Article / October 8, 2014 / Project number: 14-0180

Ottawa, Ontario — This fall, the Canadian Army (CA) will implement an innovative program whereby Combat Arms promotions from Corporal to Master Corporal will be managed at the unit – instead of the national – level. This change, a positive outcome of the CA Renewal effort, is expected to save time and money and help the CA accelerate the progression of its “shining stars.”

The drive to work smarter and be more efficient can lead to a fresh examination of why things are done in a certain way. Such a review process may end up standing the status quo on its head, as was the case with Corporal-to-Master Corporal appointments in the Canadian Army (CA) Combat Arms trades.

The CA has four Combat Arms trades: infantry, armoured, artillery, and combat engineers. The majority of the personnel in these trades are privates or corporals located in field units where they perform their baseline jobs.

On the basis that no one knows their soldiers’ strengths and leadership qualities better than their own unit, authority to determine which corporals will be promoted to the appointment of Master Corporal is now given to the unit Commanding Officer (CO). The COs will now also be the ones to select soldiers with leadership potential for Primary Leadership Qualification (PLQ) training, which is a pre-cursor to promotion to Master Corporal.

This was achieved by eliminating the requirement to hold National-level promotion boards for Corporals in the Combat Arms. As a result, the CA will save time, reduce paperwork, simplify the selection process, cut back on costly postings and – most importantly – enhance the process of ensuring the right soldier is in the right place at the right time and with the right qualifications.

“We saw a number of efficiencies that could be made within our Combat Arms trades,” said Chief Warrant Officer Michael Hornbrook, the Army Sergeant-Major, who participated in the drafting of the initiative. He noted that while this efficiency applies to the Combat Arms, it may not necessarily transfer to other corps, branches or services because other trades are not centralized to the degree the Combat Arms are.

A major goal of meriting soldiers is to identify the talented leaders quickly and act on their potential. CWO Hornbrook notes that for exceptional young warriors who display strong leadership traits early, the new process will allow their COs to recognize and accelerate their training and promotion.

“It was more of a challenge before,” he said. Previously, the additional layers of bureaucracy could add as much as four years to a member’s path to Master Corporal.

Through a combination of this new system and the current Delegated Authority Promotion System (DAPS), it is now possible for COs to accelerate the appointment of Corporals and Privates with exceptional performance and leadership attributes to the rank of Master Corporal.

“This would maximize the time available for those shining stars to be exposed in the future to the strategic level that will serve them extremely well should they find themselves serving as a Brigade Sergeant-Major, the Army Sergeant-Major or the Canadian Armed Forces Chief,” he said.

“Let’s not kid ourselves,” said CWO Hornbrook. “They are soldiers. I mean, they know who’s who in the zoo. When they look over their shoulders and see an exceptional private who is ‘all that AND a bag of potato chips,’ they know this person has a lot of potential. When they see him or her placed on a PLQ and promoted to the appointment of Master Corporal, this reinforces again that their leadership is absolutely attuned to the rank and file and are making sure that we’ve got best person, in the right place, at the right time. It reinforces their trust in the chain of command.”

“This is probably one of the greatest success stories, certainly on the NCO side of the house that I have seen,” said CWO Hornbrook. “We are all about the future, not the now. Our success is that when we are all gone, one of those privates or corporals that we are talking about now is going to be sitting in the Army Sergeant-Major chair. So that’s legacy. This is giving us, I think, obviously all the efficiencies that we have talked about, but I also believe the quality level of our leadership is going to be even better,” he said.

By Lynn Capuano, Army Public Affairs