Topic: Cold War
Principles of Survival Operations
In the event of a nucIear attack on North America, survival operations wouId become first priority tasks af all Regular and Militia units in Canada not engaged in the direct defence of the country. The Army would be joined in these operations by forces from the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force.
From the Foreward by Lieut.-Gen. G. Walsh, Chief of the General Staff; CAMT 2-91 (May 1962)
Extracted from the Canadian Army Manual of Training; Survival Operations (1961), (Revised May 1962); CAMT 2-91
The following principles have been established for planning survival operations:
(1) Speed in executing rescue operations is of paramount importance to the saving of life.
(2) All forces not committed to active operations against enemy forces must be available for survival operations.
(3) Maximum manpower must be brought to bear on rescue operations in time to be effective.
(4) Survival plans must be flexible to take account of various wind and weather conditions and various attack patterns.
(5) Surviva1 plans must be simple and must have been rehearsed so that effective operations may start on minimum orders, or in the absence of orders.
(6) Equipment and commodities essential to survival operations must be located outside of probable target areas. Despite the vulnerability of units located inside target areas, plans must aim at their maximum use and must provide far their rapid outward movement to assembly areas.
(7) Basic information needed to carry out re-entry operations must be collected beforehand and must be kept up to date.
(8) Authority must be decentralized so that local commanders have the necessary powers to execute their assigned responsibilities in case of interrupted communication with higher headquarters.
(9) Forces engaged in survival operations should be self-sufficient in essential commodities for the period of such operations. National reserves of equipment needed for survival operations must be decentralized because of expected transportation difficulties.
(10) Forces engaged in survival operations may have to be relieved at an early stage in order to participate in active operations against the enemy or to conduct survival operations elsewhere in Canada.
(11) Efforts will be directed towards ensuring that maximum warning of the likelihood of an attack is provided to elements of government and the civilian population. Similarly, dissemination of the TAKE COVER and FALLOUT warnings must be provided far on the highest possible priority.
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