CASR
Canadian
American
Strategic
Review
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Modest Proposal |
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Modest Proposal |
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| Arctic Presence – Search & Rescue – SAR Techs – Updated – November 2009 Air Force must focus on core missions — Time to calve off SAR Local Civilian Agencies may prove to be more Cost-Effective Dianne DeMille , Editor , Canadian American Strategic Review ( CASR ) In the News : On 09 November 2009, Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Technicians ( SAR Techs ), rescued an Inuit youth from a moving ice floe. No small feat. SAR Tech training is extremely rigourous, physically and mentally. These technicians are an elite force. However, Canadian citizens and CF personnel alike are concerned about how long it took the aircraft to reach the area – and how inadequately the aircraft was equipped for this mission. There may be a number of options to address these inadequacies – this editorial focuses on removing the SAR missions from the list of primary tasks assigned to the Canadian Air Force. Air Staff has demonstrated that they have too many tasks and not enough resources The evidence is in. We have assigned to our Air Force too many tasks – and, at the same time, given the AF too few resources to accomplish those tasks. In the past, the political practice has been to throw money at aircraft acquisition (often undermining the readiness of our Army and Navy in the process). These attempts at making the problem ' go away ' have proven to be counter-productive. Let us now try a more seriously thought-through approach : Reduce the burden of too many AF missions ( without the appropriate levels of resource allocations ). Calving off Search-and-Rescue is the most logical first step. The standing Defence White Paper lists three (3) core missions for the Canadian Forces: • Defence of Canada, the nation - state, and the security of all of its citizens. • Defence of the North American continent, its maritime approaches, and its aerospace. These missions are undertaken in cooperation with the United States military. • Expeditionary (overseas) missions judged to be in Canada's interests. These missions are carried out in cooperation with like-minded states. Ideally, the Prime Minister will seek Parliamentary support of these missions. [1]
Some operations must be eliminated so that we can re-invest funds into core missions When a corporation grows quickly, it sometimes takes on too many diverse enterprises, stretching beyond its core competencies. In the long-run, this over-reach of diversity is not fiscally sustainable – and it bleeds away organizational focus. This is the position in which the Canadian Air Force now finds itself – too many tasks which are well outside the core missions laid down by the Government of Canada. Citizens must press for change. Were the Air Force a corporation, executive officers would ask some hard questions: • What are the core missions of the corporation? Where does the company excel? • In which areas has the company become inefficient, unable to achieve the clear and reasonable goals that have been set out for it by the original mission statement? • Which inefficient, non-productive operations do we need to cut in order to preserve the viability of the company as a whole, and ensure success into the future?  Once these savvy, tough-minded corporate decision- makers had addressed those three questions, they would then use the answers arrived at to draw upa feasible 'action plan'. This is the point when the difficult choices must be made – for the overall good of the company. In our case, we must consider the good of the whole country, as well as the continued viability (and usefulness ) of the Canadian Air Force. Perhaps regional civilian agencies could carry out SAR more efficiently at lower cost Our nation covers an enormous geographical area with three distinct coastlines. [2] The challenges of monitoring the West Coast are very different from those on the East Coast. [3] This means trying to coordinate a common fleet of military aircraft to perform a wide range of aerial search-and-rescue tasks which are decidedly non-military in nature. Time for a change.  Using regional, civilian contractors would allow for a range of aircraft types and sizes. No commonality of aircraft type between regions is needed – aircraft can be tailored to the specific requirements of a region or mixed-fleets employed for a layered approach to SAR as well as day-to-day monitoring of the sovereignty and security of our maritime approaches (as is currently done by Provincial Airlines, above).St. John’s-based Provincial Airlines is no stranger to performing contracted patrol flights. In 1989, PAL began replacing Canadian Forces aircraft on fisheries patrols, as well as providing gathered surveillance data to DND.[4] Since beginning these operations, PAL has branched out into marketing such patrols internationally. A successful example is the patrol flown by PAL for the Netherlands Antilles in an arrangement modelled on Australia’s Coastwatch. [5] Canadian civilian operators can and do perform these tasks more efficiently, at lower costs to taxpayers, and with much improved results. As a side benefit, the Canadian Forces can focus on its core mandate. Available military aircraft could still operate as back-ups for aerial SAR (as done by the RCMP and other agencies with SAR as a secondary role). But the burden of aerial SAR as a primary role would be removed from the Canadian Forces and, along with it, the distractions of SAR aircraft procurement and the tying up CF personnel in a civilian role. [1] Parliament has voted to keep the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan at least until 2011. The Afghan mission must, for the time being, be the key focus for all parts of the CF. [2] For simplicity (and because the current FWSAR debate cannot get past replacing the CC-115 Buffalo ), we have not addressed aerial search-and-rescue over inland areas. [3] The Arctic coastine is long, with a variety of specific geographical challenges. Arctic SAR may require a wide range of different small- and medium-sized aircraft. [4] Data is sent to the CF Maritime Operational Information and Surveillance Centres at CFB Halifax or CFB Comox. This arrangement allowed the retirement of the CP-121s. [5] In both cases, radar-equipped DeHavilland Canada Dash-8 MPAs are used, suitably modified for the new role by Field Aviation of Toronto (for more Canadian content). |
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