Mid-Career Army Officer
@MidOfficer
Followers
10K
Following
37K
Media
5K
Statuses
15K
๐จ๐ฆ Army Officer. Carl Gustav enthusiast. Mostly jokes but some thoughts about doctrine, leadership, culture, & tech. All views my own, especially the jokes.
Canada
Joined October 2021
I like to write threads with funny gifs about Canadian Armed Forces culture, doctrine, and management issues - mostly late at night to avoid sleeping. This is a meta ๐งต of ๐งต:.
9
15
169
I once again ask the question - why does an urgent operational requirement approved by the Federal Cabinet and fully funded by the Minister of Finance need to follow the same Treasury Board project management policy & approval steps as any other random government procurement?
2
0
47
The ๐จ๐ฆ gov's 2022 commitment to the Latvia mission included $1B in fully funded urgent capabilities + eqpt. To date only a small fraction of this money has been spent - yet DND is getting $9B more this year. Nothing will be achieved without urgent & dramatic procurement reform.
4
17
122
Sometimes I worry we are hopelessly mired in bureaucracy, without the imagination to take any risk to achieve the mission - able only to trade long term viability for cheap wins until we no longer even remember what right looks like. And other days I know that's already true.
28
13
194
I worked on this when I was at the Strategic Joint Staff. Bottom line is we do not & should not career manage women based on their gender - huge negative impacts. We would have pulled multiple women out of combat unit command roles to be staff officers if the UN had their way.
Number of female Canadian soldiers on UN peacekeeping missions craters
7
7
140
Good news for Denmark + Colt Canada but definitely an extra frustration for Canadian soldiers deployed alongside Danes in Latvia who watch our procurement system fail for decades to provide basic equipment like rifles, modern hearing protection, body armour & load carriage.
๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark has awarded a contract to Colt Canada for the provision of 26.000 C8 MRR Assault Rifles, which are to be delivered by the end of 2026. The rifles will receive the Gevรฆr M/25 designation and are set to replace the older Gevรฆr M/10 (C8 IUR) in Danish service.
8
22
186
For those who keep insisting that Canada is unilaterally making a mistake by purchasing (in very small quantities) the GM ISV, you can now add the British Army evaluating it alongside the US Army fully embracing it as an option for certain types of light forces.
GM Defense has shipped to the UK a first lot of Infantry Squad Vehicles so NP Aerospace can work on them to turn them into their joint, proposed solution for the British Army LMV requirement.
20
7
107
The Bermuda Triangle but for soldiers' raises:
BREAKING: The Liberal government announced its long-promised pay increase for members of the Canadian military on Friday.
21
13
295
Ideas for urgent ๐จ๐ฆ defence investment:. The Army has tried to replace worn out rifles since 2010. The current 2020 project won't issue a contract before late 2027. @MarkJCarney should direct PSPC to immediately contract Colt Canada to build modern rifles for the CAF, ~$900M.
Carney wants to spend an extra $9B on defence by April. Is that possible? Experts say there are risks and serious challenges to hitting this year's NATO target . Find out more at
50
42
350
It's not. We need buildings, planes, howitzers - nothing is sitting on a shelf. Our procurement system has a major project time of ~16 years, only directed buys will get us close - just like we did for Ukraine. Cancel the red tape and order ๐จ๐ฆLAVs, Roshels, C8A4 now, + more.
Carney wants to spend an extra $9B on defence by April. Is that possible? Experts say there are risks and serious challenges to hitting this year's NATO target . Find out more at
36
44
441
Unironically the future of land warfare.
10
4
83
Have you ever seen a stick fire a BALL?.
Handgonne ca. 1400. Loosely modelled after the Tannenberg castle gun, mine is loaded with around 50-60 gr. of 2F black powder and fires a .75 calibre lead ball.
6
1
21
Watching Western militaries brag about finally matching the embryonic drone capabilities of 2015-era ISIS is deeply depressing.
8
7
108
Invest heavily in cannon-based counter-drone systems, not electronic warfare. That's the tweet.
Ukrainian forces released a video showing Rheinmetall's Skynex anti-aircraft artillery system successfully intercepting Russian Shaheds.
137
211
4K
It has become necessary to cut the defence budget in order to increase the defence budget.
"The Department of National Defence will not be spared from Prime Minister Mark Carney's cost-cutting drive โ even though overall defence spending is set to balloon in the coming years. Finance Minister Franรงois-Philippe Champagne sent letters to cabinet ministers Monday asking
23
28
163
Signal to noise ratio is a critical spec for NVGs. It affects how grainy the image is. The Army has set a legit req to give soldiers world-class kit. One of the reasons the CAF gets screwed so often is our system is so vulnerable to this emotional manipulation by failed bidders.
Ottawa is set to award a major defence contract for night-vision binoculars despite industry concerns that its requirements are written in a way that all but assures a single U.S. company is eligible.
19
28
239
Strategic airlift owners be careful!. My C-17 recently ate a utility helicopter I left lying around on the airfield. It took a very expensive visit to the aviation maintenance detachment to get it out!.
#Teamwork makes the dream work! Our @RCAF CH-147 helicopter has arrived in Latvia and is ready to begin supporting #OpREASSURANCE and the Canadian-led #NATO Multinational Brigade, as part of the aviation battalion.
13
6
156
The inevitable result of Canada's broken military procurement system & lack of tolerance for innovation & experimentation at the unit level:. Right as we field our first soft-kill EW CUAS systems, our likely adversaries deploy AI guided drones that make those defenses irrelevant.
Further information has been released regarding the downed Shahed-136s with imaging guidance and AI capabilities. Details of materials and electronic components indicate Iranian fabrication. The camera is an analog thermal imager for both reconnaissance and terrain following. 1/
11
17
101
This is a fantastic episode of the Canadian Army Podcast featuring the Commanding Officer of CSOR. A great explanation of what the Regiment does, but also an excellent example of engaging openly with the public in explaining the Profession of Arms.
Mystery surrounds the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR). That's one of the reasons the Canadian Army Podcast host, Capt Orton, sat down with the Commanding Officer of CSOR. In this latest episode, find out what CSOR does and their relationship with the Army.
2
16
92
Worried about the heat, but not sure what to do about it?. Did you know that you can turn yourself into a wet-bulb thermometer? . All you need is a Slenderman mask and a spray bottle!. ๐๐ก๏ธ
Environment Canada issues heat warnings for Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia
4
0
14