Canadian Forces will be moving people out of their existing occupations and into the infantry in an effort to relieve the pressure of rotations in Afghanistan.
The process- known as re-roling - is expected to provide extra soldiers so that the time frame between return deployments to Afghanistan will be longer than six months.
Two quick observations:
1. This is the first time since Normandy that a shortage of recruits has led to stuffing people from other military trades into the infantry. Back then the problem was caused by a combination of heavy casualties and a shortage of recruits. In this instance it is caused by a shortage of recruits.
2. This leads to the second observation, namely that the Conservative's promise in the last election to put battalions in every nook and cranny of the country was - as Bond Papers said at the time - sheer bunk.
Goose Bay take note.
3. As a last point, people should also notice that the move to re-roling also sends a powerful message about the current state of the reserve force and/or the federal government's unwillingness to use its legal powers to draw on more reserve soldiers to fulfill its military obligations.
Everyone take note of that one.
