George, Robert E.: my Naval experiences (November 7, and 20, 2005)

Interviewer: Walton, Louise

ABSTRACT: Vice Admiral Robert E. George Side One 000 - Individual duties and responsibilities 020 - Media coverage on the readiness of the navy; "navy had set own trap" 072 - Why send the navy initially instead of the army or air force? 113 - Warning Orders from Chief of Defense Staff 122 - CPF program and use of its equipment 2000 - Bypassing of standard procurement process 2203 - Advantages Canada's navy had over that of our allies 2500 - Our ties with the United States 2600 - Canadian War Council; why it was formed and how it fit into the larger picture 2900 - Oka crisis; media's attempt to draw linkages 3000 - Obstacles of the whole deployment; 1) political confidence, 2) family understanding, and 3) sustainability Side Two 000 - Troop rotation 010 - Our communication compared to the UK and Australia 024 - United States short on AOL resources 040 - In hindsight; if we had had the CPFs 065 - "The Navy Triangle" in 5-9 Aug - reference to Jean Morin's book Operation Friction (Cassette 2) Side One 000 - What the navy was doing prior to 1990 100 - Government wanted a "meaningful role for the Navy"; be effective, do useful work, our expression of this had to be consistent in public 120 - Oka was also happening; Mobile Command was dealing with that 125 - Government was concerned about the navies ability; asked the CF and the navy if they were capable; if so, asked to say so publicly 150 - Role changed out of changing operational goals 160 - Higher risk in Central Gulf; had to make sure the public understood why there was a change in threat level 200 - Media joined the trip in Gibraltar (entrance to Mediterranean); they had no filing restrictions; open policy; CF had learned from previous experiences i.e. Falklands War 210 - Communication between Commands 250 - Commanders in the field had ROE so they could make on the spot 255 - ROE were approved by DND (and the government on occasion) 260 - Deputy Minister of Defense Robert Fowler was very active in decisions around decisions 270 - JTF I was the first use of designation 'JTF I' 280 - Vice-Admiral George as making decisions regarding support of the Naval Task Group; operational decisions were being made by NDHQ; no important decision was ever made in isolation 300 - Command and Control structure of the CF changed in response to Joint Command requirements 310 - Persian Gulf war was early testing/proving ground for concept of JTF, "proof was in the pudding" Side Two 000 - What the three forces (army, navy, air force) had to do to get ready 010 - DND had been going through tremendous review of cost and capability. Commanders were trying to monitor force reductions 050 - Period leading up to August 1990 were difficult on moral of staff who were coming up with ideas 055 - Persian Gulf built up confidence and moral of members 060 - The CF "suffered more at the hand of the accountants than from Saddam Hussein" 070 - Rebuilding our capability will take a long time 100 - Persian Gulf war was a wakeup call for Canadians of what could be demanded of CF

An interview/narrative of Robert E. George's experiences during the Gulf War. Vice Admiral George served with the Canadian Forces Maritime Command. Interview took place on November 7 and 20, 2005.

Rank: Vice Admiral.

Interviewee: George, Robert E.

In Collection:

• Canadian Military Oral Histories

Contributor

• Walton, Louise
• George, Robert E.

Subject

• Naval history
• Canada. Canadian Armed Forces. Maritime Command
• Persian Gulf War (1991)
• Military history

Language

• eng

Date created

• November 7, 2005 to November 20, 2005

Relation

• Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews.

Resource type

• Sound

Rights statement

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Extent

• 4 sound recordings (MP3)

Geographic coverage

• Middle East
• Australia

Coordinates

• -25, 135
• 33.13906, 35.85869

Additional physical characteristics

• Original sound recording on audio cassette also available.

Physical repository

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Collection

• Canadian Military Oral History Collection

Provider

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Genre

• interviews
• reminiscences
• oral histories (literary genre)
• sound recordings

Archival item identifier

• GRE_534

Fonds title

• Military oral history collection

Fonds identifier

• SC141

Is referenced by

• Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection

Date digitized

• August 7, 2012

Technical note

• Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 44 kHz. In .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 24 kHz. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2012. Migration metadata by KD and MT.

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

•  https://doi.org/10.58066/jzzg-aa68

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