Canadian Forces Land Force Command

Land Force Command (LFC) is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Forces.The current size of the Canadian Army is 19,500 regular soldiers and 16,000 reserve soldiers, for a total of around 35,500 soldiers.

LFC maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada and is also responsible for the largest component of the Primary Reserve, the Army Reserve, which is often referred to informally by its historic name, the "militia". The Chief of Land Staff is Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie.

LFC is the descendant of the Canadian Army which was the name of Canada's land forces from 1940 until February 1, 1968. At the time of unification all army units were placed under Mobile Command (MC), later changed to Force Mobile Command (FMC) in 1975 when tactical air units were assigned to newly-created Air Command. The name was changed from FMC to Land Force Command in a 1997 reorganization of the Canadian Forces.

History

Following unification of the three armed services in 1968, Mobile Command became in effect the "Canadian Army" though the term "army" did not find favour until the 1980s when it became once again unofficially used to refer to Canada's land forces, both Regular and Reserve. The early organization of Mobile Command included tactical ground attack fixed and rotary wing aircraft, in addition to ground forces, and was akin to the integrated warfare approach of the United States Marine Corps. In a 1975 reorganization of the Canadian Forces, Air Command was created and all air assets were reassigned to that organization. Mobile Command was renamed Force Mobile Command and became an exclusive ground force. In 1997, Force Mobile Command was officially redesignated Land Force Command of the Canadian Forces.

Army bases and training centres

*CFB Edmonton, Alberta (1 CMBG, CTR Wainwright)
*CFB Suffield, Alberta
*CFB-TC Shilo, Manitoba
*LFWA TC Wainwright, Alberta
*CFB Kingston, Ontario
*CFB Borden, Ontario
*CFB Petawawa, Ontario (2 CMBG)
*LFCATC Meaford, Ontario
*CFB Montreal, Quebec
*CFB Valcartier, Quebec (5 CMBG)
*CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick (CTC)
*LFAATC Det Aldershot, Kentville Nova Scotia
*CFB Trenton, Ontario, Canadian Forces Land Advanced Warfare Centre (formerly CPC)
* Four Mile Point Live Firing Range - Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
*Connaught Range and Primary Training Center

Regiments

See:"List of units of the Canadian Army"

Canadian infantry and armoured regimental traditions are strongly rooted in the traditions and history of the British Army. Many regiments were patterned after regiments of the British Army, and a system of official "alliances", or affiliations, was created to perpetuate a sense of shared history. Other regiments developed independently, resulting in a mixture of both colourful and historically familiar names. Other traditions such as Battle Honours and Colours have been maintained by Canadian regiments as well. Approximately two thirds of the Regular Force is composed of anglophone units, while one third is francophone.

Regular Force

See:"List of units of the Canadian Army"

Armoured

Regular Force units include:
*The Royal Canadian Dragoons - CFB Petawawa, Ontario
*Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) - CFB Edmonton, Alberta
*12^e Régiment blindé du Canada - CFB Valcartier and Trois-Rivières, Quebec

Artillery

Canada's regular field artillery has traditionally been called the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. Canada currently has four Regular Force regiments:
*1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
*2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
*5^e Régiment d'artillerie légère du Canada
*4th Air Defence Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery

Combat engineers

*1 Combat Engineer Regiment - CFB Edmonton, Alberta
*2 Combat Engineer Regiment - CFB Petawawa, Ontario
*4 Engineer Support Regiment - CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick
*5^e Régiment du genie de combat) - CFB Valcartier, Quebec

Infantry

Regular Force infantry regiments and battalions of the Canadian Army are:
# The Royal Canadian Regiment
#*1st Battalion (CFB Petawawa) - Mechanized Infantry
#*2nd Battalion (CFB Gagetown) - Mechanized Infantry
#*3rd Battalion (CFB Petawawa) - Light Infantry + Parachute Company
# Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
#*1st Battalion (CFB Edmonton) - Mechanized Infantry
#*2nd Battalion (CFB Shilo) - Mechanized Infantry
#*3rd Battalion (CFB Edmonton) - Light Infantry + Parachute Company
# Royal 22^e Régiment
#*1^er Bataillon (CFB Valcartier) - Mechanized Infantry
#*2^e Bataillon (Quebec City) - Mechanized Infantry
#*3^e Bataillon (CFB Valcartier) - Light Infantry + Parachute Company

Between 1953 and 1971, the regular Canadian infantry consisted of seven regiments, each of two battalions (except the Royal 22^e Régiment, which had three, and the Canadian Airborne Regiment, which was divided into three "commandos"). The three present regular infantry regiments were augmented by three further regiments each of two battalions:
*Canadian Guards
*The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
*The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada

After 1971, the regular force battalions of the QOR and the Black Watch were dissolved (their Militia battalions remained in Toronto and Montreal, respectively) with their personnel distributed between the RCR and PPCLI, while the Canadian Guards were disbanded. The Canadian Airborne Regiment was disbanded in 1995.

Reserve Force

See:"List of units of the Canadian Army"

tructure

Commanders, Mobile Command

*Lieutenant-General (later General) Jean Victor Allard 1965-1966
*Lieutenant General J.J. Paradis August 1977-1980/1984
*Lieutenant-General Charles H. Belzile 1980/1984-
*Lieutenant-General James A. Fox July, 1986-1989

Chiefs of Land Staff

*Lieutenant-General (later General) Rick Hillier 2003-2005
*Lieutenant General Marc Caron 2005-2006
*Lieutenant General Andrew Leslie 2006-present

Equipment

Vehicles

[http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/2_5.asp?cat=1]

Historic equipment (World War II)

Trucks

Training tanks

Artillery

Field artillery

Black powder rifles, carbines and pistols

Service pistols

Machine guns, light machine guns and miscellaneous weapons

Infantry mortars

Ammunition

Head dress

Battles involving the Canadian army

The Canadian Army has participated in the following campaigns as a combatant:

*Second Boer War
*First World War
**Vimy Ridge
**Passchendaele
**Second Battle of Ypres
**Western Front
**Siberian Expedition
*Second World War
**Battle of Hong Kong
**Dieppe Raid
**Sicily and Italy
**Battle of Ortona
**Northwest Europe
***Juno Beach
***Operation Market Garden
***Battle of Normandy
***Battle of the Scheldt
***Rhineland
***Battle of Groningen
*Korean War
*Gulf War
*War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
**Operation Anaconda
**Operation Apollo
**Operation Mountain Thrust
**Operation Medusa
**Battle of Panjwaii
**Operation Falcon's Summit
**Siege of Sangin
**Operation Achilles
**Operation Hoover

Publications

*Canadian Military Journal: http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca
*Canadian Army Journal: http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/caj/

Notes

References

* [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/faces-of-war/025014-2000-e.html Faces of War: The Canadian Army] at Library and Archives Canada
* [http://www.sfu.ca/casr/bg-ahsvs-project.htm AHSVS]

ee also

* History of the Canadian Army
* Canadian Forces
* Canadian Special Operations Forces Command
* Regimental nicknames of the Canadian Forces
* army.ca
* Intelligence Branch (Canadian Forces)
* Permanent Active Militia
* Non-Permanent Active Militia

External links

* [http://www.army.gc.ca Canadian Army Website] - Official website of the Canadian Army
* [http://www.armee.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/6_1.asp Land Force Command (Defence page)]
* [http://army.ca army.ca] - Army.ca a web forum and interactive wiki dealing with both current and historical issues related to the Canadian Army.
* [http://regimentalrogue.com/battlehonours/grod_btlhnrs.htm Battle Honours in the Canadian Army] by J.R. Grodzinski
* [http://regimentalrogue.com/battlehonours/rcac.htm Battle Honours of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps]
* [http://regimentalrogue.com/battlehonours/rcic.htm Battle Honours of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps]
* [http://www.canadiansoldiers.com Canadiansoldiers.com]
* [http://www.chaaban.info/tarek/canadian-military-training/ Canadian Soldier Training Blog]
* [http://regimentalrogue.com/battlehonours/grod_btlhnrs.htm Battle Honours in the Canadian Army]
* [http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Technology/article/264122 Amid ancient Afghan rubble strides the bionic Canuck]