Editor’s Corner

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Welcome to yet another summer edition of the Canadian Military Journal as we continue our commemoration of the two major global conflicts of the 20th Century. With that in mind, renowned Canadian artist David Craig graces our cover with his celebratory montage of victory over the Axis powers during the Second World War.

With respect to our current issue, Major-General Éric Tremblay, Commander of the Canadian Defence Academy, and Dr. Bill Bentley, the Senior Staff Officer Professional Concepts and Leader Development at the Academy, combine forces to explore Canada’s historical and present strategic culture, or how “…the nation views the world, including threats to its security, and then influences the response to that perception.” This is, and has been, reflected in our nation’s understanding of the utility of military force as it interacts with other nations, that is, specifically, what is the role of military force in pursuit of our national interests, as opposed to non-military actions, in the face of various threats to our sovereignty, security, and national stability?

They are followed by independent academic journalist Adam MacDonald, who discusses the new political paradigm that has emerged in the Arctic since the end of the Cold War. However, MacDonald notes that over the past decade, “… the pendulum [is] swinging back towards a more strategic-military orientation,” in a manner characterized by some as a ‘militarization’ of the region. The author examines these trends in some detail, concluding that: “Managing the selective inclusion, not complete exclusion, of military aspects into the Arctic regime is warranted to support and not derail efforts that address the complex challenges confronting the region.”

Next, American infantry officer Major Ben Zweibelson examines the periodic interest displayed by Western military organizations as to “…whether the emergent behaviour of decentralized systems, commonly referred to as ‘swarm theory,’ or ‘swarm behaviour,’ might be relevant in military applications.” Fad, or legitimate alternate source of military applications superior to existing traditional methodologies? Read on and judge for yourselves.

In our historical section this time out, Professor Carl Pépin of Université Laval chronicles a portion of the late-First World War Allied offensive known as the ‘Hundred Days,” and specifically, the Canadian Corps’ tasking to capture the city of Cambrai through three German defensive barriers, most notably, the last and heavily-fortified Drocourt-Quéant (DQ) Line. The French-Canadian 22nd Battalion was specifically tasked to penetrate the sector of the defensive barrier facing the village of Chérisy, resting as it did at the very heart of the overall Hindenburg Line. “The first hours of the assault seemed promising, but it ended in disaster for the French-Canadian soldiers and the English-speaking soldiers who were part of the same brigade.” Pépin’s article examines this ultimately-failed portion of the offensive in considerable detail.

We then move on to our two opinion pieces, which are very diverse in their subject matter. First, artillery officer Major Mike Draho examines a potential Canadian Armed Forces initiative to ‘incentivize’ physical fitness test results in our military. In short, Draho brings forward “…two specific concerns that combined generate a third regarding the unintended organizational climate that incentivized fitness could create in the long term.” Next, postgraduate scholar of military history and strategy Ryan Goldsworthy tells the story of the many young Canadians who voluntarily enlisted in the US armed services to fight in the Vietnam War, and chronicles the rationale for the general lack of official commemoration in Canada for Canadians who so served.

After a brief one-issue hiatus, our own resident commentator Martin Shadwick is ‘back in the saddle.’ This time out, Martin tackles Canadian public opinion as it applies to defence matters.

Finally, we close the issue with a timely book review essay of three well-written and worthy recent publications dealing with strategic thinking, and then offer a brace of regular book reviews to further pique the interests of our readership.

Until the next time.

David L. Bashow
Editor-in-Chief
Canadian Military Journal

DND Photo GD2015-0065-13

A CF-18 Hornet soars above the clouds over Iraq before commencing the next mission during Operation Impact, 23 January 2015.