General Rick Hillier’s Main Arguments in A Soldier First

General Hiller’s A Soldier First
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Introduction
General Hillier's ‘‘A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and Politics of War’’ is a memoir about Rick Hillier, a retired Canadian general with vast experience in military affairs having participated in various missions around the world. In this book, Hillier recounts his experience as a soldier and a military leader and how his leadership helped shape the organization. Military force is one of the most important departments in the security docket as it plays a critical role in protecting the nation against external and internal threats (Hillier, 2010). Civilian control of the military is a doctrine of the armed forces used in democratic governments as part of the bedrock foundation of that nation. This doctrine places ultimate responsibility for a country’s strategic decision-making in the hands of civilian political leadership rather than professional military officers.
Allowing the civilian component of the government to retain control over the military or state security demonstrates a healthy respect for democratic values and good governance. However, this doctrine requires a healthy relationship between the military and the civil authorities to function properly. Research shows that countries with legitimate associations between government and military are more effective because of increased accountability (Cox, 2019). In his book, Hillier believes that security relies on the relationship between the two structures. Lack of trust or fruitful relationships can highly compromise military operations, putting a country and the lives of soldiers in danger. This risk necessitates the need for the government and the military to have mutual understanding.
Through trust, the military can be confined to the rule of law and submit to government oversight to make an effective security instrument possible. However, according to Hillier (2010), transparency has taken hold of the Canadian military system to improve bureaucracy. The intensity of bureaucracy has motivated Hillier to work toward the county’s norm of fully transforming the military. Although he had plans to re-equip the CFs, he experienced challenges from bureaucrats who blocked him from executing his plan. The book is replete with examples of the government having excessive control of the military such that the military is in no shape to meet an imminent threat. The problem lies in the development of close civil-military relations such that both entities have similar concerns about the same threats and understand those threats with an equal amount of clarity.
From Hillier’s viewpoint, the threats to national interests change over time, calling for significant external impetus. The truth is that the Canadian military must do more than just make some minor changes or make some priorities to address the emerging threats. This occurrence requires a vivid transformation but the inertia of military bureaucracy bars change from happening. (Hillier, 2010) Ideally, the government or military sh...