Short Bursts:
The Removal of the Seven Section Battle Drills from BMQ (part 1)

The Canadian Army’s Fable of the Progressive Hen
By Dr. James Dillard II and MBdr Alec Rembowski

Reserve units and personnel are viewed as being a “there when needed” solution that has, in the case of the United States Army, resulted in 300,000 reserve force personnel deployments since the September 11 attacks.^{Note de bas de page 1}  During Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan between 20% to 30% of Canada’s forces deployed were reservists.^{Note de bas de page 2}  This highlights the importance placed on reserve forces, while raising a concerning question: what happens if these forces lack critical training? This analytic reflection is focused on the issue surrounding the Canadian Army’s Primary Reserves (PRes) training and readiness concerning the Seven Section Battle Drills.

Historically, the Seven Section Battle Drills were formally taught on the Basic Military Qualification-Land (BMQ-Land) course. This course was mandatory for all Canadian Army soldiers. The BMQ-Land was sequential to the Basic Military Qualification-Common (BMQ-Common) course and was a prerequisite for trainees before they moved on to their Developmental Phase One (DP1) trade-specific courses. With the discontinuation of BMQ-Land, the course content has been either backdropped onto BMQ-Common or forwarded onto the trainees DP1 trades courses.

While shortened courses have the potential to benefit both students and instructors, a critical catch exists; it is incumbent upon the instructors to ensure academic and curricular rigour are maintained. This means that, despite the shortened timeframe, the critical components of the course must not be shortened.^{Note de bas de page 3}  Studies suggest that, when redesigning or shortening courses, the process must be carefully monitored to ascertain that the course objectives remain intact, and the educational standards are not either diminished or compromised.^{Note de bas de page 4}

 

The Problem – Unready for Combat

This is especially important for the Canadian Army PRes who do not have the flexibility to reinforce all the educational standards when they return from courses. One important case in the Canadian Army PRes is the Seven Section Battle Drills that have been removed from Basic Military Qualification (BMQ) training.^{Note de bas de page 5}  Without this invaluable training, PRes soldiers will struggle to defend themselves from insurgency forces as well as peer and near-peer adversaries in operations.

At the foundation of organizing and commanding a section of soldiers in the Canadian Army is the Seven Section Battle Drills. As described in Infantry Section and Platoon in Operations,

experience has shown that when rapid action is essential for success, it is an advantage to have methods of tackling minor tactical problems which are both known and understood. Section Battle Drills were developed to provide an instinctive reaction to contact. The sequential execution of the drills is a logical progression of action that enables a section to overcome minor opposition.^{Note de bas de page 6}

The Seven Section Battle Drills are: 1) Prepare for battle, 2) React to effective enemy fire, 3) Locate the enemy, 4) Winning the fire fight, 5) The approach, 6) The assault, 7) Consolidation.^{Note de bas de page 7}  These drills teach soldiers how to function in combat as part of a section within Canadian Army doctrine.

On 22 February 2023, a Training Plan Review Board (TPRB) was assembled to render decisions and recommendations towards the DP1 PRes BMQ-Common Qualification Standard/Training Plan (QS/TP).^{Note de bas de page 8}  The TPRB concluded that it would be better to reduce the content and remove the title of the Seven Section Battle Drills.^{Note de bas de page 9}  Instead, the TPRB recommended to keep steps one through four: 1) Prepare for battle,  2) React to effective enemy fire, 3) Locate the enemy, and 4) Winning the fire fight.^{Note de bas de page 10}  This reduced content is now called “React to enemy fire” and also incorporates “Reacting to indirect enemy fire”.^{Note de bas de page 11}

The TPRB acknowledged that, without BMQ-Land, the current generation of PRes trainees are entering their DP 1 trades-specific course less prepared than their predecessors.^{Note de bas de page 12}  The TPRB Record of Decision acknowledges that there should be a decrease of time allocated to “navigation” training on the BMQ-Common Field Training Exercise (FTX) to incorporate elements of content from the BMQ-Land course content. However, as “navigation” is essential content which has always been a staple of the BMQ-Common course, the TPRB suggested only limiting “navigation” to half a day on the FTX to create time for the “react to enemy fire” course content.

While this decision appeared to appease both the “navigation” and “react to enemy fire” content, in practice the “react to enemy fire” content received much less time than “navigation”. In the PRes BMQ-Common QS/TP the “navigation” content is allotted 15 training periods, including five during the FTX, to be delivered in interactive lecture, demonstration, and performance methods of teaching.^{Note de bas de page 13}  Meanwhile “react to enemy fire” is only allocated two training periods during the FTX, to be delivered in a combination of interactive lecture, demonstration, and performance.^{Note de bas de page 14}  “React to enemy fire” encompasses the first four steps of seven section battle drills and the “react to enemy indirect fire” teaching point, this consequently puts unrealistic expectations on both BMQ-Common staff and students.

While there can be benefit to shortening or condensing courses, the first commitment must be to maintain the quality of the instruction. If the content is diminished, thus producing students with a knowledge deficiency, the effort may not achieve its intended outcomes. This is just as true today as it was in 1903 when Wilber Jackman presented his "Fable of the Progressive Hen" in The Journal of Education. In this fable, the hen elected to save hatching time by reducing the time she would sit on her eggs by three days. This allowed her chicks to hatch quicker, gaining three days of advantages over other chicks, and lessen her motherly burden by three days. At the end of the shortened period, she helped her babies escape their shells and watched as they all died, one by one, because of her progressive efforts to save time.^{Note de bas de page 15}  The Canadian Army cannot deny the next generation of recruited soldiers the critical training needed to be successful in combat operations. The Canadian Army cannot afford to be a Progressive Hen.

(to be continued in part 2)

 

About the Authors

Dr. James Dillard II is a medically-retired United States Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist. After retirement, he entered academia earning a Master of History and a Doctor of Education from the University of Houston Clear Lake. He then completed a Master of Strategic Studies and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Strategic Studies both from the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military, Security, and Strategic Studies. When not pursuing academic interests, he enjoys exploring Canada with his wife, reading and watching fiction and non-fiction, and building and collecting Lego.

MBdr Alec Rembowski is a Canadian Army reservist with 1^st (Halifax-Dartmouth) Field Artillery Regiment. Following joining the PRes in 2015, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie University. He is currently a graduate student working towards obtaining a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies. Between September 2023 to August 2024 MBdr Rembowski was employed at the 41 CBG Battle School instructing on BMQ and BMOQ courses.

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This article first appeared online in the Short Bursts section of the Canadian Army Journal (July 2025).