Reserves and their role in the big picture

[Dogboy]

OK this question has bin in my head for a bit.
What is the main role now for the army Reserves?
is it to supplement the reg. is it to stand by and help at home or what else should be its roles?
if its to help the reg force (what wast the % of the last few rotors I forget ) in operations.
if so, should One feel more compiled to join one .
or is it to be at the ready at home to help with domestic affairs?
or are we a trainings step for some into the Regs?
what are all the view's?

 

Edited by Vern to correct topic title

 

[1RNBR]

My understanding is that the role of the reserves is the same as the reg's.  We supplent reg force on missions away from home and at home, the only difference is reg force trains full time, and as a reservist we train part time, but i do stand to be corrected.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Dogboy,

For a quick and dirty response, let's start with the NDA:

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/N-5/bo-ga:l_II//en#anchorbo-ga:l_II

THE CANADIAN FORCES
Constitution

Canadian Forces

14. The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces.

R.S., c. N-4, s. 14.

Regular force

15. (1) There shall be a component of the Canadian Forces, called the regular force, that consists of officers and non-commissioned members who are enrolled for continuing, full-time military service.

Composition of regular force
(2) The maximum numbers of officers and non-commissioned members in the regular force shall be as authorized by the Governor in Council, and the regular force shall include such units and other elements as are embodied therein.

Reserve force
(3) There shall be a component of the Canadian Forces, called the reserve force, that consists of officers and non-commissioned members who are enrolled for other than continuing, full-time military service when not on active service.

Composition of reserve force
(4) The maximum numbers of officers and non-commissioned members in the reserve force shall be as authorized by the Governor in Council, and the reserve force shall include such units and other elements as are embodied therein.

R.S., 1985, c. N-5, s. 15; R.S., 1985, c. 31 (1st Supp.), s. 60.

Special force

16. (1) In an emergency, or if considered desirable in consequence of any action undertaken by Canada under the United Nations Charter or the North Atlantic Treaty, the North American Aerospace Defence Command Agreement or any other similar instrument to which Canada is a party, the Governor in Council may establish and authorize the maintenance of a component of the Canadian Forces, called the special force, consisting of

( a) officers and non-commissioned members of the regular force who are placed in the special force under conditions prescribed in regulations;

( b) officers and non-commissioned members of the reserve force who, being on active service or having applied and been accepted for continuing, full-time military service, are placed in the special force under conditions prescribed in regulations; and

( c) officers and non-commissioned members not of the regular force or the reserve force who are enrolled in the special force for continuing, full-time military service.

Composition of special force
(2) The maximum numbers of officers and non-commissioned members in the special force shall be as authorized by the Governor in Council, and the special force shall include such units and other elements as are embodied therein.

R.S., 1985, c. N-5, s. 16; R.S., 1985, c. 31 (1st Supp.), s. 60; 2004, c. 15, s. 75.

According to this section of the NDA, the "difference" between the Regular Force and the Reserves is whether they are employed for full-time or "other than continuing full-time" service.

By the NDA, one can deduce that the Reserves provide the ready source of trained soldiers (sailors & airmen) that will be available to form a "Special Force" when needed.  As was done for the Second World War, Reserve units were activated for this purpose.

Now we all know that this has not been done since, so we therefore move into the way the Reserves are being employed (as an institution) and the tasks they are assigned.  As we have seen, the Reserves have been used recently as a source of individual augmentation to the Regular Force in domestic training and infrastructure positions as well as operational taskings.

The Reserves have also been used as a source of trained personnel to form ad hoc organizations for domestic emergency response.  (I use the descriptor ad hoc because, even where these have provided formed elements from single units, it has not included the activation of a unit to a Special Force order of battle.)

This leaves us another aspect to examine, which is why individuals join the Reserves, and how they use the various employment/deployment options for their own preferred employment as a service member.  Some choose the remain Class A/Class B soldiers for their entire career, ready in case their country needs them, fulfilling the purpose for which they were recruited and trained, but not required to take on long term Class B/C or operational tasks.  Others join the Reserves with the intent of having a 'stepping stone' to the Regular Force.  The Reg F may use this to its advantage, but it is not a design element of Reserve recruiting and training.

 

[LJ15]

In addition, one could go with the Army Reserve role as published by the previous CDS that stated:
In the context of The Army purpose:
“Made up of Regular and Reserve (Militia) components, the Army’s primary purpose is to defend the nation and, when called upon, to fight and win in war.” (CFP 300 Canada’s Army)
The Role of the Army Reserve: Within the Army, the Reserves (Militia) provide the framework for mobilization, the Army’s connection with Canadians, and augmentation within the Canadian Forces.
(Note: Augmentation refers to the provision of supplementary(depth) and complementary (breadth) capabilities.)

 

[mckee19]

I myself joined the reserves instead of going full time right away to see if i liked what i was doing before i committed for a certain period of time. i have realized i love what we do and i am going to go to the reg force after i have completed some school i have left. i agree completely with the fact that the reserves is used as a stepping stone for the reg force but thats not its role entirely...it is much broader but in my case thats what i used it for.

 

[John Nayduk]

Some reserve elements have a good "fit" when it comes to augmentation of the regular force, sigs or infantry for example.  Unfortunately, others don't, the Armour reserve for example.  We don't have common equipment (Coyotes or Leopards) so it makes augmenting very difficult.  Most of the reserve Armour guys that go overseas do so outside of their trade.  Right now, other than a few reserve only tasks, like CIMIC, we're fillers for the regular force so that the mission can be accomplished. 

 

[mckee19]

i think this is with in the topic,  Ive heard from guys around the unit and others that reserves are being molded into different units for there tours not just augmenting , that might not be totally correct its just hear say.
can anyone who has been clarify this, because i want to serve a tour in Afghanistan and I'm in the reserves right now but if i go as a reservist i don't want to sit behind the wire, i want to be involved.

 

[Command-Sense-Act 105]

x

 

[mckee19]

thanks, that pretty much answered that for me