The
Canadian Forces
(
CF
) (
French
: Forces canadiennes; FC), is the
army
,
air force
, and
navy
of
Canada
, commanded by a single structure, unlike the United States.
Under the
National Defence Act
, "The Canadian Forces are the
armed forces
of
Her Majesty
raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces." The Commander in Chief of the Canadian Forces is the Head of State of Canada,
Queen Elizabeth II
, represented by the
Governor General of Canada
,
Mary May Simon
. The Chief of the Defence Staff (or CDS), the senior professional member of the service, is General
Thomas J. Lawson
. The CDS answers to a politician, the Minister of National Defence, who is currently
Anita Anand
of the
Liberal Party
.
The Canadian Forces is composed of 67,000 personnel (soldiers, sailors, and airmen/airwomen). Every unit accepts male and female soldiers, if they qualify for the position. The CF is divided into seven main branches, which are called
commands
.
The Environmental branches (called Commands) are mainly administrative structures. They manage the personnel, the equipment and the facilities, but not the operations. There are three commands in the Canadian Forces, because there are no
Marines
. All the commands work very closely with each other, for example, the Air Force provides helicopters to the Navy and the Army. These commands also each have a reserve element, made of part-time employees.
Land Forces Command (LFCOM) is the first branch of the Canadian Forces. This is the
Canadian Army
and the largest branch of the CF. It uses tanks and other armoured vehicles, such as the
LAV III
, as well as artillery, engineering vehicles, and a variety of weapons, such as the
Colt Canada C7
rifle.
Maritime Command (MARCOM) is the second branch of the Canadian Forces. This is the navy of Canada. It has 33 active warships including
submarines
,
frigates
and
destroyers
.
Air Command (AIRCOM) is the Air Force and third branch of the Canadian Forces. It operates a variety of helicopters and airplanes to support the army and the navy, and also has
CF-18
fighters.
The Operational commands are responsible for specific types of operations or for conducting exercises or deployments. There are four operational commands.
The CANSOFCOM is responsible for providing special forces and asymmetric warfare capabilities to Canada. It is the smallest command of the Canadian Forces, and is composed of four joint units that do not answer to either the Army, Navy or Air Force. These units are the
Joint Task Force 2
, the
Canadian Special Operations Regiment
, the
427th Special Aviation Squadron
and the
Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit
(CBRN).
This is the command responsible for managing foreign operations and deployments outside of Canada, such as Canada's contribution to the
War in Afghanistan
.
Canada Command works with the United States Northern Command to ensure national security and the defence of the North American continent. CANCOM also is responsible for emergency management, such as when the Army is needed to respond to disasters in Canada.
This command is responsible for supporting all the other commands with things such as
logistics
,
engineering
,
health services
, and the military police.
From the second half of the
20th century
, the defence policy of Canada is made of these objectives :
During the
Cold War
, a major focus of the Canadian Forces was helping with the defence of
Europe
against the threat posed by the
Soviet Union
. Some Canadian soldiers lived in Europe during that time.
Today, the Canadian Forces goals are based on the
Canada First Defence Strategy
,
[1]
introduced by the
conservative
government
of
Stephen Harper
. The new goals and objectives are being able to do the following :
- Make regular domestic operations, in the
Arctic
and to support
NORAD
- Help with the security of a major national event, such as the
2010 Winter Olympics
- Respond to a major
terrorist attack
- Help citizens in case of a
natural disaster
- Lead or make a major international mission during a long time
- Send soldiers to respond to an international crisis for a short time
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