This presentation examines the evolution of Canada’s unique whole-of-government (WoG) approach, in the context of international cooperation, in Afghanistan. Although that effort resulted in great gains when the Canadian Forces were actively involved in a combat role, the Canadian Government does not seem interested in maintaining this WoG capability as a framework for quickly responding to current or future international crises.
Dr. Howard G. Coombs is an assistant professor and Associate Chair of War Studies at the Royal Military College in Kingston. He served in the Regular Army from 1979-2003 with overseas deployments to Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. He first deployed to Afghanistan as a Reservist in 2004 and further served in 2010/11 as a civilian advisor to the Commander, Task Force Kandahar. He is currently a Reserve Colonel, serving with the Office of the Chief of Reserves and Employer Support, at NDHQ. Dr. Coombs is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College, and the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies where he received his Master’s degree. He received his PhD from Queen’s University. His areas of research interests are Canadian professional military education, in addition to Canadian military ops and training since the Cold War.