Report of the RMC Board of Governors By the Withers' Study Group
Balanced Excellence Leading Canada's Armed Forces In The New Millenium
4500-240 (ADM (HR-Mil))
24 September 1998
Cross-reference p. 41 of 63 of official printed copy of report
The military pillar is unacceptably weak. Many factors account for this paradoxical situation, the most influential of which are:
- turbulence in departmental policy (including closure of RRMC, CMR and amalgamation in Kingston);
- the continuity and solidity of the academic pillar; and,
- the rapid turnover of military personnel at the College, particularly the Commandant.
In the past, the military program was not professionally developed nor professionally delivered.
Key military personnel such as squadron commanders are neither properly nor adequately prepared for their task, nor is this task well defined. There is little realistic preparation for life in the real world of the Forces. This applies as well with regard to the role of NCOs. Young officers must work closely with their NCOs during the first years of their career. Officers need to sustain this relationship throughout their career. Failure to appreciate this resource diminishes their performance and hinders their development.
There should be no doubt that the single most significant factor for demotivating otherwise excellent potential officers on campus today, is the weakness of the military pillar. The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that in large measure, off-campus summer training is also woefully inadequate. Schools, units and training establishments clearly have not put priority on training cadets in the summer.
A. Military Ethos and Ethics:
The inculcation of potential officers with the necessary military ethos is a difficult process. It is also difficult to measure. Standards of behaviour must be set high and their rationale clearly understood. They must be rigorously applied, and non-adherence consistently and firmly corrected. Outstanding role models must be provided to achieve success. Students thereafter, absorb the ethical standards from the environment in which they operate. These are reinforced by carefully prepared formal methods such as: instruction; mentoring and, discussion groups.
At RMC insufficient attention is devoted to this process. There appears to be little effort applied to ensuring that all four pillars contribute to the objective in appropriate measure. In reality, truth is the bedrock of all scholarly endeavour. Duty and valour should be revealed in the daily routine of all cadets, where moral courage takes the place of the physical variety of the battlefield. The close study of military history provides material for intense reflection on all these virtues from across the centuries.
There must be, therefore, a seamless web connecting all pillars, with students moving between them unaware of any difference in approach or standards. In particular, a clear statement of the desired military ethos articulated by the military pillar must be consciously reinforced by the academic pillar through formal instruction and daily routine.
In this respect the presence of military officers in the classroom, providing substantive examples of how the right military ethos applies throughout an officer's career, is highly desirable. At the same time, cadets need to be fully informed of the reality of life in the wider CF community. Cadets must learn to recognise real world moral issues and apply ethical considerations in decision-making. Military ethos is rooted in caring for subordinates in the real world. At the core of ethical leadership is the imperative to care for subordinates before operations by training, equipping and supporting them to have a fair chance to fight, win and come home; caring for them during operations by professional leadership and support; and, caring for them after operations by meeting their needs because of service and honouring their deeds. These imperatives must be instilled in cadets throughout their RMC experience.
In large measure, the current cry to put the "M" back in RMC reflects the failure of the institution and the CF to create an environment where cadets live and breathe the desired Canadian military ethos every day. Many of the recommendations throughout the study speak to aspects of developing the desired ethos. The Study Group readily accepted the definition and discussion of military ethos and ethics contained in the CF Officer Professional Development Handbook. The definitions contained therein set the standard for what must be achieved at the College. Relevant extracts are included here for convenience.
The OPD Handbook has this to say on the subject of ethos and ethics:
Ethos. To serve in the CF is to adhere to a unique military ethos. Ethos derives from a sense of belonging to a unit, element, command, formation, force or country. Ethos reflects the principles in which you believe. These principles are embodied in the following statements:
- You believe in Canada as a strong and free nation, and accept that the ultimate reason for the existence of the Canadian Armed Forces is the preservation of security, justice and peace for Canada. You believe that this can best be attained through the development and maintenance of a professional military force;
- You believe that this profession of arms, an integral part of Canadian society, forms a distinct subset of the entire Canadian fabric. You are part of a group who has been charged with a unique mandate: to serve our country through the maintenance of its security and defence of its sovereignty - if necessary, by the application of military force;
- You accept that the authority to apply such power requires that your profession be properly structured, with adherence to a clearly defined chain of command and obedience to a code of conduct, the Code of Service Discipline;
- You believe that the military society is a good society embodying those moral virtues of: prudence, justice, patriotism, obedience, veracity and patience. These moral virtues affect your relations with your comrades-in-arms and you believe that these values, derived from a traditional code of ethics, form part of those of contemporary Canadian society;
- You accept that teamwork is essential to the survival and success of the military unit and therefore accept the necessity of continuous cycles of training and practice. This ensures not only that the group functions as a disciplined and professional entity, but also that individual members are trained to perform well, both in their assigned role and as members of the team, and that their potential for development as future leaders is recognised and nurtured;
- You accept that, in volunteering to serve your country, you must endure the restriction of certain freedoms including some rights provided by the democratic process;
- You accept these responsibilities in memory of those comrades who died in the service of their country and must ensure that their memory and ideals are not forgotten.
Ethics. You enter the CF with pre-formed personal and societal values or ethics. Ethical instruction and practice reinforced those values and inculcate the ability to work within a personal or group set of defined, or undefined, ethical guidelines. Instruction in ethics will provide you with a knowledge of ethics theory; however, you will be expected to make ethical decisions about yourself, as you encounter ethical dilemmas throughout your career. Instruction in ethical behaviour does not reside within any one institution and therefore your exposure will be through a number of formal courses or parts of courses, or through field experience, either on exercise or during actual operations. Formal ethical instruction improves your cognitive ability to resolve ethical dilemmas and is intended to prepare you for the more difficult ethical decision making that will inevitably be required during war and/or peacekeeping operations. This area of professional development is important in your career.
To enhance the development of the appropriate military ethos at RMC, the Study Group recommends:
Recommendation 15: Specifically include the subject of defining, understanding and developing the appropriate military ethos in the military pillar.
Comment: This program must be fully informed by the concept of facilitating success.
Recommendation16:
Ensure that all uniformed officers on campus serve as role models. However, it is fundamentally important that squadron commanders be selected for their qualities as role models. In addition, cadet exposure to as many post-graduates, in as many fora as possible, must be increased.
B. Professional Military Training at RMC
Military training during the RMC program is both training done during the academic year and summer training. Therefore, the requirement for sustained collaboration between the College and the CF is obvious. Closer co-ordination is necessary in order to ensure that training at the College is not merely a pale reflection of the type of training, better and more effectively conducted at specialised units in the CF. The military pillar must focus on its strengths which include the resources of the academic pillar and the large body of post-graduate officers resident in Kingston.
A very great deal of evidence heard by the Study Group testifies to a high level of dissatisfaction with military training at RMC on the part of both cadets, and the commanders and staff, who ultimately employ the graduate. Cadets are unaware of any coherent program where development is progressive and oriented on clearly defined objectives. Programs in the past have been ill defined and often reflect the particular preferences at any given season of incumbent Commandants and staff. Above all, there is no system to validate training objectives and standards, and training results are not monitored over the long term. Much of this reflects the high turnover of military staff and their selection based on criteria largely unrelated to their skills as trainers. In fact, there are very few dedicated trainers at RMC, much of this function being fulfilled by officers who have other, unrelated duties.
The staff to student ratio calculated for the military pillar should be increased. In practical terms this will occur naturally with greater employment of post-graduate students, the addition of NCMs and other measures proposed in this report. The role of fourth year cadets, as envisaged in the Balanced Excellence Model, will be particularly significant. With these student assets properly applied and themselves supervised by Squadron Commanders and NCMs, the effective staff to student ratio could approach 1 to 10.
Leadership training must be central to everything that cadets do at RMC but it remains relatively unfocussed. Apart from a few one semester courses, formal training is lacking. Although leadership roles and projects where leadership is expected are encountered frequently, feedback on results and remedial training is relatively rare. The profile of this crucial dimension of professional officer development must be raised at the College.
Drill and parades are necessary and valuable activities in any military organisation. They contribute to the development of self-discipline and they provide a concrete illumination of the special organisation in which the individual serves. However, drill is not a substitute for other more focused and frequently more relevant training. The approach to drill at RMC should reflect the approach taken by the Forces at large. Hence, the amount of drill at RMC should be reduced. The Study Group was not prepared to suggest an exact allocation of time for this activity. We strongly recommend that the drill program be carefully scrutinised with a view to reducing the hours devoted to this activity rather dramatically. The newly available training hours should be filled with useful and motivating forms of military training.
C. Professional Military Training by the CF
Summer training for Navy and Air Force cadets is largely unsatisfactory. These highly intelligent, initially motivated individuals are employed in menial tasks, usually unrelated to their MOC and often of decidedly unmilitary character. This situation reflects the fact that in many cases, necessary MOC training cannot be accomplished during two or three short, discontinuous periods in the summer when operational flying units take needed leave and ships are alongside. The situation for the Army is better in the summer but it too could be improved.
The current situation has given rise to a mindset in the Forces best described by the popular saying "The CF should be educating the motivated not motivating the educated". The creation of this dichotomy is not a productive approach. The Forces view RMC as an institution educating potential officers in a manner which challenges the services to provide the necessary motivation against ingrained resistance. On the other hand, RMC suspects that the CF does not accord sufficient weight to high quality education or the need to recruit the best people into the profession.
Education and motivation are inextricably linked and must be made mutually supportive. The search for the proper balance between these two elements, the need to introduce effective MOC training in place of ineffective contact (summer) training, and the provision of high quality academic education, led the Study Group to propose a fundamental departure from current practice. This has been done in the Balanced Excellence Model which is described in greater detail later in this report.
The Balanced Excellence Model with its emphasis on the development of military ethos, integration of the four pillars and enhanced co-ordination with the CF, suggests the need for CF officers readily employable in both academic and military pillars. There is a requirement for officers to be qualified to teach at RMC, serve as role models and contribute to training in the military pillar. These officers would in fact be a great asset for other employment such as directing staff at the CF College in Toronto and as instructors on the new DP4 courses (Col/General level).
To improve military training at RMC, the Study Group recommends:
Recommendation 17:
Require a comprehensive Training Plan from the Commandant which defines objectives and outlines training methods and resources, including those from the academic pillar and post-graduate students. This Plan should be monitored on a regular basis.
Recommendation 18: Appoint the Commandant for a period of five years.
Comment: This is a most critical appointment, for the Commandant is in full command just as in any unit or formation of the CF. Care should be taken to ensure continuity by staging the appointments of the Commandant and the Principal. Consideration should be given to appointing a distinguished officer at the end of his/her career. In fact, the Board should consider, in collaboration with the MND and CDS, the concept of appointing a very recently retired officer for a fixed term of office.
Recommendation 19: Review the senior rank structure of RMC.
The Study Group endorses the idea of increasing the rank of the Director of Cadets to a full Colonel with the position of Commandant remaining as that of a Flag/General Officer.
Recommendation 20:
Seek to establish a better staff to student ratio in the military pillar through the employment of post-graduate students and fourth year students as mentors and trainers.
Recommendation 21: Increase the number of Senior NCMs at RMC.
Comment: Assign high quality training NCMs in the rank of Warrant Officer or Master Warrant Officer to each squadron.
Recommendation 22: Increase and intensify leadership training at RMC.
- Investigate the advantages of achieving this objective by establishing a Leadership Institute within RMC. This institute would have broad responsibilities for research on the subject of leadership as well as teaching and mentoring;
- Establish RMC as the "centre of excellence" for all of the CF on the subject of leadership.
Recommendation 23: Strengthen oral and written communications in the military pillar.
Comment: Raise the expected standard of oral and written communications by placing additional emphasis on them in the military pillar. This would include public speaking and media relations.
Recommendation 24: Utilise the "core" curriculum recommended in the academic pillar to bridge the two pillars.
Comment: Appropriate military examples for relevant courses given in the academic pillar should be derived from activities taking place in the military pillar.