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A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War Hardcover – Oct. 8 2009
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The number one-bestelling blockbuster about the life and career of Canada's most controversial and popular military leaders
Finalist for the CBA Libris Award for Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year
In the summer of 2008, General Rick Hillier resigned his command as Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces. You could almost hear the sigh of relief in Ottawa as Canada's most popular, and most controversial, leader since the Second World War left a role in which he'd been as frank-speaking, as unpredictable, and as resolutely apolitical as any military leader this country has ever seen.
Born and raised in Newfoundland, Hillier joined the military as a young man and quickly climbed the ranks. He played a significant role in domestic challenges, such as the 1998 ice story that paralyzed much of eastern Ontario and Quebec, and he quickly became a player on the international scene, commanding an American corps in Texas and a multinational NATO task force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But it was his role as General Rick Hillier, Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff, that defined him as a Canadian public figure. In Afghanistan, Canada faced its first combat losses since the Korean War and every casualty suddenly became front-page news. A country formerly ambivalent or even angry about its role in the conflict suddenly became gripped by the drama playing out not only in the war zone of a country half-way around the world, but in the unfriendly conference rooms in the country's capital as Hillier pulled no punches, demanding more funding and more troops and more appreciation for the women and men fighting a war on foreign soil.
- Print length552 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperCollins Publishers
- Publication dateOct. 8 2009
- Dimensions16.51 x 4.34 x 24.13 cm
- ISBN-101554684919
- ISBN-13978-1554684915
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“A tough, competent and proud soldier, Rick Hillier makes it clear in his memoirs that his aim as chief of the defence staff from 2005 to 2008 was to change the way Canada played the game.” — The Globe and Mail
“A Soldier First is an enjoyable, informative, and often insightful account of a remarkable soldier’s career, written in the personable, ‘folksy’ style for which General Hillier was famous.” — Canadian Military Journal
About the Author
General Rick Hillier, born in Newfoundland and Labrador, enlisted in the Canadian Forces in 1973 through the Regular Officer Training Plan program. He graduated from Memorial University in 1975 with a B.Sc. degree. In May 2003 Hillier was appointed Commander of the Army, and in October 2003 he was selected as the Commander of the NATO-led International security Assistance Force (IsAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan. General Hillier was promoted to Chief of the Defence staff in February 2005 and stepped down in the summer of 2008.
Product details
- Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers; First Edition (Oct. 8 2009)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 552 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1554684919
- ISBN-13 : 978-1554684915
- Item weight : 724 g
- Dimensions : 16.51 x 4.34 x 24.13 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: #155,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #197 in Canadian Military History
- #698 in Military & Spies Biographies & Memoirs
- #699 in Historical Military Biographies (Books)
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But one suspects that this Afghanistan experience is also about a meaningful role for the Canadian Forces after years of so-called "peacekeeping" where nothing happens unless it was agreeable to the Security Council members and the states involved (see also Romeo dÁllaire's story par example). Also, remember when Egypt ordered the UN out of their territory just before they got waxed in the 1967 war. Hillier is rightfully disdainful of the UN and NATO after the end of the Cold War
Been very successful, but this reading has made me a more complete leader of people
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1. for a well trained militia of citizen soldiers who are also physically fit for any military role they are called upon from time to time including aid to the civil power as well as offensive operations against a recognized enemy;
2. for a public which is well informed on the issues which affect our country and the the need for a well equipped and trained permanent military presence to deal with them when called upon by parliament;
3. an ability by defence commanders to take such decisions in consequence of directives from parliament (not from the entrenched bureaucracy) as may be seen reasonably to deal with real or existing problems and threats in a timely manner.
4. an interdiction directed to the bureaucacy to refrain from impairing or delaying such military decisions when reached by the Chief of Defence Forces and staffs subordinate to him or her in furtherance of the above purposes and goals;
5. a denial to the bureaucracy to interfere with the procurement of weapons and supplies deemed necessary by the C.D.S. irrespective of the source of such materials so long as such procurement is within the fiscal bounds established by parliament.
This book is well researched by its author and is highly readable by all persons irrespective of whether they have seen active military service of not. It underlines the powers which the bureaucracy have taken upon themselves due to the inability from time to time of parliament and/or elements thereof to reach considered decisions when such are needed in a timely manner. It further underlines the failure of previous governments to recognize current threats against the sovereignty of our country and to rely on the old option "let someone else do it" which has created an inability for the citizenry (partly due to the media's indifference to matters of a extra-territorial nature) to recognize the value of a well prepared and equipped armed forces.