Interview with Charles Oliviero
Narrator: Colonel Charles Oliviero Interviewer: Interviewed by Josh Kotorynski Interview Date and Location: 12 March 2024, Victoria BC Synopsis: The interview with Colonel Charles Oliviero started with a discussion about his life before the military, what led him to join, his time at RMC, the importance of discipline there, and cultural change over the decades. After that, Oliviero talked about why he originally decided to join the Navy, his success in training courses and the seasickness that led him to join the army. Next, Oliviero discussed his training to become an armoured officer and what it was like commanding both tank troops and armoured reconnaissance troops. The interview shifted focus to particularly devastating budget cuts in the 1970s, the importance of good mess culture in the CAF, how the lack of good culture leads to retention issues and the negative side effects of drawing on the CAF as a workforce for domestic disaster relief. The interview got back on track with a discussion about the surveillance capabilities of armoured reconnaissance and the importance of developing good individual soldier skills, with an example of Canada winning a NATO tank competition in Germany. The interview continued with Oliviero discussing anti-armour technology and how it has affected armoured doctrine, training and types of conflicts armoured doctrine was focused on during the Cold War, as well as skill fade in higher level strategy in Afghanistan in favour of focusing on lower level fighting skills. After that, the interview shifted gears to Oliviero’s time in Cyprus and the work-up training program the CAF had in place. The interview continued with Oliviero talking about his time in the Soviet Union for the Conventional Forces Europe Treaty Inspection, where he inspected Russian arms and tanks, then discussed his time in Germany and the lessons he brought back to Canada that he learned overseas. The interview shifted to a discussion on changing tank technology, Russian tank doctrine as well as some of the key cultural and national differences that affect the Russian military. The interview continued on the topic of technology, discussing the benefits and challenges of better STANO and thermal imaging technology in armoured reconnaissance, as well as how anti-armour weapons and drones are being used in Ukraine and briefly in combined arms defensive strategy. Afterwards, Oliviero discussed the devastating impacts of budget cuts in the CAF and briefly mentioned what the future of the armoured core could look like. The interview ended with a discussion about Oliviero’s career after the military as a civilian contractor, training multiple militaries as well as countless Canadians to go to Afghanistan and the lessons he learned from his time in the CAF. 0:00 - 01:29 Introduction, life before the military, reasons for joining. 01:29 - 6:55 Experience at RMC, discipline, change in culture. 06:55 - 9:40 Time as a navel cadet, training, what caused the switch to the army. 9:40 - 11:36 Reasoning for choosing the armoured core, decision to stay. 11:36 - 15:49 Training to become an armoured officer. 15:49 - 20:32 Commanding tank troops and armoured reconnaissance. 20:32 - 32:48 1970s budget cuts, mess life, retention issues, CAF as a workforce for disaster relief. 32:48 - 39:57 Surveillance capabilities of armoured reconnaissance, NATO tank competition in Germany, reliance on technology. 39:57 - 45:21 Anti-armour technology, effect on armoured doctrine. 45:21 - 50:50 Training, types of threats and conflicts, individual soldier skills. 50:50 - 52:06 Changes in training from the Cold War to Afghanistan, loss of higher-level tactics in favour of lower-level training. 52:06 - 56:00 Work-up training and deployment to Cyprus. 56:00 - 1:03:12 Conventional Forces Europe Treaty Inspection. 1:03:12 - 1:05:18 Experiences and lessons learned from Germany. 1:05:18 - 1:15:05 How tank technology changed, how Colonel Oliviero had to adapt to meet these changes, Russian tank doctrine, and cultural and national differences. 1:15:05 - 1:18:20 Effect of changing technology in other combat arms trades on the armoured core. 1:18:20 - 1:20:25 Challenges during armoured reconnaissance as thermal tracking technology changes. 1:20:25 - 1:22:45 Effect of improved STANO technology on armoured reconnaissance. 1:22:45 - 1:27:17 Anti-armour weapons and drones in Ukraine, combined arms defensive positions. 1:27:17 - 1:32:19 Current CAF budget cuts, how the CAF was able to recover from previous budget cuts. 1:32:19 - 1:33:08 Potential future changes to the armoured core, combined arms theory. 1:33:08 - 1:40:48 Working as a civilian contractor, lessons learned from time in the military. Suggested Clip for Archive: 56:00 - 1:03:12, Conventional Forces Europe Treaty Inspection.
- In Collection:
- Interview #SC141_OC_928
- 01:40:48
- The Significance of Technology in Combat Arms Trades
- 35, 33
- 33, 66
- 49, 32
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- Accession Number: 2025-002; Series 8; Item: 928
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2024. Recorded in digital format by interviewer. Keywords supplied by interviewer. Metadata by KD.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI