KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – So many young Canadians want to become trigger pullers in Afghanistan that the army is not accepting any new infantry recruits at the moment, according to the army’s top general.
"I am 1,600 infantrymen over my establishment," Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie said Thursday, adding that the high numbers of recruits who want to "serve at the tip of the spear . . . completely refuted" any notion that there were problems getting people to serve in a wartime army.
"I still want young Canadians to show up at recruiting offices, but it just so happens that right now if you want to join the infantry, we’re completely full," Leslie said.
The military also has many more volunteers for Afghanistan duty than there are places, the general – an artillery gunner by trade – said during an interview conducted after he had spent several days "outside the wire" in Kandahar with combat troops.
Canada’s three infantry regiments have about 6,000 infantrymen, so these units – which have traditionally suffered the most in battle, as has been the case in Afghanistan – are presently more than 25 per cent oversubscribed.
To correct this unusual imbalance, the military is "slowing down recruiting for regular forces infantry for the next year or two," Leslie said, adding that the army is "encouraging folks from the infantry" to transfer to military jobs where there are still shortfalls, such as vehicle technicians and fire control system technicians.
So many Canadians still want to be part of the country’s first major combat mission since the Korean War that the number of recruits and their quality is like nothing Leslie has seen in his three decades in the armed forces.
The military’s success with recruiting follows a long television advertising campaign that has frequently highlighted the combat side of military operations. The ads, which have often run during hockey games and other sporting events watched by young men, have depicted troops taking part in missions on land and at sea in distant places that were made to look something like the Middle East or Southwest Asia.
"I find myself in a unique position in comparison to most of my fellow army commanders across NATO," Leslie said. "I have more volunteers every tour than I have positions. To come to Afghanistan is a competitive process."
The keenness of many soldiers to serve in Afghanistan may also be having an effect on attrition rates. For the infantry, the rate has fallen to 10 per cent from 12 per cent over the past 18 months, the general said. Across the entire army, attrition is down to eight per cent from 10 per cent, he said.
An informal survey of troops who have been in Kandahar during the past few months found many of those serving in combat arms were already angling to return to the Afghan province one more time with the battle group or as army or police mentors before Canada’s combat mission is supposed to end in the summer of 2011.
The desire to get back to Afghanistan one more time is especially true of the last two infantry units scheduled to serve combat tours here – the Royal 22nd Regiment – the Van Doo – and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
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