OTTAWA, Feb. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Canada's military began a major command structure shake-up Wednesday under the direction of Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier.

    The new system will divide the workload into four new commands.

    They will include Canada Command which will be responsible for alloperations in North America; Canadian Expeditionary Force Command which will be responsible for international operations; Canadian Special Operations Forces Command which will be responsible for all special operations; Canadian Operational Support Command which will be responsible for providing support to the operations commands including logistics, engineering, health services, communications and military police support, Hillier said at a news conference in Ottawa.

    The new structure will enable each command to focus on specific threats and areas of responsibility, with skills and training specific to their area of expertise, said Hillier.

    The new structure also splits Canada into six Joint Task Forces that will work with other federal agencies and civilian authorities, and will enable the military to become more proactive in responding when it is needed.

    The new structure was accompanied by a pledge that special operations will be more transparent than in the past

    Talking about incoming Prime Minister Stephen Harper's promise to strengthen Canada's military with thousands of new troops, Hillier said the military can easily handle the new soldiers, as long as the government also provides funding to equip and train them.

    Recuiting and enlisting the promised 13,000 soldiers and 10,000 reservists presents a formidable challenge on its own, but that too can be handled if the money is there, said Hillier.

    Canadian Forces are currently authorized to have 60,000 in the ranks for army, navy and air force. But there are only about 55,000 currently trained and operational soldiers. Enditem