link - Collège des Forces canadiennes - Ministère de la défense ...

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labelled at times as arrogant, Generation X is easily independent and self-directed; these
traits and Generation X’s “casual attitude” may be interpreted as disrespect: 121
It’s not that Generation X officers are disrespectful; it is just that they
are not impressed by rank or hierarchical position. They have been let
down by too many authority figures ranging from their overworked
parents to their Commander-in-Chief. As a result, they are extremely
sceptical towards authority. 122
but no real efficiencies in the provision of support. Medical personnel were pulled from line units and
centralized in specialized medical units and “Care Delivery Units” where a pool of medical personnel
provided care to several units’ soldiers, but did not belong to any of the units they “serviced,” divorcing
medical practitioners from the soldiers they cared for. The advent of high technology saw a search in
military circles for a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), whose advocates postulated that exceedingly
capable sensors and precision weapons would enable future forces to be ‘network-enabled’, ‘agile, flexible
and lethal.’ One example of such thinking can be seen in Captain Eric Dion, "The E-Fantry Warrior! the
Evolution of the Queen of Battles in the Face of 21st Century Challenges," Canadian Army Journal 7, no. 2
(Summer, 2004), 14-23. In practical terms, this search for RMA seemed to many a thinly-veiled
renaming/repackaging of further cuts and reductions of capabilities termed ‘legacy’ and no longer relevant,
such as Main Battle Tanks, armoured combat engineers and tube artillery. ‘Legacy’ systems were to be
replaced by high technology surveillance, long range precision missiles and ever-larger, more computerdependent
headquarters. Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier, Army Transformation- Press Conference Speech,
October 30, 2003); Dr Elinor Sloan, "Strategic Analysis - Canada and the Revolution in Military Affairs,"
Department of National Defence, Associate Deputy Minister (Policy),
http://www.forces.gc.ca/admpol/revolution (accessed January 17, 2011) and Canada, Department of
National Defence, Army Force Employment Concept, 2004), 45 identify this thinking. Throughout this
same time, the Navy saw a reduction in the number of ships and personnel, while Air Force flight hours for
certain airframes, notably fighters, were cut. To many Generation X service members, “transformation”
really means ‘do more with less and prepare to have tasks increase, but resources and personnel cut, with
greater overwatch from more and larger headquarters.’ CF survey findings outlined in Otis and Straver,
Review of Attrition and Retention Research for the Canadian Forces, i-66.“reveal high levels of cynicism
toward the transformation initiative. For example, many members felt that the current initiative was not
different from past initiatives, which have had few positive effects.”
121 Alberta Learning Information Service, "Tip Sheets - Bridging the Generation Gap at Work,"
Government of Alberta, Canada, http://alis.alberta.ca/ep/eps/tips/tips.htmlEK=7380 (accessed February 7,
2011).
122 Wong, Generations Apart: Xers and Boomers in the Officer Corps, 16. While this example is
an American one, referring to the President Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal, Canadian Generation X
officers and soldiers have had their own share of “command disappointments.” Examples include the
Somalia scandal and its attendant cover-up by senior CF officers, including General Jean Boyle, the then-
Chief of the Defence Staff, and DND public servants, followed by the perceived scapegoating of lowranking
soldiers and the eventual disbandment of the Canadian Airborne Regiment. A host of other
questionable senior officer and senior public servant activities can be found in Scott Taylor and Brian
Nolan, Tarnished Brass (Toronto: Lester Publishing Limited, 1996), 266. While a sensationalized account
that verges on muckraking, this work was widely read by many Generation X CF members in the 1990s and
still remains in the CF consciousness as a series of examples of poor leadership and self-focused leaders
divorced from their subordinates.