Hard-won lessons of Afghan war on ‘life support,’ outgoing army commander warns

OTTAWA – The outgoing commander of the Canadian Army says budget restraint and under-spending at National Defence have left some of the army’s hard-won capabilities from the Afghan war on “life support.”

And Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin says the federal government must recognize that intelligence operators are as much a part of today’s front line as soldiers and tanks.

Devlin will end his three-year tenure as Canada’s top soldier on Thursday, completing a 35-year career in the military — much of it spent in the field in Afghanistan, as well as Iraq as an exchange officer with the U.S. Army.

Before a Senate committee last December, Devlin revealed the army’s baseline budget had been cut by 22 per cent and warned there was little fat left to trim throughout the organization — a view that did not sit well in political circles.

It has been a scramble to maintain not only training, but elements Devlin describes as the “softer skills” essential to fighting modern wars, including intelligence, surveillance and expertise in countering improvised explosive devices expertise.

Devlin’s comments come just days after the parliamentary budget office revealed that National Defence had under-spent its budget by as much as $2.3 billion last year — a figure disputed by defence officials.