained effective strength from the number of personnel who can transfer out in a given year are already in place” but it did not provide further details.

CSOR officers acknowledge that creation of the regiment siphoned off personnel from other organizations, mostly from the army. But they argue that special forces have given back to the military, contributing advances in tactics and equipment, now being used by conventional units.

They also noted that the creation of CSOR provided a career outlet for individuals in the conventional forces who had been looking to leave the military.