STATE OF SHIPS OF STATE — The Royal Canadian Navy's deputy commander cut his teeth in a fleet on the upswing in the 1990s. The Halifax-class frigates were brand new, a small fleet of destroyers was still patrolling the seas, and sailors were constantly deployed. In a wide-ranging interview with Playbook this summer, Rear-Adm. STEVEN WADDELL talked up billions in planned spending meant to launch Canada’s next naval boom time. But the future isn’t the present, and today's Navy is — excuse the pun — treading water. Annual departmental reports have for years warned that an aging fleet and lackluster recruitment have serious consequences on what the Navy can actually do to defend Canada's interests. — Euphemism watch: The word creative was frequently on the tip of the admiral's tongue. Waddell talked through each challenge, acknowledging all the tradeoffs required of a short-staffed fleet operating old boats — but insisting the Navy can still fulfill its objectives. → How to crew a ship: The Navy is 1,800 sailors short of its staffing objectives, a 21 per cent shortall that has hampered the technical trades required to safely operate ships. But the orders from on high don't take a break, so the Navy has been forced to become — brace for it — creative with its human resources. Crews used to stick to a single coast and gel as a unit as much as possible on specific ships. Now, sailors rotate to wherever they're needed. "That can affect a kind of unit level cohesion and culture that we're kind of accustomed to in the past," says Waddell. "But I wouldn't say that it's worse, it's just different." Waddell reflects on the good ol' days. "Having been through a period of time where ops tempo was high, availability of platforms was high, morale was excellent," he says. "As leadership, we need to make sure that we really remain focused on what is truly affecting our sailors today and find the right solutions to meet their needs while at the same time achieving government objectives. And that's hard. It's not an easy place to operate." → How to repair a ship: Technicians work on the fly at sea to keep ships operational. The vessels are getting so old that spare parts can be a luxury. "Often, because of obsolescence, if some of the parts are not available, they're forced to be very creative" — there's that word again — "and actually fabricate components to assist to make sure that capability can be sustained on the front line," Waddell says. The crew makes use of lathes, welding kits and more recently 3D printers. — Why does Canada need a Navy? The answer might be obvious to academics, policymakers and people in uniform, but Waddell cites "maritime blindness" — a societal ignorance to the role oceans play in the world — as a factor in the Navy's PR battles. "We continue as a country to be challenged by really defining why we need a credible maritime force that is delivered in sufficient time and scale that meets the defense requirements of the country," Waddell says. "It's a topic of conversation that manifests in the media, manifests in academic circles. It certainly manifests within the Department of National Defence and government. For the majority of Canadians, it doesn't manifest strongly in narrative." — Chain of command: Playbook asked Waddell if military leaders had grown impatient with a federal government unwilling to spend urgently on defense needs. "I'll probably be somewhat limited in how I want to answer that," he said. But he did add this: "We're very clear, and we're very confident, in matching what we know our requirements to be based on the world happening around us. At the end of the day, it's a government decision on how much they choose to invest in that," he said. "As a taxpayer myself, I know there are many challenges out there with education and health and my own mortgage at play. I'm just like any other Canadian citizen here."
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