An Imperial Grunt on the Canadian Military

The Man Who Would Be Khan has an interesting comment on the Canadian military in Robert D. Kaplan’s latest book, Imperial Grunts. From page 106:

In 1985 [Army Lt. Col. Thomas Parker Wilhelm] was sent to the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College at Kingston, Ontario, a bastion of British colonial tradition where you wore a tie after six and were given your own napkin ring at mess. “There was a lot of esprit. Everything was deliberate, meticulous, with a fierce sense of a warrior ethic, despite the lack of opportunities Canada had to prove it. I never worked harder writing up op orders. The Canadians didn’t blink; they just kept demanding more detail. I get angry whenever someone belittles the Canadian military.”

The Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College is located at Fort Frontenac, where the Cataraqui River empties into Lake Ontario. Directly across the river sits the Royal Military College. Fort Frontenac was established in 1673, on the site of the first European settlement in Ontario. The current stonework dates back to the 1820s. During the first half of the 19th C Kingston was the planning center for all of Upper Canada.

Top - Gate of Fort Frontenac, Bottom - Frontenac from rear, Cataraqui River.

The mission of the CLFCSC “educate and train officers, both Regular and Reserve, in the necessary skills to fulfill the appointments of commanders and staffs in units and formation headquarters, within a joint and combined coalition operational environment, throughout the spectrum of conflict.” They have an excellent library filled with Army related books.

One day I am going to sit down and figure out what the equivalent colleges are in the US so the rest of you guys can get an idea of what all this means…