A Senate committee on national security and defence released a bleak report Tuesday on the financial crisis facing Canada's military saying that in order to survive, troops should be pulled from overseas deployment to stave off further fatigue.

"Money alone will not solve the problem. We became convinced over the summer that in addition to significant infusion of cash that the military needed a pause from overseas deployments," Senator Colin Kenny, chairman of the committee, said at an Ottawa press conference.

"Normally troops go out for six months at a time. We're suggesting that as those tours come to an end, no more troops be sent overseas and that they remain here in Canada for 24 months — two years — in order to regroup and try to pull the structure back into shape."

Mr. Kenny later told globeandmail.com that the military is headed for a critical personnel shortage if it does not address training issues.

The Senate report says that a withdrawal from international duty for 24 months makes more sense than allowing the Canadian Forces to continue to fall apart.

"What we're saying is, you've got to give both the money and the time to get people trained up," Mr. Kenny said.

Mr. Kenny said the request comes from speaking to military members from 15 bases across the country.

Troop pullback could begin in six months.

But Leon Benoit, the Opposition defence critic, told globeandmail.com that Canada can't renege on its international commitments overseas.

"It would be naive and irresponsible," he said. "You can't simply withdraw our troops from all overseas operations for two years ... it's unacceptable. When you make a commitment to allies you keep it."

Titled "For an Extra $130 bucks ... Update on Canada's Military Crisis — A View From the Bottom Up," the report also recommends an immediate funding injection of $4-billion — the same amount it recommended in an earlier report in February.

"That's the minimum, and the full increase is required immediately," Senator Joseph Day said. He added: "There hasn't been much of a reaction or a change since that February report so we've continued studying the problem."

Mr. Kenny said that amounts to an extra $130 per person in Canada. Currently, per-capita spending on military amounts to about $435.

When asked whether he feels the government will be responsive to the Senate report, Mr. Kenny told globeandmail.com that "this is a dilemma for the government, there's no question about it.

"We don't see it as an either/or thing, first of all. Secondly, if you don't have a secure country, all the other important things that you want to have fall by the wayside. It's fundamental to Canadians that they have a secure country first."

He called it an "insurance policy." Canadians clearly spend more to insure their cars and homes, he said.

In a speech last week, Defence Minister John McCallum said he will cut administrative fat and outdated weapon systems out of the Canadian Forces, and acknowledged that he is looking for money for more troops and modern equipment.

Mr. McCallum is in Britain preparing for next week's NATO meetings in Prague, spokesman Shane Diaczuk told globeandmail.com.

Mr. Diaczuk said the report will be looked at by the Defence Department in the "overall sense of developing a sustainability for the Canadian Forces. This report, like other reports that have come out recently, will be well looked at."

Mr. Kenny said he is satisfied with the work of the Defence Minister, who was appointed in January.

"He's doing a fine job. I think he's drawn attention to the problem, and I think he's endeavouring the best he can to get more funding."

Tuesday's report was based in part on interviews with officers and enlisted personnel at 15 military bases across Canada.

It is the first in a series of interim reports to be issued under its current mandate to "review matters relating to national defence and security generally, including veterans affairs."

The committee's last report also talked about the need for an increase in troops — from the current 52,000 to 75,000.

The report also talks about a crisis in personnel on bases as well as qualified technical instructors to perform training, insufficient funding for operations, maintenance and infrastructure, and an equipment crisis, which the report refers to as "Canada's Antiques Roadshow."

"We had technicians say 'look, I get halfway through a job and I need a part,' and we don't have any parts. And that happens day after day."

Mr. Benoit said the committee is right in pointing out that Canada is not properly fulfilling its commitment overseas because the military is overstretched, because of outdated equipment and because of a lack of personnel.

The report may have some potency among the public as it was released one day after a poignant Remembrance Day in which Canadians mourned the loss of four soldiers in an April friendly fire incident.

With a report from Canadian Press