What’s New from the CDA Institute – 29 June 2017

From the CEO:

The CDA and CDA Institute would like to wish everyone a wonderful and safe Canada Day weekend, as well as an excellent 4th of July to our US friends. Bonne journée du Canada à tous et chacune!

Recent CDA Institute Web Updates/Dernières mises à jour sur le Site internet de l’Institut de la CAD:

Upcoming Roundtable Advisory – 12 June 2017

GENERAL PAUL KERN, US ARMY (RET) – SENIOR COUNSELOR, THE COHEN GROUP
“U.S.-Canada relations in flux:  a view from Washington”

Date: Wednesday, 12 July, 2017
Location: 150 Elgin, Suite 1800, KPMG Offices
Time: 10:00am-1:00pm

Gen Paul Kern Biography/ Cohen Group

For full details and to register please click here.

Space is limited – first come first serve basis.

 

The Conference of Defence Associations and CDA Institute 2017 Captain Nichola Goddard “Game Changer” Award

Call for Nominations

The Conference of Defence Associations and the CDA Institute, in collaboration with Vanguard Magazine, have created the Captain Nichola Goddard “Game Changer” Award to recognize and honour a young Canadian innovator and trailblazer who has made a significant contribution to Canadian security and defence. This award recognizes their dedication, service to the military, work in the fields of security and defence published research, security and defence industry and/or not-for-profit/charity work in support of the Canadian Armed Forces and veterans.

Captain Nichola Goddard’s name was chosen for this new award because she was very much a game changer in her own right – she was the first female soldier in a combat role to have been killed in action (Afghanistan, 17 May 2006). This award is about remembering her vibrant spirit and the celebration of others like her, “Game Changers”, who aspire to live by Canadian values of inclusivity, innovation, ethical leadership and commitment.

Selection Criteria

The nominee must:

  • Be a young Canadian who has made a significant contribution to Canadian security and defence
  • Demonstrated outstanding service to the Canadian military, and/or published, acclaimed work in the fields of security and defence research, and/or made significant contributions to the security and defence industry sector, and/or security and defence policy, and/or not-for-profit/charity work in support of the Canadian Armed Forces and/or Veterans

Nomination Procedures:

  • Only individuals may submit nominations, consisting of a clear summary of the reasons for the nomination (500 words or less), at least two letters of support, and examples of the nominee’s work
  • Electronic submissions are preferred
  • Submissions may be submitted in either official language
  • Only the person selected and the nominator will be notified
  • All documents submitted as part of the submission will be kept at the CDA Institute national office and not returned to the nominator
  • Nominations must be received by 5 September 2017, and addressed to:

The “Game Changer” Award Selection Committee

Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDA Institute)

151 Slater Street, Suite 412

Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3, Canada

Or bruce.poulin@cdainstitute.ca

The Award and grant will be presented to the recipient at the CDA Institute Graduate Student Symposium held at RMCC Kingston Ontario, 12-13 October 2017.

For further information please contact: bruce.poulin@cdainstitute.ca

 

Nominations are invited for the 2017 CDA Institute Vimy Award

The Vimy Award was initiated in 1991 by the CDA Institute to recognize, annually, one Canadian who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the security and defence of our nation and the preservation of our democratic values.

The previous 26 recipients of this prestigious award are:

  • The Rt. Hon. Joe Clark
  • General John de Chastelain
  • Major-General Lewis MacKenzie
  • Major-General William Howard
  • Major-General Roméo Dallaire
  • Jack Granatstein
  • The Rt. Hon. Brian Dickson
  • Vice-Admiral Larry Murray
  • Lieutenant-General Charles H. Belzile
  • The Hon. Barnett Danson
  • Air Commodore Leonard Birchall
  • Colonel, the Hon. John Fraser
  • General Paul Manson
  • David Bercuson
  • G. Hamilton Southam
  • Brigadier-General David Fraser
  • General Raymond R. Henault
  • General Rick Hillier
  • Warrant Officer William MacDonald
  • The Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson
  • Major-General Jonathan Vance
  • Honorary Colonel Frederick Philip Mannix
  • Brigadier-General W. Don Macnamara
  • Honorary Colonel Blake Goldring
  • The Hon. Hugh Segal
  • James Boutilier

Any Canadian may nominate one Canadian citizen for the award. Nominations must be in writing, be accompanied by a summary of the reasons for the nomination and include a brief biographical sketch of the nominee. Electronic submissions are preferred by email.

Nominations must be received by Tuesday September 5th 2017, and should be addressed to:

Vimy Award Selection Committee

Conference of Defence Associations Institute

151 Slater Street, suite 412

Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3

Or submitted electronically to bruce.poulin@cdainstitute.ca

 

The Vimy Award will be presented on Friday, 3 November 2017, at the Vimy Gala Dinner held at the Canadian War Museum.

For more information, contact the CDA Institute at 613-236-9903 or at bruce.poulin@cdainstitute.ca

~

Présélection officielle de candidat(e)s en vue du Prix Vimy 2017 de L’Institut de la CAD

Le Prix Vimy a été instituée en 1991 par l’Institut de la CAD dans le but de reconnaître annuellement un Canadien ou Canadienne qui a fait une grande contribution dans le domaine de la défense et de la sécurité du Canada et qui a grandement encouragé nos valeurs démocratiques.

Les 26 récipiendaires précédents du Prix Vimy sont :

  • la Très hon. Joe Clarke
  • le Général John de Chastelain
  • le Major-général Lewis MacKenzie
  • le Major-général William Howard
  • le Major-général Roméo Dallaire
  • Jack Granatstein
  • le Très hon. Brian Dickson
  • le vice-amiral Larry Murray
  • le lieutenant-général Charles H. Belzile
  • l’Hon. Barnett Danson
  • le commodore d’air Leonard Birchall
  • le Général Paul Manson
  • David Bercuson
  • G. Hamilton Southam
  • le Brigadier-général David Fraser
  • le Général Raymond R. Henault
  • le Général Rick Hillier
  • l’Adjudant William MacDonald
  • la Très hon. Adrienne Clarkson
  • le Major-général Jonathan Vance
  • Colonel Honoraire Frederick Philip Mannix
  • le Brigadier-général W. Don Macnamara
  • Colonel Honoraire Blake Goldring
  • l’Hon. Hugh Segal
  • James Boutilier

Le processus de sélection, qui est ouvert à tous, est commencé et on vous encourage de  nous faire parvenir le nom d’un Canadien ou Canadienne digne de ce prix.  Votre soumission doit être envoyé par écrit (soit électronique ou par courrier) et doit être accompagnée d’un sommaire citant les raisons motivant votre choix ainsi qu’une biographie du candidat.

La mise en candidature doit être reçus au plus tard le mardi, 5 septembre 2017, et doit être adressée au:

Comité de sélection du Prix Vimy

L’Institut de la Conférence des associations de la défense

151 rue Slater, suite 412

Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3

Ou sous forme électronique à bruce.poulin@cdainstitute.ca

 

Le prix Vimy sera présenté le vendredi, 3 novembre 2017, lors du gala Vimy.  Le tout aura lieu au Musée canadien de la guerre.

Veuillez contacter l’Institut de la Conférence des associations de la Défense à (613) 236-9903 ou bruce.poulin@cdainstitute.ca

 

From our Associations:

Ranger Foundation: The Ranger Foundation is pleased to announce the dedication of the first plaque honouring the First Nations of Canada soldiers who fought in World War I.

 

CDA Institute Aerograms – From our Research Fellow Howard Coombs

1. The following article, available at http://janes.ihs.com/Janes/Display/jdw66345-jdw-2017, from Jane’s Defence Weekly describes the increasing frequency of confrontations between NATO and Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea.

Posted: 26-Jun-2017

Jane’s Defence Weekly

Aerial confrontation increases over the Baltic Sea

Bruce Jones, London

The Estonian and Lithuanian authorities have reported that in the seven days ending 20 June NATO jets have scrambled 32 times from their air bases at Ämari in Estonia and Siauliai in Lithuania to identify and escort incoming Russian warplanes over the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. This far exceeds the present already large throughputs to which NATO’s Baltic air policing mission has recently become accustomed.

The catalogue of Russian aircraft involved is understood to include Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers, Sukhoi Su-24s, Ilyushin Il-22s, Sukhoi Su-27s, Sukhoi Su-34s, and Beriev A-50 airborne early warning aircraft.

In addition to NATO air policing sorties, the response to the high level of air activity has involved scrambling non-NATO Finnish F/A-18C/D Hornets and Swedish JAS-39 Gripens and F-16s of NATO member Denmark.

All the Russian aircraft involved have been flying between the contiguous subjects (regions and territories) of the Russian Federation and its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. Moscow has insisted that all the flights in question have been routine and “in strict accordance with the international rules of airspace management”.

For its part, the Russian military has said that on 19 June it twice had to scramble Su-27 naval aviation fighters to escort US RC-135 intelligence collection aircraft away from its territory.

The series of incidents culminated with the allegation on 21 June that a NATO Polish F-16 jet buzzed the Tu-154 airliner carrying Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to Kaliningrad to attend a meeting of Russia’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) board. The MoD stated that the “offending” F-16 was “seen off” by two escorting Baltic Fleet Su-27 fighter jets and had “retreated”. A similar episode is claimed to have been repeated on the return journey.

The Russian ambassador to Sweden was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on 21 June regarding the “buzzing” of a Swedish Air Force S 102B Korpen electronic warfare aircraft.

The United States has said that in one encounter a Russian jet had flown within 1.5 m of a US aircraft.

Finland has described the episodes as a very intense period of operations.

COMMENT

The increased air activity has been reported in the context of the Russian preparations for its mammoth combined arms exercise Zapad in September, which will focus on Kaliningrad. Other large Russian military exercises and events are also planned in the region in the meantime.

Despite its undoubted importance and the potential threats it poses, Western leaderships might equally be wary of being induced by Moscow into “Pavlovian responses” regarding Zapad, at the expense of being watchful in other directions. Military surprise after all is defined by Russia as an advance from an unexpected direction at an unexpected time.

 

2. Also from Jane’s Defence Weekly is a look at Russia’s recent establishment of a military transport branch, The move is designed to augment the Russian military’s ability to quickly deploy troops and equipment over long distances along its frontiers. You can find the original link here: http://janes.ihs.com/Janes/Display/jdw66373-jdw-2017.

Posted: 27-June-2017

Jane’s Defence Weekly

Russia forms new military transport branch to deploy divisions

Bruce Jones, London

Russia’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 21 June the establishment of a new heavy transport branch to deploy entire armoured and mechanised divisions directly to battle locations over distances up to 1,000 km within 24 hours, using interchangeable crews, local media report.

New regiments, battalions, and independent companies are being formed equipped with multi-axle heavy wheeled transporters (MTKT), which require no preparation to become operational. Their main equipment is the 11-tonne, three-axle KAMAZ-65225 truck and trailer, which can haul up to 65 tonnes and handle all main battle tanks, self-propelled artillery, and infantry fighting vehicles.

The decision to form the units was taken at the end of last year. They will be assigned to every military district and to combined arms and tank armies. On mobilisation, they will become army corps assets.

The first three battalions were formed earlier this year in the Central and Eastern military districts (MDs). By 2018, further units will be based in the remaining Southern and Western MDs.

The new units are being stationed next to major formations with large holdings of heavy weapons.

Each MTKT company consists of 30 or more tractors and a regiment 600 vehicles.

COMMENT

There is limited rail coverage in the parts of eastern Europe and western Russia that Moscow might consider a potential future combat area. There are also issues of differences in rail gauges.

Moreover, transporting armour down public or forest roads is slow, lessens surprise, reduces operational life, and damages equipment, even before operations have started.

Moscow has deployed as many as 160,000 troops in exercises across thousands of kilometres in a matter of days. Now it will have the ability to do so with the full complement of equipment.

The move, further outperforming NATO both in terms of speed and scale, should have serious implications for regional security.

 

3. Available at https:  //thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2017/6/22/professional-military-education-what-is-it-good-for (two spaces after https: to prevent the URL from being stripped by spam filters) is a recent The Strategy Bridge article, “Professional Military Education: What is it Good For?” While written in the context of senior United States service institutions, the author opines that “…many of the questions raised here apply equally—if perhaps differently—to the education of others in the military and other militaries…” Enjoy the discussion!

VR Howard

News around the World:

Research Fellow Brendan Thomas-Noone of the United States Study Centre at the University of Sydney compares and contrasts recent Australian and Canadian government statements about the future of the liberal international order (Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter, 27 Jun)

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/canada-australia-and-liberal-international-order-trump-era

“Ultimately, though, the true test of this policy’s longevity will depend on its support among Canadians..” (Policy Options, 23 Jun)

http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/june-2017/shelf-life-defence-white-papers/

6 Major Takeaways from Indian PM Modi’s First Summit with Donald Trump (The Diplomat, 27 Jun)

http://thediplomat.com/2017/06/6-major-takeaways-from-indian-pm-narendra-modi-first-summit-with-donald-trump/

“This is a historic moment for the UK as our new aircraft carrier takes to sea for the very first time.” (BBC, 26 June)

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-40402153

Ensuring the Safety of Canada’s non-combatant Navy fleet (Department of National Defence, 28 June)

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2017/06/ensuring_the_safetyofcanadasnon-combatantnavyfleet.html

Canada Renews Contribution to the Global Coalition against Daesh (Department of National Defence, 29 June)

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2017/06/canada_renews_contributiontotheglobalcoalitionagainstdaesh.html

Defence Minister attends NATO Defence Ministers Meeting (Department of Defence, 29 June)

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2017/06/defence_ministerattendsthenatodefenceministersmeeting.html

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