Canada - the NEW Army

Canada - the NEW Army by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Starting this fall, members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will be able to carry purses, wear skirts and stockings, grow their hair as long as they choose and polish their finger and toenails whatever color pleases them; both males and females. In a historic reform to this nation's military dress code, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will permit service members to have facial tattoos, dye their hair, allowed women to keep long nails and wear skirts in an attempt to make military service more inclusive. In a statement, Ottawa's Department of National Defence said that these new military dress and personal grooming regulations were aimed "to support respect, diversity and inclusiveness" and to encourage youth to join the armed forces. Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel will be allowed these freedoms effective September, 2022, according to the Ministry of National Defense's press release. "The bottom line is, the Canadian Forces Dress Instructions are about fifty years old and so the policy as a whole was overdue for revision," said Department of National Defence (DND). "The appearance of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has not kept pace with the Canadian society which it serves." Maj.-Gen. Lise Bourgon said the Canadian Armed Forces will adopt a gender-neutral dress code and relax rules banning long or colorful hair. (OP Impact/DND) Bourgon said 71 per cent of the military's workforce is made up of "white males." It seems that this new dress code will be the most-relaxed, most gender-neutral dress code of any military in the world. Frankly, this 'great accomplishment', of the general staff of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) led by the fearless new Chief of Defence Staff, General Wayne Eyre, makes me sick and ashamed at the same time. This is nothing more than another example of "woke" virtue signalling by the Trudeau government. As a former member of the Canadian Forces Engineers, who served in overseas missions in Bosnia Herzegovina and Afghanistan I am saddened to see the degrading of one of the best armies in the world. The official excuse of Canadian military leaders is bringing military culture into the 21st Century and making careers in the service more appealing to a younger generation. This again demonstrates how the general staff, preoccupied mostly with their own carriers, lives in an ivory tower. They are going about recruiting more soldiers, sailors and airmen (our armed forces are currently just about 20% understaffed) in absolutely the wrong way. It seems to me that this new approach to recruiting will have the exact opposite effect. The kin of young men and women who have traditionally been drawn to military careers will likely be put off by the weirdness of it all. It is astonishing that instead on dealing with seriously preparing our young soldiers for the realities of a new and dangerous world, the CAF leaders are focusing on a new dress code, rather than concentrating on correcting their failing recruiting process. I personally witnessed the failures of the recruiting process and mentioned it several time when I was a member of the House of Commons, being the only veteran from Afghanistan. To no avail. It seems to me that the CAF did not learn anything from similar attempts made earlier by other NATO armies, such as the German and the Dutch, which ultimately failed. In both cases, the biggest problem produced by these "modernizations" was the undermining of unit cohesion and deterioration of operational effectiveness. In other words, discipline went all to hell and those armed forces lost some of their ability to fight. Servicemen and women who don't have to wear a standard uniform or hair length, soon will begin to think it might be OK to buck other rules, too, like marching in the sun or following commanders' orders. There may be a few weird recruits attracted by this shift in DND policy, but plenty of other recruits come to the forces looking for adventure, service to country or regimentation, to make sense of their lives. These new loosey-goosey, less-effective armed forces - face tattoos, hoop earrings, ear spacers and "unnatural" hair colors - will be considerably less appealing to many more recruits than are attracted. In a quickly developing East-West confrontation, we should be more aware, and looking to increase preparedness of our servicemen instead of looking to please political masters. It is time to become serious and not bufooning around. With this new policy the DND and CAF are well on way to remaking the modern version of the "The Good Soldier Švejk". What about the leadership of the army leading by example and appearing with a ring in their nose? So in conclusion, we are looking to the new future in the Canadian Armed Forces; tattooed color locks and kitten heels. Welcome to Disney World.