Acadia, 14 Wing series highlights Ukraine/ Russia connections to CAF mission
Three weeks of lectures on Ukraine/ Russia history found a particularly engaged audience at 14 Wing Greenwood, as the base partnered with Acadia University on professional development with a purpose.
“This is a partnership to highlight,” Colonel Luc Vachon said at the closing lecture June 26. “The topic made sense – Ukraine/ Russia, dynamics with China and the Indo-Pacific…. There is lots of relevance with what we do here and how we fit in, why we’re there – and the impact we’re having.”
14 Wing personnel deploy on international operations directly related to Dr. David Duke’s lecture topics: the historical roots of Ukraine/ Russia relations, through the impacts of the 1980s and ‘90s Soviet collapse, 2014’s Russian invasion of the Crimean Peninsula, and the players and powers that pushed the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine into today’s war.
“I’m not a military expert; I’m not a technical expert; but the bridge to Russia’s intentional invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was not invisible.
“(Russian president Vladimir) Putin thought, based on his experience in Crimea, there would be a rapid collapse in Ukraine; that Western interventions would be ineffective.
“Putin miscalculated.”
Duke described how, between 2014 and 2022, Ukraine became stronger and more independent of Russia, growing its “will to win” through Crimean pressures. Putin, in the meantime, saw his “worldview reinforced: that the West is weak and can be cracked by Russian ‘intention.’
“The Ukraine invasion reflects calculated Russian risk. Flawed assumptions and misguided, but not irrational.”
Every lecture included questions and discussion, and 14 Wing members didn’t hesitate. Members asked Duke about Putin’s leadership succession plan: “There is no successor; no voice that speaks for Russia but Putin. When Putin leaves or dies, I expect chaos. Conditions for an orderly transfer of power are not there.
“That concerns me.”
Domestic and international opinions on Russia’s war are drawing closer.
“Popular opinion outside Russia?” Duke said. “Overwhelmingly opposed. Inside Russia? Discontent and outright anger. It’s claimed half-a-million Russian lives, and propaganda can’t paper over the cracks and instability anymore. Putin is beginning to lose control over some very firm relationships he’s had for years.
“I don’t know how it’s going to unfold.”
Members asked Duke what the West could have done differently at various stages, from the 1994 nuclear disarmament of Ukraine to the Russian Crimean invasion to the 2022 Ukrainian invasion – and since. There was a question about Russia’s Artic activity, directly concerning Canada: currently less because of Russian distraction, or incapability? Ukraine’s success with artificial intelligence and drones has had an impact on war-fighting, but what does it mean for international militaries?
“I have to say thank you, as a group, for incredible engagement; fabulous, great questions,” Duke said. “I hope you take away information that helps you process your work tasks. This series has been wonderful, with a forward-thinking group of people.”
14 Wing Chief Warrant Officer Justin Harper closed Duke’s last lecture.
“Who feels smarter today than they did six weeks ago?” Harper asked. “This has been a fantastic opportunity for growth, and carries through to what we do as a Canadian Armed Forces. Acadia has partnered with us to provide all of this, and we’re all more lethal today than we were six weeks ago.”
