- OTTAWA (CP) -- Soldiers beware -- the military's Big Brother has cruised
the Internet looking to catch you complaining about poor pay and leadership.
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- The army's inspector general, Brig.-Gen.
James Cox, spent part of his time in 1997 and 1998 cruising the Web and
dipping into public bulletin boards to monitor discussions about military
affairs, according to Access to Information documents obtained by the Ottawa
Citizen.
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- He didn't like what he saw: soldiers
complaining to each other that they didn't have combat pants or boots or
that their pay was the pits.
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- Incensed the troops were "spreading
unfounded, unhelpful opinions" and rumours and were being unprofessional,
Cox started to send the names of the offenders to commanding officers so
they could deal with the problem.
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- "There are some (and a growing number)
who challenge professional standards of conduct and irresponsibly blurt
out all manner of unfounded claims and accusations," he wrote to senior
commanders in suggesting some kind of "cyberspace" discipline
be developed.
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- A month after Cox fired off e-mails to
the commanders with copies of the Internet discussions of some of their
soldiers, the inspector general was told the "rumours" on the
Net were true.
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- "The short of the story is that
there is definitely a problem regarding the issue of combat clothing, field
kit and combat boots," one officer informed Cox. "You may recognize
these 'facts' from the apparent rumours that we see on the army Web page.
The story we hear on the Net that troops are paying to have their combat
boots resoled is apparently true."
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- Several months later MPs heard about
massive shortages of combat boots, pants, shirts and other basic military
items when a Commons committee travelled the country hearing complaints
about military pay, living conditions and equipment.
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- The Internet messages collected by Cox,
who left his position as Land Force Command Inspector several months ago,
were tinged with cynicism. One trooper in Edmonton was given a pair of
combat pants two sizes too small because of shortages. "I guess I'll
have to go on the Sarah Ferguson weight watchers program to fit into my
new duds" he remarked in one message.
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- "It's a sad state of affairs when
we don't have enough cold weather kit to outfit our soldiers," wrote
another who had to buy his own sleeping bag, boots and gloves.
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- Another suggested that the officers at
National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, who he believed were to blame
for the problems, could be replaced with "trained monkeys."
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- In sending his concerns about the Internet
messages to senior military officials, Brig.-Gen. Cox pointed out that
soldiers, many only part-time reservists, are not free to speak their opinions
in a public forum and that the Internet was such a venue. Military regulations
require soldiers only to speak about issues they have direct knowledge
about and they are not to comment on political issues.
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- But some of the part-time soldiers, who
figured their discussions were being monitored by senior military officials,
didn't believe they were out of line. They were talking about problems
in their profession and not disclosing classified information.
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- They also stated in their messages they
were talking as private citizens and believed they were not governed 24
hours a day by military rules, especially when they were sitting in their
homes on their computers on their own time.
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- Cox acknowledged that it might be difficult
to crack down on part-time soldiers who were on the Net in their own time
but complained that reservists "tend to over interpret their right
as a citizen to criticize anything and everything they want to."
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