Editor’s Corner article
Welcome to the new FrontLine. This new magazine brings together many well-known writers and industry experts to offer another voice on the defence and enforcement scene. With the Canadian public becoming more and more aware of the issues and challenges in this sector, we certainly believe there is a need for this new publication.
The editors would like to hear from you, our readers, regarding ideas for future editorial topics. What are you interested in reading about? What topics are not getting enough coverage? What key questions are not being asked? Who would you like to see interviewed? What countries should we examine? Send your e-mails now – operators are standing by.
Canadians are, for the most part, quietly proud of the heroic roles our veterans played in defending our rights and freedoms in wars of the past, and it is evident that we are becoming embarrassed about the state of our Canadian Forces of today.
Appropriately then, our premier issue of FrontLine starts off with a Guest Column by Stephen Harper, a leadership candidate for the new Conservative party of Canada. Mr. Harper echoes the public’s frustration over Canada’s sadly deficient defence capabilities.
However, watch for our next issue, because the Canadian Forces is presently undergoing a major transformation, and Chief of the Defence Staff, General Ray Henault, will tell us more about it in an exclusive interview with FrontLine columnist, Gen (ret) John Leech.
Japan is also undergoing transformation; Canada’s former Defence Attaché, Capt(N) B.R. Brown, met with Admiral Ishikawa about the internal restructuring of Japan’s Self Defense Forces.
And the not-so-old Contractor Support Program has also undergone a transformation... it has recently become the Canadian Contractor Augmentation Program (CANCAP). Trevor Cole travelled to Bosnia to report on what has changed regarding civilians working on the Bases in Bosnia.
After publishing a manual on attack aircraft, Anil Pustam provides a review of the main fighter aircraft in use or on order around the world today.
There is widespread consensus that NATO must also change, that it must modernize and transform into a rapidly deployable force. Peter Pigott explains how the AWACS air surveillance squadrons could provide some answers for the NATO Response Force.
In our R&D section, Harold Stocker and Ingar Moen tell us about the Autonomous Intelligent Systems which are in development and expected to be in operation by 2025.
A different type of modern military technology, the type directly controlled by man, and being tested today – unmanned aerial vehicles – are explored by Gen (ret) John Leech. For more news on this topic, check out our FrontLine Notebook section.
A timely issue these days, is operational stress injuries resulting from military and police services. Dianne Collier takes a look at the need for support programs for military families.
We have quite a few offerings of interest to Veterans and history buffs. Don Sisson writes about the persecution of the East European Vets in our Pages of History section.
Dave Brown writes an insightful piece about heroics, bravery, strength of character, and difficult memories which have shaped the lives of some of the War Vets he has interviewed over the years.
In our Newsletters section, militaria collector, WO Storey recounts his successful efforts to repatriate several WWII artifacts from the UK.
On a final note, I would like to extend a special offer to all of our new readers. If you have a personal story relating to defence, security or enforcement matters, we’d like to hear from you for consideration for our Newsletters section. Drop us a line at: info@frontline-canada.com.
– CM
