by Ken Pole

“There’s really no life like it.” That slightly amended Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recruiting pitch from nearly a half-century ago remains relevant to the Canadian Rangers, a unique element of the Army Reserve even as it faces the prospect of a more “holistic” approach to its mission.

Stood up in May 1947 and now some 5,000-strong, the Rangers are an essential first line of defence tasked with surveillance and sovereignty patrols where Regular forces aren’t always practicable. That’s especially true in the Arctic, but also in sparsely populated southern regions—an aera of operations that covers two-thirds of Canada’s total landmass.

Given how widely the Rangers are scattered, often working in small groups in the remotest parts of a region with increasing strategic importance, their command structure has been historically and necessarily less formal than elsewhere in the CAF. That’s partly due to the fact that they are spread across the country in more than 200 patrol groups of varying sizes and speak more than two dozen languages and dialects.

An internal January 2000 report acknowledged deficiencies in Ranger-specific policies, including those addressing financial and other support elements, but the process stalled as other priorities prevailed.

However, a more recent gap analysis of Army structure and capabilities reconfirmed a force-wide need to “recalibrate” roles and responsibilities. including expanding their capacity to act as a sensor to the CAF and other government departments with more frequent patrols on the land. It’s now a top priority for Army Commander Lieutenant-General Michael Wright.

Called the Canadian Rangers Enhancement (CRE), the project aims to provide a holistic view of operational output, training, equipment, infrastructure and staffing, supported by a more formal structure and policies.

“We are trying to unlock how to revitalize the operational requirements of the Rangers,” said Major Philippe Branco, who leads a small team advancing the initiative within the Directorate of Canadian Rangers. “Historically, they’ve been conducting business informally. Due to increased interest in the North, it was important to provide cornerstone documentation as a foundation for future investment in them.”

Deeply invested in their own communities, the Rangers are an essential resource tapped for their knowledge and experience by federal departments and agencies requesting assistance for search and rescue, natural disasters such as wildfires or floods, and humanitarian relief. It’s an acknowledgement that local knowledge is invaluable.

“They’re almost like a hybrid force between public safety and the military,” Branco told Canadian Army Today, his enthusiasm evident. “They’re always present when the red phone rings.”

But to have that ready “access and influence” to isolated communities and their surroundings, the CAF needs a better approach.

Traditionally, “nothing has been formalized within the Ranger world,” said Branco, who spent eight years at Canadian Ranger Patrol Group headquarters in Northern Quebec before his transfer in June 2022 to take the CRE reins at National Defence Headquarters.

While previous efforts increased the number of Ranger patrols and strengthened staffing, which meant “more horsepower” to deal with longstanding issues, the “lack of fundamental backbone documentation” was not fully addressed, he said.

Under CRE, the Army has shifted its focus to an approach that ensures Rangers’ training is planned rather than ad hoc, and operational responsibilities and the requisite equipment are supported by policies and structure. Also, akin to how the Army began bridging the gap between the Regular and Reserve forces in the 1990s in a “One Army” concept, Branco said the goal is to ensure the Rangers are more aligned with the rest of the CAF.

During Exercise Northern Lights 24, Canadian Ranger Erin Wilde (Quesnel CRP) fires a C19 rifle in Lac Brochet, Manitoba.

CRE’s foundation lies in the government’s June 2017 defence policy that proposed, among other things, an “enhanced presence in the Arctic” that would include upgraded surveillance. That 20-year blueprint stated that National Defence would “increase (its) presence in the Arctic over the long term and work cooperatively with Arctic partners.”

Fast forward to the April 2024 policy update: Refining its focus, the government acknowledged that climate change, in making the Arctic increasingly accessible, was creating new security challenges. The answer, it stated, was a “ready, resilient, and relevant” CAF, including the Rangers, “enabled by the right equipment in the right timeframes, and working with safe and effective infrastructure.”

That necessitated a clear, CAF-wide understanding and appreciation of what was needed of the Rangers, that “operational input was on point,” as Branco put it.

A new directive is expected from the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jenny Carignan, to ensure all command levels align on policy needs for Northerners in general and Rangers in particular.

“We’re almost done with revamping that core directive—the administrative order for the Rangers,” said Branco. “That’s big – changing the tasks, revitalizing the role, the vision and the mission statement.”

Rather than “define and push it as a big block,” the CRE team has opted for a phased approach for the initiative.

One of those is ensuring the Rangers have a military employment structure. At present, there is no documentation on recruitment standards and training. What skillset are required, notably in leadership roles? “That did not exist formally,” Branco said, “so we’re building that military employment structure right now.”

By definition the Rangers are a lightly equipped force. As part of CRE, the Army is looking at the full scope of their equipment needs, especially communication capabilities. Very High Frequency (VHF) radio handsets are effectively a line-of-sight technology, and cellular service, whether via satellite or tower, is a major challenge. Yet, reliable communications within a patrol or between patrols and up the command chain are critical, as is communication with police, search and rescue personnel, and other responders.

If one of the CRE objectives is improving the Rangers’ role as a “sense” capability across the North, then expanded cellular and satellite coverage is key to sharing information. That falls outside the scope of the CRE initiative—the Royal Canadian Air Force is the lead for several space-based projects, including one to enhance polar region satellite communications and one to deliver tactical narrowband SATCOM. But making the Rangers part of the Army’s digital transformation, despite possible security clearance issues, is important, said Branco.

“Digital acquisition is definitely a big part of this,” he said, explaining that a specific Ranger app could be a means for communicating and enhance data security. “We’re connecting with Denmark, which has a similar program called the Greenlandic Guardians.”

Then there’s infrastructure. Needs can vary regionally at different times of the year and depending on the mission. Rangers usually have a shipping container for collective equipment storage. While that will remain the case, a project is underway to roll out two styles of tents suitable for above and below the treeline as the Rangers push further into the hinterland.

Photo: Pvt Erika Licursi

Getting out there throughout much of the year involves snowmobiles, most of which are privately-owned by the Rangers, or small 4x4s. Boats become an option or a necessity during the brief Arctic summer and its shoulder seasons, which are expanding due to climate change. Snowmobiles are a significant personal capital cost, so the Army is increasing operational subsidies. “Now there’s an incentive to have a snowmobile,” Branco said.

Fewer northerners are venturing as far out on the land as they used to for hunting, fishing and traditional purposes. The CRE initiative aims to not only increase the frequency of patrols, but provide more structure and purpose to what has often been informal monitoring of maritime choke points in the Arctic Archipelago or key infrastructure such as radar sites, fuel dumps or harbours.

“They need to be ‘eyes on’ so we must ensure we know what we want them looking for,” Branco said. “It’s going back to their genesis of going on the land; we’re looking to increase their presence. What usually happens now is that they go on the land throughout their annual training. An instructor would come from the south and then they would go and do a patrol focused mostly on training.”

Such patrols can often yield strategically important information or discoveries, but now the intention is to provide “a specific mandate” as part of a wider CAF plan to better focus the Rangers’ time on the land.

“Where they excel is within a 200-kilometer bubble around their communities, where they know the land and the people,” Branco observed. “In the past, it might have been, ‘Hey, if the Rangers are available, let’s bring them in.’ Now, the Army and the Rangers are both at the table as far as planning and training are concerned.”

The Rangers’ distinct value is their local knowledge of their surroundings and the mobility to reach out rapidly.

“No one can reproduce that. No one within the CAF and even some more local jurisdictions has the presence 365 days a year,” he said, “so we need to preserve this ability to be a trusted agent in each community.”

This fundamental reliance is being factored into the Rangers’ instructor selection and training as a key element of the transition to a military employment structure. “We’re building that specialty so that the Ranger instructor is recognized as a mentor. They are often a sergeant or a warrant officer, usually combat arms.”

“With the proper training, a Ranger can definitely be a big part of making sure that the North is secure and well taken care of,” Branco said. “They deserve an adaptive policy, to be trained and equipped, to ensure that they fulfill their mandate. We’re excited to be pushing out initiatives that will make their life a lot easier.”