Measuring Regular and Reserve Force Integration in the Canadian Armed Forces

Abstract

There is a renewed emphasis in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) concerning the integration of the Reserve and Regular Forces. This is taking place amid a period where the international environment is marked by considerable uncertainty, volatility and rapid change. Fundamentally, the renewed emphasis on enhancing Regular-Reserve integration is about change or more specifically organizational change. Change can be viewed as both a condition and a process. Change as a condition is part of the reality we must accept; change as a process is ours to influence. Viewing Regular-Reserve force integration efforts through a process change lens provides many advantages in terms of anchoring and sustaining organizational integration efforts. The purpose of this chapter is to rethink how to “integrate more reserves into the total force so they can play a greater role on domestic and international operations” (DND 2018, 15). Reserves as transmigrants contribute greater insight into how integration can be better understood and progressed. This chapter commences with a brief review of Reserves as transmigrants, followed by a literature review and research into the definition of integration. Next, a measure of integration (MOI) is offered providing a quantitative and qualitative measure to better understand how the CAF can progress towards sustainable integration.