Special Service Medal - Domestic Operations Bar

[Blackadder1916]

Now I know I'm missing older deployments pre-2000. Locally about 15km from where I sit a CAF member was killed on wildfire response in the 1950's and there have been others over the years as well especially in the Search and Rescue field.

But overall it's been a busy couple of decades for the CAF and to share some persepective:

Unfortunately I don't have access to the number of CAF personnel involved as not all public facing missions list the number of staff. Same with many missions not including details as to which province/territory was involved. Some were in the thousands of CAF members...others less than a dozen. But all were called out for specific taskings above and beyond regular training and garrison duties.

foresterab

I suppose it is easier to count the number of "deployments" and pers involved when every fart and butt scratch is assigned an op name and a database is kept with each individual as a line item. But looking back at my own career (especially when I was a lowly jr. rank), I recall the times that I was sent on "taskings" - if they had been a named op, I either didn't know it (or been told) or quickly forgot. I do know that I fought forest fires, helped in ground searches for lost individuals, provided medical services at international level sports events, and among other miscellaneous doings, kept RCMP (and the ground they were searching) warm and dry while they were doing a forensic examination of a possible murder scene. I don't think there was ever a paper trail that could prove my involvement other than notations in my (now long gone) UER.

 

[Maxman1]

Box top counts towards the Alert bar.

 

[foresterab]

I suppose it is easier to count the number of "deployments" and pers involved when every fart and butt scratch is assigned an op name and a database is kept with each individual as a line item. But looking back at my own career (especially when I was a lowly jr. rank), I recall the times that I was sent on "taskings" - if they had been a named op, I either didn't know it (or been told) or quickly forgot. I do know that I fought forest fires, helped in ground searches for lost individuals, provided medical services at international level sports events, and among other miscellaneous doings, kept RCMP (and the ground they were searching) warm and dry while they were doing a forensic examination of a possible murder scene. I don't think there was ever a paper trail that could prove my involvement other than notations in my UER.

When I deploy to wildfires there is an assigned fire number - naming conventions vary by province - and usually there is a resource order for sustained large scale events. Local small scale stuff is still tracked by fire but the majority of work is "other duties as assigned". There is no award for deploying as that is part of my job...same as there is no award for a member of the CAF attending training or a battalion exercise in Canada. If I go outside of Canada - like some of my peers have - then its' the same deal as in Canada normally. The Canadian Honours system though seems to only recognize service outside of Canada - the SSM for NATO, Humanitarian work and/or the General Service Medal for EXPITITION work outside of Canada.

I struggle in some regards because there seems to be domestic operations initiated by the CAF and then operations that the CAF mobilizes for based upon provincial/territory emergency assistance. For some, especially reservists, this may be the only deployment they do in their enlistment. For others they may be deployed on domestic operations and then as a result not deploy outside of Canada. And while I like to think evaluations would capture all the positive work done it's not always the case so then how to do you compare CAF member X who was serving overseas vs. member Y who served equally honorably here in Canada on domestic operations?

Operation NANOOK is a good example for the annual exercise for mobilizing different elements of the CAF in harsh conditions with a wide range of manpower needs depending on the year....but we're also doing multi-national exercises as part of the operation, multi-agency (not just CAF), and has changing objectives by year. When I see CAF Reserve units deploying as formed units that is when I mentally start including the operation.

Operation LENTUS is the opposite story. The CAF is deploying to respond to civilian response emergency as requested by the Premier of a Province. Many have had large reserve force contributions depending on the nature.

Then there are the federal government civil assistance type missions - LASER (COVID Pandemic), Cadence (G7 Summit Security) and ELEMENT (Asylum Seekers) which are a unique type of tasking outside of what I, as a civilian, view as the CAF mandate.

I grouped by categories just for my own interest and comprehension. If there is a Domestic Operations award then maybe some current awards like "Rangers" "Alert" get absorbed or depending on the argument get moved from the SSM - which is primarily overseas criteria - to something else.

All I know is there have been a ton of CAF members supporting Domestic Operations and just adding them up has been worth the time to better understand the contributions the CAF has made.

foresterab

 

[daftandbarmy]

I had a Franco with really poor English who worked for me spell Arctic that way. He also pronounced the word "Artic" as well. I never had the heart to correct him LOL

 

[Booter]

I'd blame lack of coffee but honestly I screwed up the spelling and didn't run a spell check like I usually do.

Oh no problem- I thought your sources were spelling it that way- then I’d be concerned. I also make spelling mistakes so I get it

 

[Halifax Tar]

I suppose it is easier to count the number of "deployments" and pers involved when every fart and butt scratch is assigned an op name and a database is kept with each individual as a line item. But looking back at my own career (especially when I was a lowly jr. rank), I recall the times that I was sent on "taskings" - if they had been a named op, I either didn't know it (or been told) or quickly forgot. I do know that I fought forest fires, helped in ground searches for lost individuals, provided medical services at international level sports events, and among other miscellaneous doings, kept RCMP (and the ground they were searching) warm and dry while they were doing a forensic examination of a possible murder scene. I don't think there was ever a paper trail that could prove my involvement other than notations in my (now long gone) UER.

We have a long institutional history of being bad at administration.

My old UER is missing all kinds of stuff.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

When I deploy to wildfires there is an assigned fire number - naming conventions vary by province - and usually there is a resource order for sustained large scale events. Local small scale stuff is still tracked by fire but the majority of work is "other duties as assigned". There is no award for deploying as that is part of my job...same as there is no award for a member of the CAF attending training or a battalion exercise in Canada. If I go outside of Canada - like some of my peers have - then its' the same deal as in Canada normally. The Canadian Honours system though seems to only recognize service outside of Canada - the SSM for NATO, Humanitarian work and/or the General Service Medal for EXPITITION work outside of Canada.

I struggle in some regards because there seems to be domestic operations initiated by the CAF and then operations that the CAF mobilizes for based upon provincial/territory emergency assistance. For some, especially reservists, this may be the only deployment they do in their enlistment. For others they may be deployed on domestic operations and then as a result not deploy outside of Canada. And while I like to think evaluations would capture all the positive work done it's not always the case so then how to do you compare CAF member X who was serving overseas vs. member Y who served equally honorably here in Canada on domestic operations?

The CAF doesn't actually do that type of analysis. From what I've seen, performance that is backed by actual metrics and data counts for very little in CAF SCRITs. Doing things like deployments often counts against you because you miss career courses and milestones.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The CAF doesn't actually do that type of analysis. From what I've seen, performance that is backed by actual metrics and data counts for very little in CAF SCRITs. Doing things like deployments often counts against you because you miss career courses and milestones.

HMS Pinafore enters the chat

"Stick close to your desks and never go to sea and you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navy."

- Gilbert and Sullivan

 

[Furniture]

The CAF doesn't actually do that type of analysis. From what I've seen, performance that is backed by actual metrics and data counts for very little in CAF SCRITs. Doing things like deployments often counts against you because you miss career courses and milestones.

It also shows you're will to do what you're asked to do, meaning you'll never get the special treatment the difficult people get to keep them "happy".

 

[dimsum]

HMS Pinafore enters the chat

"Stick close to your desks and never go to sea and you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navy."

- Gilbert and Sullivan

The CAF doesn't actually do that type of analysis. From what I've seen, performance that is backed by actual metrics and data counts for very little in CAF SCRITs. Doing things like deployments often counts against you because you miss career courses and milestones.

From what I’ve seen of the USAF (and other) system, theirs is even more messed up than ours.

I had a co-worker who was essentially forced to taking a Masters (any Masters) so that they can be in the zone to be promoted to Maj. And if they didn’t get promoted, they were kicked out bc “up or out”.

No, they don’t get reimbursed for said Masters. No, the Masters had nothing to do with their job. No, they didn’t get any time off to do said Masters.

I asked them why and their response was “well in my trade (an operator type trade, not Engineering or whatever), everyone else has one so it’s now just the thing to do”. Most E-8s and E-9s (MWO/CWOs) and DoD Civilians at the Maj equivalent level have at least a Bachelors, if not a Masters or a PhD who I’ve met - usually not in anything related to their job. It’s just a way to distinguish themselves during PER season for them.

It was honestly pretty eye-opening.

 

[daftandbarmy]

From what I’ve seen of the USAF (and other) system, theirs is even more messed up than ours.

I had a co-worker who was essentially forced to taking a Masters (any Masters) so that they can be in the zone to be promoted to Maj. And if they didn’t get promoted, they were kicked out bc “up or out”.

No, they don’t get reimbursed for said Masters. No, the Masters had nothing to do with their job. No, they didn’t get any time off to do said Masters.

I asked them why and their response was “well in my trade (an operator type trade, not Engineering or whatever), everyone else has one so it’s now just the thing to do”. Most E-8s and E-9s (MWO/CWOs) and DoD Civilians at the Maj equivalent level have at least a Bachelors, if not a Masters or a PhD who I’ve met - usually not in anything related to their job. It’s just a way to distinguish themselves during PER season for them.

It was honestly pretty eye-opening.

Degree inflation enters the chat...

New Report: Degree Inflation Hurting Bottom Line of U.S. Firms, Closing Off Economic Opportunity for Millions of Americans

BOSTON—The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports over 12 million Americans are either unemployed or underemployed, while new research finds that 3 in 5 employers report difficulty in filling middle-skills jobs – positions that require more education than a high-school diploma, but less than a...

www.hbs.edu

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

From what I’ve seen of the USAF (and other) system, theirs is even more messed up than ours.

I had a co-worker who was essentially forced to taking a Masters (any Masters) so that they can be in the zone to be promoted to Maj. And if they didn’t get promoted, they were kicked out bc “up or out”.

No, they don’t get reimbursed for said Masters. No, the Masters had nothing to do with their job. No, they didn’t get any time off to do said Masters.

I asked them why and their response was “well in my trade (an operator type trade, not Engineering or whatever), everyone else has one so it’s now just the thing to do”. Most E-8s and E-9s (MWO/CWOs) and DoD Civilians at the Maj equivalent level have at least a Bachelors, if not a Masters or a PhD who I’ve met - usually not in anything related to their job. It’s just a way to distinguish themselves during PER season for them.

It was honestly pretty eye-opening.

I think the American system is even more FUBARed than ours. It basically promotes rampant careerism...

The US Army is the exact same. I had a buddy who was an Infantry Officer in the 25th Infantry Division. Deployed on two 15 month combat tours to Afghanistan that were basically right out of West Point during McChrystal surge.

As such, he never attended Ranger School, which during peace time, the US Army basically considers a must have for Infantry Officers. At the time, it was NBD. He was doing well for a number of years... Platoon Leader, Company Commander, CIB, Citations, etc then the Army transitioned back to "peacetime" and not having Ranger School all of a sudden became a "HUGE" problem and he wasn't in the window where he could attend.

Do everything your told, lead troops in to battle in some pretty bad places then get held back by Green Army because you went to War instead of participating in "Extreme LARPing".... this explains a lot of things that are wrong with the US Military.

 

[foresterab]

We have a long institutional history of being bad at administration.

My old UER is missing all kinds of stuff.

For what it's worth it's not just the CAF. First lesson to some new hires was to protect your self and ensure that you - not the system - maintains a records file of deployments/evaluations/medical treatments/training. Because when you try go back 10 years or 20 years later or are asked to prove competency you need those old records to show. It's even more fun when you deploy out of province as Alberta for example allows for digital copies of training records...but BC you can be asked to produce your original safety tickets at any time by WorkSafe BC.