Actually, given the resources allocated to the maintenance of a quality university program, the number of hours spent on classroom instruction as well as the prestige accorded to university studies, the academic pillar has, over the last few years, come to occupy a preponderant place in the CMCs to the detriment of the coherence of the total program. [...] One of the most visible signs of the loss of focus on the raison d’être of the CMCs can be found in the relative weakness of the military pillar, highlighted in the Withers Report in 1998 that qualified the situation as “unacceptable”. [...] Finally, the reset of the academic pillar of the CMCs should have as the objective to contribute within the Naval/Officer Cadets to the development of critical thinking anchored in a broad and solid general culture in the service of the profession of arms. [...] However, even if the expertise of the officer resides in the practical realm as a “manager of violence”, his professional capabilities also make him as capable as his civilian counterparts of contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the military realm but also in the theoretical context of the officer profession. [...] We recognize that implementing the changes we are calling for will require the involvement of many levels of command, from the Commandants of RMC and RMC Saint-Jean to the Boards of Governors of the CMCs, the principal of RMC Principal, as well as the director of studies at CMR Saint-Jean, to the Commander of the Canadian Defence Academy, and even the Chief of the Defence Staff.
- Pages
- 29
- Published in
- Canada
