General Rick Hillier’s Main Arguments in A Soldier First

General Hiller’s A Soldier First

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Introduction

General Hillier's ‘‘A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and Politics of War’’ is a memoir about Rick Hillier, a retired Canadian general with vast experience in military affairs having participated in various missions around the world. In this book, Hillier recounts his experience as a soldier and a military leader and how his leadership helped shape the organization. Military force is one of the most important departments in the security docket as it plays a critical role in protecting the nation against external and internal threats (Hillier, 2010). Civilian control of the military is a doctrine of the armed forces used in democratic governments as part of the bedrock foundation of that nation. This doctrine places ultimate responsibility for a country’s strategic decision-making in the hands of civilian political leadership rather than professional military officers.

Allowing the civilian component of the government to retain control over the military or state security demonstrates a healthy respect for democratic values and good governance. However, this doctrine requires a healthy relationship between the military and the civil authorities to function properly. Research shows that countries with legitimate associations between government and military are more effective because of increased accountability (Cox, 2019). In his book, Hillier believes that security relies on the relationship between the two structures. Lack of trust or fruitful relationships can highly compromise military operations, putting a country and the lives of soldiers in danger. This risk necessitates the need for the government and the military to have mutual understanding.

Through trust, the military can be confined to the rule of law and submit to government oversight to make an effective security instrument possible. However, according to Hillier (2010), transparency has taken hold of the Canadian military system to improve bureaucracy. The intensity of bureaucracy has motivated Hillier to work toward the county’s norm of fully transforming the military. Although he had plans to re-equip the CFs, he experienced challenges from bureaucrats who blocked him from executing his plan. The book is replete with examples of the government having excessive control of the military such that the military is in no shape to meet an imminent threat. The problem lies in the development of close civil-military relations such that both entities have similar concerns about the same threats and understand those threats with an equal amount of clarity.

From Hillier’s viewpoint, the threats to national interests change over time, calling for significant external impetus. The truth is that the Canadian military must do more than just make some minor changes or make some priorities to address the emerging threats. This occurrence requires a vivid transformation but the inertia of military bureaucracy bars change from happening. (Hillier, 2010) Ideally, the government or military should motivate these changes. However, this cannot occur without a healthy relationship between the government and the military. The book points out strategic vision and leadership as fundamental elements for an efficient change of the military’s command structure. Current organizational change theory and historical examples have also demonstrated that a successful transformation depends on a sense of urgency, internal and external change agents, irreversible traction, and an understanding of organizational culture and coherence (Jain, 2021). When used properly, these tools can help CF overcome lingering bureaucratic inertia.

Rick Hellier’s Experience

Rick Hillier is a retired Canadian Forces general, who served as the country's Chief of the Defense Staff (CDS) from 2005 until his resignation in the summer of 2008 (Hillier, 2010). He is regarded as the most outspoken, dynamic, controversial, and popular CDS in the history of that office. He was also bizarrely influential in the spheres of foreign and defense policy. As the country's senior military officer, he was the central figure between the Canadian society and the Canadian Forces (CF) as represented by the Federal government (Jeffrey, 2016). Born and Raised in Newfoundland, Hillier joined the military as a young man and climbed the ranks quickly becoming a Canadian icon. He played a pivotal role in domestic challenges like the 1998 ice story that paralyzed much of Eastern Ontario and Quebec.

In addition to commanding his troop as a lieutenant general, Hillier commanded a Canadian brigade, allowing him to rinse in the Canadian Military ranks. He was also a key figure in the international scene, commanding an American Corps in Texas and a multinational North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) task force in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Hillier, 2010). He commanded the Multi-National Division Southwest Bosnia in 2000, served as Deputy of the Canadian Army and then as a Commander from 2001-2003 (Hillier, 2010). In 2004, Hillier commanded the International Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Canada encountered its first combat losses since the Korean War and every casualty suddenly became front-page news.

A war Veteran, Hillier tells his own story about his experiences as a soldier in his book. The memoir details the high and low points of Hillier’s career in the Canadian Forces and his views on military life and politics. The book has twenty-three chapters. The first fifteen chapters of the book contain themes that account for how he was shaped as a soldier (Hillier, 2010). The last eight chapters recount the general’s time as CDS. The man who never surrendered from the Taliban or Canada’s top political leaders reveals all in what will be one of the most influential books about military life.

Canada’s Defense Establishment

Canada has a unique defense structure, comprising two constitutionally independent and culturally distinct institutions. They include the Department of National Defense (DND) led by the Deputy Minister of National Defense (DM) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) headed by CDS (Jeffrey, 2016). Practically, civilian and military personnel, collectively known as the 'defense team' are highly integrated. Approximately two-thirds of DND's full-time civilian employees work in the military structure and thousands of CAF military personnel perform departmental functions inside DND (Cox, 2019). Many DND civilians work under a Military manager's supervision while some civilians manage