Canada’s Air Force Crisis

Mike hosts Billie Flynn to discuss everything you need to hear about the Royal Canadian Air Force.

All is not right in Canada, and their Air Force has atrophied in several key areas. What happened? Why are the fighter pilots quitting? Can they still contribute to NATO? Is it too late to fix it? Tune in for answers!

----
Links

Billie Flynn

----
Follow the Merge on...

----
Show Notes
(01:29) intro
(07:48) The Royal Canadian Air Force
(08:45) How Canada got F-18s
(17:54) NORAD and Canada
(21:40) Why Canada matters to US defense
(24:27) The RCAF’s key maritime mission
(32:50) Canada’s F-35 debacle
(44:33) losing the fighter pilot
(52:25) how to fix the RCAF?
(56:48) outro

For those interested in #canada #military #technology #strategy #airforce #NATO #podcast #militarynews

[tlevans]

I'm a Canadian born, dual Australian/Canadian Citizen. My Mum's father was in the RCAF and flew Lancasters in WW2, and was in a Sabre Squadron in Germany. My brother and his wife both joined the RCAF and retired after long careers. I was in the RCAF briefly, but ended up in Australia and joined the Australian Army and was a rotary wing pilot. My Dad's family were Aussies and have a long legacy in the Australian military. The difference between the RCAF & the RAAF is stark. The RAAF is a modern, well equipped Air Arm with AWACS, F-35, FA-18F, EF-18G, JORN etc, while the RCAF is a hollowed out shell of what it used to be. The Aussies are a fighting force, the Canadians are a "Peace Keeping" Force, and the Canadian Gov't barely cares about the military, the opposite of how the Australian Gov't thinks. Australia knows it's at the sharp end, on its own, and learned the lessons of WW2 when they were abandoned by the UK, while Canada seems to think it's more of an irritant to have a military and only does the bare minimum to meet its NATO & NORAD obligations. The Canadian Gov't uses military procurement as an election football. It breaks my heart to see how far the RCAF has fallen. Gov't bungling has left the military in dreadful shape, and they have not served the wonderful people, who serve them in the Defence Force, well at all. It's disgraceful.

[djsmith]

It's insane we've reached this point. Absolute negligence on the part of the entire country.

[DPasadena]

Watching from Canada. Thank you for doing this episode!

[pilotgirl]

Retired Canadian Forces Officer here. What Billie says is so true and sad. Justin Bronk nailed it. Love him. Proud Canadian, embarrassed of our politicians!!

[Pineconepicker]

Canada's military has been ignored for over 3 decades by BOTH ruling parties. This was deliberate ignorance. Canada has not had responsible government for over 50 years.

[simonblier]

I served in the RCAF for 23 years. Billie Flynn spells it out clearly and right on point. I was part of the initial cadre training when the Hornet was broughy into Canadian service.
The politicians of all stripes are the major reason for the current status of the RCAF.

[therohugin]

Such a spot on assessment of Canada’s military procurement process! The bean counters view Canada’s capital class ships the same way: if they still float, then they are good to go. ‘Saving pennies, losing dollars’. It would be one thing if this was a ‘one of’ occurrence that Canada could learn from, but instead it’s how we roll. Spot on about Quebec’s whining into contracts that they can’t / don’t have the capability to fulfil at a responsible use of tax payers dollars.., but often tax dollars are shovelled down the gaping maw of whining Quebec businesses to the economic detriment of what Canada actually gets ‘bang for buck’ when cow-towing to Quebec.

[jonathanspencer]

Exactly what happened in New Zealand in the early 2000s. The RNZAF doesn't have fighters anymore as a consequence. The strike pilots all went to the RAAF where they were greatly appreciated. Very sad.

[soupy]

As a young infantry soldier I remember the proud day when the Hornets arrived in Baden, Germany in the mid eighties…State of the art with a lot of pride

[oldftrpilot]

Did a Maple Flag exercise at Cold Lake years ago in an F-111 and flew into Canada in a B52 to allude the Voodos. Those Canadians are top notch. I am half Canadian French so I totally respect those brothers to the north.

[brianrmc]

I was a Jarhead from ‘86 to ‘96, flying Hornets. The Canadian and Australian pilots I encountered were extremely proficient.

[neitzche]

The major issue in the Canadian Forces and RCAF is the unspoken policy of never speaking to the public. No one in Canada knows or cares who is in charge, what the mission is, heck, why there is a military at all. If the Canadian Forces leadership were willing to do interviews and have regular press conferences then possibly people will learn or care. But the absolute crickets that you hear from the military will always lead to a “who cares” attitude. Want more recruits? Maybe if there were actual commercials on that hyped up the military instead of put you to sleep, maybe if there was actual buzz about new equipment, maybe if people actually knew anything about the military other than WW2, then people may understand. To get recruits, to get equipment, means a wholesale change in culture. The next generation needs to see what they get out of a tour or a career in CF. What are the benefits? What schooling is available, what retirement benefits, what jobs outside the military are interested in Vets? Used to be people joined the military to become dentists, doctors, pilots, etc, now those people go to universities for that education because they don’t know it would be cheaper and more hands on getting that education through the military. So, really, Canadian Forces needs to hire a marketing company, and not one from Canada. 🇨🇦

[andrewmason]

What is both astonishing and sad is it isn't just the Air Force in Canada. The Navy and Army are using ancient equipment that costs more to maintain by the day, and numbers are falling at a horrific rate. Leadership are disconnected and incompetent, politics are more concerned with virtue signaling within the CAF to display a message to the public then have a competent fighting force, and the commitment to deploying and exerting force is dragging the few members left into exhaustion. More than 70% of releases within the Navy a few years ago were Killicks (Leading Seaman/Corporals) not the people you want leaving to pursue careers elsewhere because they are more rewarding, with better compensation, more time at home. Those factors can be made up for by; comradery, cohesion, respect and trust amongst subordinates and leadership, but all those factors have long been missing in the CAF.

[FirstDagger]

Didn't know it was this bad, especially with the P-8 situation.

[Andy_Dubya]

The first time I met Billie was on the flight line at Pax in 2014. He came out to a jet and I asked him about his pilot wings on his flight bag. “If you ask me if they’re Australian I’m goin to kick your ass”. Great guy, glad he’s still in the fight after “retirement”.

[edmanzini]

Back in 1980 I was a Canadian Air Cadet and got my private pilot licence. We still had the (F104, F5 and F101). Even though we were going to finally replace these aircraft with the F18 soon I did not join the military. I knew deep down that Canada underfunds it’s military ever since Pierre Trudeau came into power. Today it is even worse than in 1980 and the Trudeau 2.0 has cut it’s budget again. I am only 11 years older than the F18.

[kewber]

I graduated from university in 1969 and applied for aircrew training in the Canadian Air Force. Out of 39 applicants that year, after undergoing extensive medical, physical, and aptitude examinations myself and 8 other candidates were selected for training. I received my orders to report to Victoria for officer training with a stop in Winnipeg to go through high-altitude testing. The week before I was to leave i got a telegram (only in Canada) asking me to report to the recruiting office in Ottawa where I was resident. On attending i was informed that the air force did not have enough money in their budget that year and they had to cancel the entire class, but I could join the Navy if I wanted because they had room and a bit of money left. Pierre started the destruction of the Canadian armed forces and the process has continued, particularly under Trudeau Jr.

[charlesmcdougall]

As a former Canadian I had at. 20yrs of age a slot to join the RCAF but when I called my recruiter I was told that due to defence reduction I. Was not needed. Living a mile from up State New York I and my girl friend both joined the USAF. We were sent to different places separated by thousands of miles, which ended our romance. My first duty station was a small radar Site on a mountain in Southern Arizona. In 1967 I met a Wonderful young lady, and married her, she and I are still together with 3 daughters & a son.

[raypayette]

Billy, thank you. I am also x RCAF but not nearly at your level, it is still so very depressing that a country with our economic power can not get to 2% of GDP on defence spending. The world is a very dangerous place and we need to step up. Again, Billy thank you.

[siegfridmast]

Thanks Billie. Proud to have been part of the F18 program at 409 Tac (F) Sqn in Baden.
You are a respected pilot and advocate for better times in the RCAF.