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Canadian military author of its own misfortune

SCOTT TAYLOR staylor@herald.ca @EDC_MAG Scott Taylor is editor of Esprit de Corps magazine.

On Feb. 7, 1981 a Soviet navy Tupolev 104-passenger plane crashed immediately after taking off from the Pushkin airbase near St. Petersburg.

All 50 passengers aboard were killed including the commander of the Soviet Pacific fleet and 27 other top ranking naval officers. This decapitation of the entire senior leadership of the Pacific fleet was first suspected to be an act of war precipitating an actual U.S. attack.

Once a thorough investigation of the wreckage had been conducted the Soviet authorities concluded that the crash was in fact caused by the plane being grossly overloaded.

These top officers had used their time in St. Petersburg to stock up on luxury items that were at that time unavailable in the far east of the Soviet Union. They then used their rank to overrule the aircraft's pilot into attempting a takeoff with an unsafe load.

In other words, the Soviet Pacific fleet decapitated itself.

Those of us who closely monitor the activities of the Canadian Armed Forces have been watching a similar circumstance unfold among our military's senior leadership. And, like those Soviet commanders, the damage being done is self-inflicted.

At time of writing, Canada has had nine of this country's top military officers under investigation; on a paid leave while suspended, retired early, or a combination thereof, because of allegations of sexual misconduct.

There are numerous other stories of more junior commanders facing similar circumstances for the same reason, but there is not enough space to list them all.

So to recap just the top nine and the rapid succession in which they entered the public spotlight for their alleged sexual misconduct, here goes.

First up it was the just retired general Jonathan Vance, who was also chief of defence staff. He had barely stepped aside as CDS, when Global National News alleged he had had a 20-year extramarital affair with a subordinate, and that he had sent another subordinate an email invitation in 2012 to accompany him to a clothing optional beach resort. Following a military investigation Vance now faces a single count of obstruction for allegedly asking the subordinate to lie to investigators about the affair.

Twenty-two days after the Vance story broke, it was announced that his successor, Admiral Art Mcdonald was stepping aside to allow a sexual misconduct claim against him to be investigated. We now know that Mcdonald's alleged misconduct occurred during a drunken party aboard a frigate in 2010. It is alleged that Mcdonald pushed the face of another male officer into a female sailor's breasts after one of her blouse buttons came loose. The military investigators found insufficient evidence to lay a charge. Mcdonald has recently claimed he has been "exonerated" and wants his job back. The military police have subsequently said that not laying a charge is not an exoneration; they simply didn't have enough credible witnesses who were sober enough to testify with clarity. Odds are that Mcdonald isn't coming back.

Shortly after Mcdonald was placed under investigation, it was learned that air force Lt.-gen. Chris Coates' extra-marital affair while at NORAD precluded him from a post at NATO HQ. He retired early.

Then we had allegations that chief of military personnel (CMP), Vice Admiral Haydn Edmundson had committed sexual assault against a shipmate in 1991. That allegation is still under investigation.

Maj.-gen. Dany Fortin was the face of the federal vaccine rollout until he was relieved of that post and accused of a 1989 incident while he was a cadet at military college. He has since been charged in civilian court on one count of sexual assault.

Maj.-gen. Pete Dawe was sent on paid leave on May 2 due to the public backlash over him writing a character reference for an officer who was convicted of sexually assaulting a fellow officer's wife. Dawe was quietly brought back to active duty until the media reported his new job was to help reforms the way the military handles sexual misconduct. He is back on paid leave.

Vice-chief of defence staff Lt.-gen. Mike Rouleau took early retirement after it was learned he had the poor judgment to play golf with general Vance while the former CDS was under investigation.

The most recent two suspensions came in rapid succession when it was revealed that Lt.-gen. Trevor Cadieu and Lt.-gen. Steve Whelan are both facing investigations into alleged sexual misconducts. Cadieu was to take command of the Canadian army and Whelan had replaced the ousted Edmundson as the CMP.

Like the Soviets in 1981, it must seem to those at National Defence headquarters that our military leadership is under attack.

It is, but like the Soviet plane crash, this is from within.

OPINION

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2021-10-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281638193412972

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