Former general Rick Hillier spoke in St. John's Thursday night at the launch of his book tour. (CBC)

Former general Rick Hillier told an audience in St. John's Thursday night that the federal bureaucracy is hampering Canada's fighting soldiers.

Hillier, who was chief of the defence staff of the Canadian Forces between 2005 and 2008, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people, as part of the book launch for his memoir.

He writes in his book A Soldier First that he felt at times as if he were fighting a bureaucratic war with Ottawa more than fighting a war in Kandahar.

Hillier told reporters after the launch that the country often fails to deliver vital equipment to the soldiers who need it.

"We need some changes in the bureaucracy in Ottawa," he said. "We need to be able to deliver what men and women in uniform need to do what we as a nation asked them to do, in a way that sets them up for success and reduces the risk to them, all at the same time."

Hillier said when a need for military equipment is identified, government should act fast.

"They need them quickly when they're identified, and they need them delivered and put in service so they can actually use them, and it shouldn't take years, it should be weeks or a few months."

Hillier said staff inside the Prime Minister's Office often tried to muzzle him. But Hillier said that he felt he had to speak out then and now, on behalf of soldiers risking their lives.