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Military's diversity, inclusion efforts plagued by shortcomings: internal review

They don't need the draft to ensure integration of diverse groups into the military, < snip >
I just know what I read in the papers.


 
I just know what I read in the papers. As recently as last year.


Those sorts of articles come up whenever the US looks like it'll get into another conflict.
 
If we can run Class A regiments from Vancouver/Lower Mainland, why not Reg Force?

Res F members can freely move and (if one exists) transfer to another unit if they have trouble finding work and accommodation in any particular location. Commuting long distances (between workplace and wherever one can afford to live) one evening a week and occasional Saturdays/weekends is not quantitatively the same as commuting every working day.
 
It doesn't help with stuff like this...

View attachment 65349

Blame it on COVID-22 ....

Define Catch-22 GIF by Kev Lavery
 
The CAF can't compete with medical school, which is what alot of immigrants want for their kids and why they come here. If we want more immigrants in the CAF we might consider making it a good choice as a path to citizenship, like in the US military:


A profile of the Canadian Forces​


A very small proportion of CF personnel were members of visible minorities—only 6% of all CF members (5% of regular forces and 11% of reservists) were visible minorities compared with 17% of the civilian working population. This is much lower than the U.S. military’s rate of 33% (Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness 2006). Only 3% of officers in the regular forces were members of visible minorities.

Similarly, a very small portion were immigrants (6% compared with 21%). The low rates of visible minority and immigrant members may be related to the citizenship requirement for joining the CF. Currently, only Canadian citizens can join the regular forces (DND 2008e).10

However, even after excluding recent immigrants (in Canada less than 10 years) and adjusting for age, significant differences in visible minority and immigrant representation remain between the CF and the civilian working population (data not shown). The under-representation of visible minorities in the CF can be explained by many factors (Jung 2007): the importance of education, family, and ethnic identity;11 a relatively low ranking of military service as a career, combined with the negative image provided by their own native militaries; and insufficient numbers in senior ranks to provide the necessary positive role models. However, visible minority representation in the CF is important because they are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population, particularly in the traditional recruitment target age group of 17 to 24 (Rueben 2004).

Using military service as a path to citizenship is a solid idea. If someone wants to speed up the path to receiving their citizenship, a form of national service is a great way to earn it. It also gives them a solid salary during a time when they may be trying to get a solid footing under them.

I would say it's something to look into. :unsure:


As for the stats, I can't argue with them. Obviously StatsCan knows it's stats better than I do (which is nadda.) But I served with several people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds when I was in, and I tended to gravitate towards smaller units. The "Only 3%" of officers being a visible minority seems low... not sure if it's just my experience when I was in, but it seemed more diversified than that. (Albeit Caucasian & male were clearly the dominant demographic.
 
Okay, sorry to be 'that guy' with this.... but I've been out for a while now, and thankfully never had to deal with any of this stuff. Can someone break this down real quick for me?
Right now we are in posting season so military pers that are posted to a new location are looking for a place to live. In some of the locations the housing market is very expensive so people are having a hard time finding a place. Military Pers Command posted what I guess they thought were helpful suggestions, which were:

Rent - In some places the cost of a rental place is also very expensive or there are not a lot of vacancies;

Rent now buy later - As per above;

Apply for an RHU (Residential Housing Unit) new term for PMQ - The issue is some locations don't have a lot of RHUs and you go on a waiting list and you might not get one in time for your posting; and

Proceed unaccompanied - Meaning your family stays where you are and you rent a single room by yourself in the new locations. Being separated from the family can cause a lot of stress in the family especially if it is a long distance, and the member can't easily drive back to see the family on weekends.
 
Using military service as a path to citizenship is a solid idea. If someone wants to speed up the path to receiving their citizenship, a form of national service is a great way to earn it. It also gives them a solid salary during a time when they may be trying to get a solid footing under them.

I would say it's something to look into. :unsure:


As for the stats, I can't argue with them. Obviously StatsCan knows it's stats better than I do (which is nadda.) But I served with several people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds when I was in, and I tended to gravitate towards smaller units. The "Only 3%" of officers being a visible minority seems low... not sure if it's just my experience when I was in, but it seemed more diversified than that. (Albeit Caucasian & male were clearly the dominant demographic.

My span of experience in the CAF is fairly narrow but I've only met a small handful of Officers/ other ranks that were not the atypical white male. The current MND is one of them.

His unit, the BCRs, are the only ones I've seen (out west anyways) who seem to be able to attract, retain and promote South Asian (or any other communities of colour) members on a regular basis. Others 'fluke out' from time to time, like the Westies who have recently had an excellent guy take over as CO who is from an Asian background. But it's usually just that: a fluke.

In general, our culture might be described as being really good at producing high quality soldiers who trend towards lower quality in other aspects of human behaviour e.g., being racist, misogynist, homophobic, socio-pathic/ bullying b*stards, whether conscious or unconsciously.

Anyone who is a female, a person of colour, or gay, who sticks it out for more than a handful of years in this environment, should be awarded a medal IMHO. Seriously, someone should figure out how to do that.

Add some incentive pay while you're at it.
 
My span of experience in the CAF is fairly narrow but I've only met a small handful of Officers/ other ranks that were not the atypical white male. The current MND is one of them.

His unit, the BCRs, are the only ones I've seen (out west anyways) who seem to be able to attract, retain and promote South Asian (or any other communities of colour) members on a regular basis. Others 'fluke out' from time to time, like the Westies who have recently had an excellent guy take over as CO who is from an Asian background. But it's usually just that: a fluke.

In general, our culture might be described as being really good at producing high quality soldiers who trend towards lower quality in other aspects of human behaviour e.g., being racist, misogynist, homophobic, socio-pathic/ bullying b*stards, whether conscious or unconsciously.

Anyone who is a female, a person of colour, or gay, who sticks it out for more than a handful of years in this environment, should be awarded a medal IMHO. Seriously, someone should figure out how to do that.

Add some incentive pay while you're at it.
:ROFLMAO: I don't disagree with you!!


What would we call this medal though??
 
Right now we are in posting season so military pers that are posted to a new location are looking for a place to live. In some of the locations the housing market is very expensive so people are having a hard time finding a place. Military Pers Command posted what I guess they thought were helpful suggestions, which were:

Rent - In some places the cost of a rental place is also very expensive or there are not a lot of vacancies;

Rent now buy later - As per above;

Apply for an RHU (Residential Housing Unit) new term for PMQ - The issue is some locations don't have a lot of RHUs and you go on a waiting list and you might not get one in time for your posting; and

Proceed unaccompanied - Meaning your family stays where you are and you rent a single room by yourself in the new locations. Being separated from the family can cause a lot of stress in the family especially if it is a long distance, and the member can't easily drive back to see the family on weekends.

Sounds like the CAF needs to get into the Air BnB business :)
 
To be fair, they reposted something from MPC.
Fair point (though the CAF has punished mbrs for reposting and liking posts on social media).

Maybe I was too harsh, I just find it really insulting to suggest leaving your family behind as a solution to sky high housing prices.
 
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