Canada in Afghanistan

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

RIP to:

Sgt. George Miok, 28, Cpl. Zachery McCormack, 21, both of Edmonton, Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28, of Yarmouth, N.S., and Pte. Garrett Chidley, 21, of Cambridge, Ont.

Along with journalist Michelle Lang, 34, of the Calgary Herald, of course.

My prayers are with their families at this difficult time.

[Mark W. Tonner]

CEFCOM NR - 09.035 - December 31, 2009

OTTAWA – Four Canadian soldiers and one Canadian reporter embedded with Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) were killed, while four other Canadian soldiers and one Canadian civilian official were injured in an IED incident in Kandahar province, on Wednesday December 30, 2009.

The incident occurred 4 km south of Kandahar City at approximately 4:00 p.m., Kandahar time, Wednesday afternoon as a result of an improvised explosive device attack on an armoured vehicle during a patrol.

Killed in action was Sergeant George Miok a member of 41 Combat Engineer Regiment, based in Edmonton, Alberta and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Killed in action was Sergeant Kirk Taylor a member of 84 Independent Field Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery, based in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Killed in action was Corporal Zachery McCormack a member of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, 4th Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, Alberta and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Killed in action was Private Garrett William Chidley a member of the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Michelle Lang, a Canwest journalist from Calgary, embedded with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan was killed in the same incident.

Four Canadian soldiers and one Canadian civilian official were also seriously wounded in the incident. All of the injured were evacuated by helicopter to the Multi-National Medical Facility at Kandahar Airfield. The injured soldiers and civilian are reported to be in stable condition.

Members of Task Force Kandahar are committed to improving security and increasing development in Kandahar Province. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of our fallen comrades and our prayers go out to the family and friends of our fallen civilian reporter during this sad time, but we are determined to continue working with our Afghan and international partners towards a better future for the people of Afghanistan.

[John McGillivray]

Canadian soldier killed after stepping on IED
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Sat. Jan. 16 2010 4:36 PM ET
A Canadian soldier, Sgt. John Faught, 44, has died in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan. He was the first Canadian casualty in the war torn country this year.
Faught was killed after stepping on an improvised explosive device in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province while on a joint foot patrol.
He was a member of the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based out of Edmonton.
Faught was described as a "father figure" among the soldier, who was affectionally known as "Toast" because he was "hard and crusty."
"He could always be counted on to tell it like it is when asked for his opinion," Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard said late Saturday.
"He was a very conscientious and thorough section commander who always put the needs of his soldiers above his own."
Faught was from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
The explosion occurred at about 2 p.m. local time on what was described as a routine foot patrol, about 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.
No one else was hurt in the incident.
There have been 139 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, and two Canadian civilians.
The death was the first since Dec. 30, when four Canadian soldiers, Sgt. George Miok, Sgt. Kirk Taylor, Cpl. Zachery McCormack and Pte. Garrett Chidley -- along with Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang were killed when their armoured vehicle was struck by a massive roadside bomb.
With files from The Canadian Press

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...b=TopStoriesV2

[John McGillivray]

Canadian soldier killed during weapons training
CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Saturday Feb. 13, 2010 8:01 AM ET

The body of the latest Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan began the journey home Saturday after a solemn ramp ceremony at Kandahar Air Field.

Cpl. Joshua Caleb Baker was killed in a training accident northeast of Kandahar City around 5 p.m. local time Friday.

The military has not released many details about Baker's death except to say it happened during a routine training exercise.

"This type of training is normal for soldiers in theatre and essential in helping them maintain high levels of expertise," Brig. Gen. Daniel Menard said.

Baker, 24, was serving with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

Menard said Baker had a laugh that lightened any situation.

"Joshua had a laugh rumoured to cure cancer," he said. "No matter where you were or how down you got, his laugh would find your ears and bring a smile to your face."

Baker, from Edmonton, was "an extremely positive, passionate" person, Menard said.

"He had a deep love for his family and worried constantly about them."

Four other soldiers were injured in the incident. They were taken by helicopter to the medical facility at Kandahar Airfield. They are in stable condition, the Department of National Defence said in a statement. Their names will not be released.

The Defence Department announced it will launch an investigation to determine exactly what happened.

Baker is the second Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan this year, and the 140th killed during Canada's eight-year mission in the country.

With a report from CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer in Afghanistan and files from The Canadian Press

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...b=TopStoriesV2

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

[John McGillivray]

It looks like it will be a long hot spring and summer in the sandbox.

Planning underway for NATO offensive in Kandahar
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Fri. Feb. 26 2010 4:28 PM ET
Canadian Forces and local Afghan officials are preparing for a major assault in Kandahar province this spring,, following in the footsteps of Afghan and NATO soldiers who are currently flushing out Taliban fighters from neighbouring Helmand province.
In Helmand province, some 15,000 troops are clearing the area around the town of Marjah, a Taliban stronghold the Afghan government intends to reclaim. Only two weeks into Operation Moshtarak -- the name for the NATO offensive launched earlier this month -- an Afghan flag has been raised in Marjah and a town administrator appointed.
But more than 2,800 families have been displaced by the offensive according to the independent Afghan Organization of Human Rights and Environmental Protection.
In Kandahar province, local officials have begun stockpiling the supplies needed to take care of their own residents, who are sure to face similar stresses once the local offensive begins in the spring.
Tooryalai Wesa, the Afghan-Canadian governor of Kandahar province, believes that once the fighting gets underway as many as 10,000 people may have to leave their homes.
Wesa said local authorities must be ready to help the people who will be displaced by the fighting.
"People will be moving from those districts toward the city in the first place, then maybe some other districts. So we have to be prepared," Wesa said.
On the military side, Canadian officials are eyeing the battle in Marjah as they work through the early stages of planning the coming offensive.
Canadian Brig.-Gen. Craig King, the coalition's director of future plans in southern Afghanistan, compared the planning process to sculpting.
"I take the block of marble and hew out the thing and get it to a point, and then there's some fine chiselling and then the polishing is done by someone else," King said.
King said NATO began laying the groundwork for the spring offensive last December, when it assigned more troops to provide security along Kandahar roads.
As the battle draws closer, Canadian troops should be expected "to be in the thick of it," said King.
The 101st Airborne's second brigade and the 205 Corps of the Afghan army's first brigade are expected to take part in the spring offensive along with British troops.
The Kandahar offensive will see a "comparable" number of troops taking part as are involved in the Marjah assault, said King.
But there will be differences between the two military operations. In Kandahar, insurgents are spread out and thus more difficult to target.
"It's going to be different from what happened in Helmand because Kandahar's a different environment," King said.
"Kandahar's environment is a much more political environment. There's a lot more people. I think it's fair to say that the makeup around the area here in terms of tribal influences and whatnot is certainly different and probably much more complex than it was elsewhere.
"So that just means that we have to start earlier."
With files from The Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew..._name=&no_ads=

and

First Marja, then we take Kandahar, US official says
February 28, 2010
A BIG US-led offensive against the Taliban stronghold of Marja in Afghanistan was a "tactical prelude" to a larger operation in Kandahar City later this year, a senior US official said yesterday.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the southern stronghold was the "capital city" for Taliban Islamist militants.
"It's their centre of gravity," he said. "Bringing security, comprehensive population security to Kandahar City is the centrepiece of operations this year. Therefore, Marja is the prelude, a sort of a preparatory action."
The US General, Stanley McChrystal, commander of 121,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, said last week the Marja offensive to restore government control and eradicate the Taliban in the poppy-growing valley in Helmand province was a "model for the future".
Helmand and Kandahar have been hot spots of the insurgency launched after the US-led invasion
http://www.smh.com.au/world/first-ma...0227-pa5j.html

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Another warrior has passed the torch...God bless you and your family..
RIP...

Governor General of Canada


Governor General of Canada
Mar 22, 2010 13:38 ET
Message From Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, on the Death of Corporal Darren James Fitzpatrick

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 22, 2010) - It was with great sadness that my husband Jean-Daniel Lafond and I learned that the war in Afghanistan had claimed a new victim from among the ranks of our valorous and courageous soldiers.

Corporal Darren James Fitzpatrick was on patrol west of Kandahar when he was wounded by an anti-personnel mine on March 6. Unfortunately he succumbed Saturday to his injuries, surrounded by his loved ones in Edmonton.

Canada and its extended military family have lost a remarkable and very generous man.

Corporal Darren James Fitzpatrick cared very deeply about serving his country. On mission in Afghanistan, he was convinced of the crucial importance of humanitarian assistance for the communities of Kandahar province, where poverty, insecurity and terrorism are daily realities.

From the bottom of our hearts and on behalf of all Canadians, we extend our most sincere condolences to the family, friends and comrades of Corporal Fitzpatrick, in particular those serving in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. We share their pain, and our thoughts are with them.

Michaëlle Jean

For more information, please contact
Rideau Hall Press Office
Annabelle Cloutier
613-993-2569
www.gg.ca
Click here to see all recent news from this company

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

RIP, Tyler.

Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Sun. Apr. 11 2010 3:38 PM ET

A Canadian soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol in the Dand district of Afghanistan.

Pte. Tyler William Todd, 26, was killed at approximately 7:30 a.m. Sunday near the town of Belanday, which is about eight kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.

Another soldier, whose name was not released, was wounded in the blast.

Todd was from Kitchener, Ont., but was serving with the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Edmonton.

Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said Todd was on a routine patrol, speaking to local villagers. "The patrol was part of the battle group's effort to learn more about the village's people and their needs," Menard said.

Menard paid tribute to Todd, saying he died doing a job he loved with his best friends.

"He never allowed the small things to get to him and was often the rock upon which his comrades depended," Menard said. "His enthusiasm and strong will was an inspiration to his platoon."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered his condolences to Todd's family and friends.

"The thoughts of an entire country are with you in this most difficult time. I also hope for the quick and full recovery of the other Canadian soldier injured in the same incident," he said in a statement.

"Canada is grateful for Private Tyler William Todd's sacrifice. We are all saddened by this loss."

The Prime Minister said Todd's death did not diminish his government's commitment to the mission. Canadian troops are scheduled to pull out of Afghanistan next year.

"The courage demonstrated by the Canadian Forces in this mission speaks to their dedication of creating a better future for the Afghan people. Canada's commitment to this goal is not diminished by this incident."

In the past, the Belanday region had been heavily travelled by Taliban militants who staged attacks on the village and the outskirts of Kandahar City from surrounding grape and wheat fields.

Pte. Patrick Lormand, 21, was killed in Sept. 2009 by an IED blast while on patrol around the town.

But Belanday is now considered the western tip of a security bubble that extends through the Dand district and the Canadians hoped to expand the region of security around the town.

Last November, the Canadian battle group established a permanent presence in Belanday, setting up a platoon house there as part of an experiment by military brass to have troops leave their fortified bases and live among the population.

It was lauded as a success at NATO headquarters and even praised by U.S. generals, as the Canadian soldiers turned the town from a no-go zone into an oasis of calm in Taliban territory.

Just a few weeks ago, Canadian troops and Afghan soldiers swept an area just south of Belanday and had been assured by locals that the Taliban had fled the area.

Todd's death brings to 142 the total number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the mission began.

[John McGillivray]

Canadian troops rotate in advance of summer offensive
By Ethan Baron, Canwest News ServiceApril 28, 2010

SPERWAN GHAR, Afghanistan — Canada's new command group for the front-line combat base arrived in Afghanistan Wednesday, as troops from the Royal Canadian Regiment of Petawawa, Ont., take over from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry of Edmonton.
The new rotation of soldiers arrived in advance of NATO's upcoming summer Kandahar province offensive, planned to be the largest-ever in the war.
C Company from the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), posted to the fortified hill base here, is expected to be charged with pushing the Taliban from west Panjwaii district, a key insurgent stronghold.
"Our company is very well prepared, very well trained," said Capt. Stephen Good, second in command of the RCR's C Company.
In his previous tour, Good moved around several volatile districts.
Now, Canadian combat troops are working almost exclusively in Panjwaii, attempting to secure population centres by keeping a solid presence in a more limited area.
"In 2007, it was all kinetic operations, all disruption — we never held the ground, and we never stayed with the population. We didn't have enough manpower," said Good, originally from Coquitlam, B.C.
Outgoing Princess Patricia's troops engaged in frequent fighting in the first part of their seven-to-eight-month tour, then endured an escalating threat from improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
"It's time to go home," said Sgt. Mark Courtney, originally from Sydney, N.S., and posted to Edmonton for 10 years. "You get excited. It's almost like Christmas."
Courtney also fought with C Company in 2006, when Canadian combat troops were highly mobile, operating from the field and from scattered encampments.
"They were really two different missions. There are a lot more troops on the ground now. The insurgents aren't as willing to fight us," he said. "In 2006, we were something new and they wanted to have their go at us. Now they're a bit more cautious."
The Taliban are increasingly using IEDs against Canadian foot patrols, putting them in paths, walls and trees, in addition to planting them in roads to target vehicles, said Courtney.
He, along with three other soldiers, narrowly escaped a blast of shrapnel from a remote-detonated IED. "It went between two of us."
Princess Patricia's C Company arrived in Afghanistan in October, and moved in December to this base in west Panjwaii — a few hundred metres from a broad Taliban-held zone with what soldiers call "the heart of darkness" at its centre: the town of Zangabad.
"We started pushing out west toward Zangabad and we started getting in a lot of firefights," said Cpl. Richard Ready, a field medic originally from Appin, Ont. He had been in Afghanistan less than two weeks when an IED exploded six metres away.
"That was a bit of an eye-opener, for sure," he said.
Canada's new approach of solidifying a "ring of stability" around Kandahar City made reconnaissance platoon Cpl. Jamie Ward's tour far different from his previous rotation in 2008.
Then, as in previous years, Canadian troops moved against areas where the Taliban were entrenched, killing insurgents and driving them out, then moving to the next hot spot without having secured control.
Under the new strategy, Canada's soldiers operate out of bases located very near village areas, and work closely with the Afghan army and police — as well as Canadian military- and civilian-development teams — to clear out Taliban, solidify control, and begin providing services to villagers.
"From what we've seen on the ground, the strategy seems more focused," said Ward, originally from Victoria.
As members of the RCR arrive, the Princess Patricia's are introducing them to their new operations area, and will soon begin taking them out on patrols. The outgoing troops will leave the country in mid-May.
"I'm pretty happy to go home and go back to normal life," said Ready, "just working on the house, drinking beer by the fire, spending time with my wife and kid — he just turned one year old on the 20th."
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Can...141/story.html

[Brian Gough]

Canadian killed by IED in Afghanistan

A Canadian senior non-commissioned officer in Afghanistan was killed Monday by an improvised explosive device near Kandahar city.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Craig Blake, 37, was killed while working in the Panjwai district, approximately 25 kilometres southwest of the city.

Brig-Gen. Dan Ménard, the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said the Simcoe, Ont., native was returning to camp Monday afternoon after successfully disposing of another IED when the blast went off.

Blake was serving with the Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic. He had only been in Afghanistan for a few weeks when he was killed.

"A navy clearance diver, Craig was most comfortable working under water, yet he effortlessly adapted to the rigours of land operations," Ménard said in a statement.

"Incredibly fit, with a backbone of steel, Craig put 100 per cent into everything he did."

Blake, married with two children, was a hockey coach and triathlete, Ménard said.

His death brings to 143 the number of Canadian troops who have died in the Afghan mission since it began in 2002.

"On behalf of all soldiers, airmen, airwomen, sailors and special operators of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, I offer my sincere condolences to his friends and family," Ménard said.



With files from The Canadian Press

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Clearance Divers in the CF have about the biggest Brass Ones of any I know. Not only can they swim and dive like the much-touted US Navy SEALS, but they are all EOD experts as well, on land as well as at sea. That takes a courage which few have.

Unfortunately, PO2 Blake's luck ran out. I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes.

I tip my hat to Petty Officer Craig Blake and all his comrades, and extend my deepest condolences to his family.

[John McGillivray]

Canadian troops will take lead in Panjwaii offensive: General
By Ethan Baron, Canwest News Service May 5, 2010

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Despite a massive U.S. troop buildup in southern Afghanistan, Canada will take the lead in securing the Taliban stronghold in western Panjwaii district, according to the commander of all Canadian troops overseas.
"Definitely Canada will have the major role in that area," Lt.-Gen. Marc Lessard said during a visit to the region. "The Canadian troops are there."
Canadian soldiers in western Panjwaii operate primarily out of two heavily fortified bases, Masum Ghar and Sperwan Ghar.
Lessard's comments came as 1,500 Canadian and allied troops gathered on the tarmac at Kandahar Airfield to honour Petty Officer 2nd Class Craig Blake, killed Monday by a Taliban bomb.
Although NATO's offensive planned to kick off this summer will involve "massive, massive activities," it will focus not just on security operations but on building governance, Lessard said, and while Canadians will undertake combat missions, their main priority will be applying the same tactics they've been using to secure a village area to the east.
"Think about the slow, painstaking tactical activities occurring right now in eastern Panjwaii — Nakhonay — where you have outposts close to the population, you're doing patrolling, you're talking to the elders, you're trying to find out who's pro-(Afghan government), who's a fence sitter, and who's pro-Taliban, and why," Lessard said.
"Will there be tactical encounters? Of course there will be. But it is not a major operation, in fact (that's) the opposite of what we want to do."
The goal for Canada in the offensive will be to turn "fence-sitters" into government supporters, and turn Taliban supporters "at least" into fence-sitters, Lessard said.
As preparations continue, provincial Gov. Tooryalai Wesa insists the offensive will only go ahead only if the province's people wanted it, repeating a statement to Canwest News Service made last month and adding that in any case "it is not a military operation."
Early last month, tribal elders reported that villagers were already fleeing from rural areas into the city in anticipation of violence during the offensive, and that city residents were living in fear with nowhere else to go.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Can...854/story.html

[John McGillivray]

Report on CBS on the upcoming battle for Kandahar.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...ag=mncol;lst;1

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Another one falls...

Canadian soldier killed by IED in Afghanistan
CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Fri. May. 14 2010 10:00 AM ET

A Canadian soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device Thursday, just a few days short of the end of his tour of duty in southern Afghanistan.

Pte. Kevin McKay, of the 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, died when an explosion erupted around his platoon while on patrol in a village just outside Kandahar City.

The 24-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., was on a "presence patrol" in the village of Nakhonay, about 15 kilometres west of Kandahar City, when the IED exploded.

The foot patrols are intended to demonstrate to local Afghans that NATO troops have pushed the Taliban out of the area, part of the volatile Panjwaii district that was the scene of fierce fighting in 2006 and 2007.

Col. Simon Hetherington, the deputy commander of Task Force Kandahar, said McKay embodied the spirit of the Canadian soldier.

"He was the type of soldier that Canadians might think of when they think of their army in Afghanistan -- the tough, courageous infantryman, living in austere conditions and doing incredibly difficult work," Hetherington said from the main coalition base at Kandahar Air Field.

"His platoon brothers and friends will remember Kevin, better known as 'Mickey' to his buddies, as a generous man, dependable, with a quick wit and a great sense of humour that was exemplified by his awesome moustache."

Hetherington, speaking on behalf of task force commander Brig.-Gen. Dan Menard, who is on leave, said that McKay was short in stature but not in the estimation of his comrades.

"While not a tall man, he had no difficulty in poking fun and taunting those less vertically challenged platoon mates," Hetherington said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement that McKay served Canada valiantly, and deserves the gratitude and respect of his nation.

"Canadians are forever proud and grateful for his service and for the contributions of all our men and women in uniform to this UN-mandated, NATO-led mission."

McKay is the 144th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002. Two civilians -- diplomat Glyn Berry and journalist Michelle Lang -- have also died.

McKay's death comes as hundreds gather in Halifax to remember the first Canadian sailor to be killed in the Afghan conflict.

A memorial service will be held for 37-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Craig Blake, who was killed by an IED on May 3, also in the Panjwaii district.

About 1,000 people are attending the service at 12 Wing Shearwater, a huge aircraft hangar overlooking Halifax harbour.

Blake had 10 years' experience as a clearance diver for the Canadian Forces and was a member of Maritime Forces Atlantic Fleet Diving Unit.
Members of the diving unit carried Blake's remains into the memorial service.

His remains will be placed in the sea at a private ceremony.

[meduffer]

Pte Kevin McKay's dad is a Toronto Fire Services Acting District Chief and a couple of us who sometimes post on MLU have worked with him quite a bit. A good man. I've never met his son but it sure strikes home when you have a connection with one of the fallen.

Mike Snetsinger
TFS

[John McGillivray]

Cool video on Think Defence about Canadian Armour in Afghanistan

http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2010/0...n-afghanistan/

[John McGillivray]

Canadian Forces colonel killed in Kabul suicide attack
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Tue. May. 18 2010 12:50 PM ET
A deadly suicide bombing in Kabul has claimed the life of a Canadian Forces colonel.
Col. Geoff Parker died Tuesday, after a car bomber attacked a NATO convoy, killing 18 people in total, including five U.S. soldiers and 12 civilians.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said "there were casualties among the NATO forces as well as among civilians -- women, children and schoolchildren."
The deadly blast wrecked nearly 20 vehicles, including five SUVs in the NATO convoy.
Condemning the attack, NATO Secretary-General Andres Fogh Rasmussen said the violence would not deter members from their mission.
"NATO remains committed to its mission to protect the Afghan people and to strengthen Afghanistan's ability to resist terrorism," Rasmussen said in Brussels.
The Canadian Press reports that Parker is the highest-ranking member of the Canadian Forces to die in Afghanistan.
He died in the deadliest attack NATO troops suffered in Kabul this year.
Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid claimed in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the bomber was from Kabul and carried 750 kilograms of explosives in his car.
The bomber had been targeting the NATO convoy, Mujahid said.
According to his official Department of National Defence biography, Parker was a career solider who signed up for the military in 1989 when he was a student at the University of Western Ontario.
After graduating from UWO with an undergraduate degree in engineering science, Parker later earned two master's degrees -- one in electrical engineering, the other in defence studies -- from the Royal Military College.
He is married and has two children.
Parker, who is originally from Oakville, Ont., is the 145th Canadian soldier to be killed during the Afghan mission.
Two civilians -- diplomat Glyn Berry and Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang -- have also died.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...b=TopStoriesV2

[John McGillivray]

IED blast kills Canadian soldier in Afghanistan
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Monday May. 24, 2010 2:22 PM ET
A Canadian soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.
Trooper Larry Rudd, 26, was killed at 12:30 p.m. local time Monday near the village of Salavat, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.
Rudd is the fourth Canadian to die in Afghanistan in May. On May 5, Petty Officer (second class) Craig Blake, 37, was killed by an IED about 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.
On May 14, Pte. Kevin McKay, 24, was killed by an IED while he was on foot patrol near Kandahar city.
And on May 18, Col. Geoff Parker, 42, was killed alongside five U.S. soldiers and 12 Afghan civilians by a suicide bombing in Kabul.
Rudd is the 146th Canadian soldier to be killed during the war in Afghanistan.
Two civilians, diplomat Glyn Berry and Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang -- have also died.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...b=TopStoriesV2

[Yeo.NT]

Tropper Rudd will be missed by the Squadron, Myself and the rest of maintenance crew.
Rudd was always trying to fix thing on he vehicle he wasn't suppose, trying to make you laugh and always ready to help you out. RIP http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/ed...tpost&p=131021

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

RIP Sgt. Martin Goudreault

Canadian soldier killed by IED in Afghanistan


CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Mon. Jun. 7 2010 7:39 AM ET

A Canadian Forces sergeant died Sunday while on a mission to find a stockpile of insurgent weapons southeast of Kandahar.

Sgt. Martin Goudreault was near the village of Nakhonay, in the Panjwaii district, when an improvised explosive device went off about about 6:30 a.m. local time on Sunday.

Goudreault, 35, was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. A member of the Edmonton-based 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, his latest deployment in the Afghan theatre began only one month ago.

At a press conference at Kandahar Airfield, Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance described Goudreault as a brave soldier and natural leader.

"Sgt. Goudreault died doing what he loved doing best: leading his section from the front," Vance said Monday.

"If your way of life was in peril, you would want someone like Sgt. Martin Goudreault to show up and help."

Vance said Goudreault was "a model soldier, someone the soldiers in his section could look up to and emulate."

"His subordinates and superiors alike will remember him as a tireless leader who was passionate about his work."

Offering his condolences to the fallen soldier's family and friends, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said "the lives of the Afghan people are better due to the efforts of Canadians like Sgt. Goudreault who provide security and stability."

"These are the cornerstones that will allow the country to rebuild and grow into the future," Harper said in a statement.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Goudreault was an example of the risks Canadian soldiers face when serving in Afghanistan.

"Sgt. Martin Goudreault's sacrifice will not be forgotten and it will not deter us from continuing to help Afghans rebuild their country," he said in a statement.

Goudreault had served 15 years in the Canadian Forces at the time of his death.

The native of Sudbury, Ont., is the 147th Canadian soldier killed during the Afghan mission.

Figures from Canada's Department of Defence indicate that Goudreault is the 88th Canadian soldier to be killed by an IED in Afghanistan.

[Brian Gough]

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Sgt. James MacNeil of Glace Bay, N.S., was killed Monday morning while on a foot patrol in Nakhoney, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar.


MacNeil, a 28-year-old combat engineer with 2 Combat Engineer Regiment of CFB Petawawa, Ont. was on a foot patrol with other members of the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group in Panjwaii District, when he was killed by an improvised explosive device — a homemade landmine.


He is the 148th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan since 2002



Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...#ixzz0rVeHYArG

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

RIP MCpl. Giesebrecht and Pte. Miller. You shall not be forgotten.

An improvised explosive device struck an armoured vehicle in Afghanistan, killing two Canadian medics, the military said Saturday.

Master Cpl. Kristal Giesebrecht, 34, and Pvt. Andrew Miller, 21, were responding to a report that a mine was found in the doorway of a home when an IED detonated at about 11 a.m., killing them both about 20 km southwest of Kandahar.

A third soldier is in steady condition in a hospital at the Kandahar Airfield Base.

Our thoughts are with the families and friends of our fallen soldiers during this difficult time. We will not forget the sacrifice of these soldiers as we continue to bring security and hope to the people of Kandahar Province,² said the Department of National Defence in a media release.

Both soldiers were members of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group.

Miller was born in Sudbury, Ont., and was based at CFB Petawawa. This was his first overseas mission.

Giesebrecht, the third Canadian woman to be killed in Afghanistan, was from Wallaceburg, Ont., and was also based at Petawawa.

Capt. Nicola Goddard of the 1st Regiment of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery was the first Canadian woman killed in Afghanista, in a grenade attack on May 17, 2006. Trooper Karine Blais of Les Mechins was killed by a roadside bomb blast last April.

The tragic news brings the death count of Canadians in Afghanistan to 150 soldiers and four civilians.

This comes less than a week after Sgt. James MacNeil of Glace Bay, N.S., was killed on June 21.

[John McGillivray]

Canadian soldier killed by explosive device
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Tue. Jul. 20 2010 4:09 PM ET
Canada has lost another soldier in Afghanistan in an IED attack.
Sapper Brian Collier dismounted from his vehicle Tuesday and was killed by an IED blast. He was 24 years old.
The attack happened near Nakhonay, about 15 kilometres west of Kandahar city.
Collier's death marks the 151st among Canadian military personnel in Afghanistan since Canada's mission began in 2002.
"Canadian soldiers are in a constant struggle with insurgents in places like Nakhonay and elsewhere in the Panjwaii district," said Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, commander of Task Force Kandahar.
"We are working so diligently in the Panjwaii district so that we can bring about the sort of positive changes that have resulted from our operations over the past year in neighbouring Dand district. We seek to do the same in Panjwaii over the next year."
Collier had narrowly escaped death in a previous encounter with an IED earlier in this tour of duty.
Vance said Collier "fought hard" to overcome his injury so he could rejoin his comrades.
"Today, the entire task force -- both military and civilian -- is mourning our fallen comrade. Any Canadian who could have seen Brian in action would have been proud of him and proud of our country for the work being done with and for Afghans."
Collier was a member of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment based at CFB Edmonton. It was his first deployment to Afghanistan.
Born in Toronto and raised in Bradford, Ont., he was serving with the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group.
Attacks using improvised explosive devices have been the single biggest cause of casualties among Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
Ninety-two of the 151 Canadian fatalities in Afghanistan were due to IEDs.
Two civilians, diplomat Glyn Berry and journalist Michelle Lang, have also been killed in Canada's mission to Afghanistan.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories...nistan-100720/

[John McGillivray]

No life like it: Taliban just one of the perils faced by infantry

Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News • Monday, Aug. 2, 2010

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/can...984/story.html

SPERWAN GHAR Afghanistan — Pte. Blair Kearley was in a dither.
The 25-year-old infantryman from Baie d’Espoir, N.L. had tripped days earlier while running across a hilly field during an engagement with the Taliban, badly spraining his left ankle.
After pleading with the camp doctor, it was agreed Pte. Kearley would only have to wear a cast for four days. But with two days left before he would be able to go to war again with an ankle brace, Pte. Kearley was going stir crazy — so badly did he want to be out fighting against the insurgents in Panjwaii District with 9 Platoon, Charles Company, 1 Royal Canadian Regiment.
“Unless my wife wants me out, I’m a lifer,” Pte. Kearley said as he chain-smoked his way through a pack of Marlboro Lights and reflected on the perilous, austere life he had chosen.
Pte. Kearley, who enlisted four years ago, confided he doesn’t talk too much about the war with his wife or anyone else at home.
Part of that is operational security, but it also so as to not cause worry.
Few military jobs are more dangerous than being in the infantry. About two-thirds of the 151 Canadians who have died in Afghanistan have come from its three infantry regiments.
The risks are such that 9 Platoon infantry use a lot of black humour to mask their apprehensions. When a soldier lost a leg, the joke was that he would be “back on his foot in no time.”
But in what is a very tightly knit outfit, not much bigger than a high school class, each loss has been deeply felt.
“One IED struck the guy who had trained me and that hit me pretty hard, but he’s back home now,” said Derek Boutin of Fort Erie, Ont. “Walking through the grape fields, IEDs have hit my buddies. They have been as close as you can imagine.”
The media may be focused on the effect of thousands of leaked documents that have described the war they are fighting. But such issues and the political currents back home — where many have expressed reservations about Canada’s first shooting war in half a century — have almost no impact deep in the field. Although prouder Canadians than most, the infantry soldiers all said that they fought for each other rather than for any cause.
And although the soldiers in Charles Company acknowledged that others in their battle group have been having a harder time of it lately, their unit has had its fair share of bad scrapes, too.
“When something bad happens outside the wire you don’t think of it then, but when you get back you realize that it was like a scene in a movie — something you never thought you’d be part of,” Pte. Kearley said. “Like any job, you love it one day and hate it the next. But I like what I do. I definitely picked the right career.”
One of the toughest parts of being a grunt in Afghanistan are the 12 or 14 hour foot patrols conducted in temperatures that invariably reached into the 50s. On every one such outing the soldiers had to lug as much as 40 kilograms of water, rations, ammunition and body armour with them.
“When you in full battle rattle in the heat in the middle of the day it is almost impossible to breathe if you are under contact because of the weight of the gear, the heat and the adrenalin,” Pte. Kearley said, as he surveyed a bleak landscape that included a forest of concrete blast walls and endless acres of sand and rock.
“If there is a situation, you don’t know until it is over that you’ve got nothing left to give. It really drains you. You come back having sweated through your body armour and your boots.”
Every remedy for dealing with heat involved consuming prodigious quantities of water the night before a patrol even if that meant three visits to the latrine before dawn.
“I went down with dehydration when we were a week into it,” Pte. Boutin said. “My vision went blurry. My arm went numb. I don’t call it sweating here. I call it flooding.
“I was so gung ho I thought I didn’t need so much water. It taught me how much you need to prepare before you go out. I now try to drink 15 or 20 bottles of water the night before.”
Before deploying to Panjwaii, the RCR battle group had trained for desert warfare in California, “but there really is no way to train properly for the heat except to be here,” Pte. Boutin said, adding that some soldiers had already lost as much as 35 pounds during their tour.
Master Cpl. Kyle Manser, a 24 year old from Kitchener, Ont. served in Kandahar as a private with Charles Company in 2006. Now a crew commander, he described the heat as “the fight you just cannot win. You cannot force soldiers to drink but we push them to drink a bottle every hour. Even if you get properly hydrated, once you are out there half an hour, you won’t have to piss.”
When not trying to survive the searing heat, cope with sand fleas or malarial mosquitoes or staying alert for scorpions and deadly snakes, the main preoccupations of the infantrymen in Panjwaii is avoiding IEDs and being ready at any moment to engage the Taliban.
“I keep in mind the tactical point-of-view and I don’t worry about IEDs because that would hinder the job that has to be done,” Pte. Boutin said. “The Taliban are as creative as anyone can be. They have found some pretty innovative ways to get at us but we’ve picked up on most of them. They adapt. We adapt. They are always trying to sneak stuff past us, but we catch them.”
Like Master Cpl. Manser, Master Cpl. Mike Martin of Ottawa was in Kandahar four years ago, too.
“I can’t give you a number on how many Taliban are out there right now, but there are lots of them and, yes, they’re close,” he said. “Back in ‘06 there were large numbers of Taliban who would stand and fight. Now they shoot and scoot and try to lure us into where they’ve put IEDs.”
“I told my guys: ‘You could step on something at any time, so don’t spend your time thinking about it. That can drive you nuts and could make you miss something. Keep your eyes and ears open.’”
As dangerous as it had been during 1 Royal Canadian Regiment’s first tour in Kandahar, which included the bloody Operation Medusa, “Panjwaii is a harder fight now,” Master Cpl. Manser said. “The enemy is definitely present. They are right outside the camp and are a lot craftier with the IEDs than they used to be.”
From what he’d seen of the Taliban, “I’d say they are pretty good,” Pte. Kearley said. “It’s like playing hockey on their rink. They know this ground and they know what they need. They’ve been doing this a long time and they’re doing a pretty damn good job.”
Aside from the lethal risks posed by the Taliban, “if you are in the infantry long enough, it will break your knees and your back,” Master Cpl. Manser said.
His fellow crew commander, Martin, who is 32, put it another way.
“Infantry years are like dog years,” he said. “You use them up pretty fast. Something goes and then you can’t do this anymore.
Asked how 9 Platoon would stack up for fitness against a professional football or hockey team, Pte. Kearley replied: “They would be in better shape, but there is not a chance that they could do our jobs.”
Although as privates they were the constant butt of jokes from those who outranked them, Pte. Kearley and Pte. Boutin both spoke highly of their immediate superiors.
“I really look up to the guys who’ve been here before, even if they trash talk you all the time,” Pte. Boutin said. “If a buddy gets hurt or there is a family problem, they are always there for us, like father figures. I have learned from them that you can push yourself further as a soldier and as a person than you think you can.”
Referring to their hardscrabble forward base, which has great chow and such unexpected comforts as beds, rather than cots, Kearley said: “This is home and when we are outside the wire, we like to get back here. It is where we eat and sleep. It is where our friends and family are.”
Master Cpl. Martin, who like Pte. Kearley is married and has a child, said that “people at home might sit back and say we are crazy but what is there not to like about this? Sitting in an office punching numbers into a computer or talking about your tennis game beside the water cooler isn’t the same. We are seeing the world and making a difference.”

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

He held on, but not long enough...

August 30, 2010
Canuck soldier dies of battle wounds

By Laura Payton, QMI Agency


OTTAWA - A Canadian soldier has died in Germany, days after he was wounded by an explosive in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Brian Pinksen, 21, was badly injured in an improvised explosive device attack in the Panjwaii district of Afghanistan on Aug. 22. He was on foot.
Pinksen was evacuated to Kandahar Airfield, then to Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Ramstein, Germany.

He died of heart failure after suffering injuries to his limbs and internal organs in the Aug. 22 attack.

Pinksen served with the 2nd battalion of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in Corner Brook, N.L.

A second soldier was also hurt in the blast. Brig. Gen. Jonathan Vance is expected to make a statement around 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time.

Since the Canadian Forces deployed to Afghanistan in 2002, 152 soldiers have been killed.

[John McGillivray]

By Brian Hutchinson, Postmedia News September 3, 2010 3:02 PM
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...279/story.html

SPERWAN GHAR, Afghanistan — Measuring the success or failure of Canada's combat mission in Kandahar will depend on how events unfold this month and next, around a downtrodden village cluster deep in Panjwaii district.
After four years of effort and heavy sacrifices, Canada's military is still confounded by this place, the seat of Taliban power and home to a tiny, unhappy populace. Panjwaii is not secure. Insurgents continue to assemble here, kill troops and plan attacks on Kandahar City and places beyond.
Maj. Eleanor Taylor is blunt: "We cannot protect the population the way we're currently configured."
The Antigonish, N.S., native commands Charles Company, 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group (1RCR).It's placed inside a Soviet-era military instalment at Sperwan Ghar, 30 kilometres west of Kandahar's capital and right on the Taliban's doorstep. This is the western front, where the most Canadian soldiers can manage are short patrols and attempts to "disrupt" Taliban activities.
Taylor's company does its best and enjoys "some rays of hope," she says, but it's caught in the same numbers game as others that came before it. Resources are spread too thin. There aren't enough soldiers. And the Afghan National Army troops operating in the area are often a hindrance, not a help.
Knowing the battle for Panjwaii was once considered a high point for Canadian battle groups makes the current predicament seem worse.
Canadians arrived in Panjwaii in 2006. First the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), and then 1RCR, including Charles Co. They beat back the insurgency. Charles Co. played a crucial role in Operation Medusa, a notable offensive campaign that opened up most of the district and allowed Canadians to build a string of forward operating bases and strong points, all the way to Panjwaii district's western boundary.But the tables turned. The Taliban came back in force and by 2008 the Canadians were drawing back. Those western strong points are long gone.
With security disrupted, development in Panjwaii has stalled. Road paving projects are on hold because contractors and local workers risk being killed. Irrigation repairs and health clinics have been postponed.
The district lacks transparent, effective governance. Panjwaii's illiterate district governor, Haji Baran, is by most accounts dispirited, unengaged, and suspicious of those around him. He has no staff to help him govern; civil servants from the cities will not venture into Panjwaii. Kandahar Gov. Tooryalai Wesa seldom visits.
The Taliban have filled the vacuum. The insurgents run a medieval court system from Zangabad, a village just west of Sperwan Ghar. It's their district council, where mercy, not vengeance, is spared.
Last winter, insurgents rarely strayed east of Zangabad. A PPCLI company in Sperwan Ghar had to go looking for them, explained Taylor. She inherited a fairly quiet area. When Charles Co. arrived at the beginning of May, Sperwan Ghar and points east were considered "permissive," or relatively safe to move around.
"Then everything transitioned," said Taylor. The Taliban prepared for another fighting season. They assembled a larger fighting force and started launching regular attacks on Charles Co. and on other Canadian and Afghan units nearby. They used small arms, rocket propelled grenades and mortars.
"We knew we were facing something new," said Taylor. "They had foreign fighters. We took direct contact for the first time. Then, there was contact every day." Petty Officer Second Class Douglas Craig Blake, a navy explosive ordnance disposal officer, was killed by an IED blast near Sperwan Ghar on May 3.
The Taliban also began planning their response to Operation Hamkari, a large, three-phase coalition campaign aimed at securing key Kandahar districts, including Panjwaii. Hamkari may be the last, large-scale operation involving Canadian planning and combat teams before troops are withdrawn next summer.
Phase 1 saw U.S. and Afghan forces establish a network of security checkpoints around Kandahar City. Phase 2 saw them aggressively clear Arghandab district, north of the capital. According to senior military sources, Phase 2 was more "kinetic," or combat-intensive, than had been anticipated.
The Taliban fought back, hard.
Phase 3 is scheduled for Panjwaii and the adjoining Zhari district, once a Canadian area of operation and now an American responsibility. Phase 3 won't likely start in earnest before mid or late September. Much depends on the readiness of Afghan national security forces, and on the Afghan government's resolve, which can seem shaky.
British Maj.-Gen. Nick Carter, commander of coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, says the intention is to sweep through all of Panjwaii, including Zangabad, and reclaim territory formerly held by Canadians.Insurgents are warning locals to avoid the "infidels."
Villagers and farmers thought to be sympathetic to the coalition have had threatening notes pinned to their front doors. These so-called night letters instruct their recipients to either leave the area or to appear before the Taliban court in Zangabad.
Some have decided to defy the orders and to remain in their homes instead. Most have fled Panjwaii. A few have gone to Zangabad, to the Taliban court. They've returned with cuts and bruises on their legs, said Taylor. Several didn't return at all.
Taliban tactics are increasingly vile, Taylor added. They use children to conduct attacks on Canadian forces. A local insurgent, a man in his 20s, is known to recruit boys at least as young as eight to "emplace IEDs" near Canadian positions and routes at Sperwan Ghar.
"They know we can't take action against children," said Taylor.
"I've given up trying to explain to people back home how ugly the insurgency is."
Taliban activities intensified in July and August but have recently tapered, perhaps thanks to Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting and prayer. Ramadan concludes next week.
More troops will mass in Panjwaii. Until then, says Taylor, "we can build obstacles around here and take a bite out of the insurgency. We can disrupt."
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

[John McGillivray]

Its look like things will be heating up in 1RCR area of ops in the coming weeks. Who would have thought on 9-11, that nine years later, our troops would be going into harms way in that far off land.

'Massive activities' from Canadian troops coming in Afghanistan: Lieutenant-General

By Brian Hutchinson, Postmedia News September 11, 2010 8:12 AM

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...252/story.html

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Describing the efforts of his soldiers in Kandahar this summer as "good, but not good enough," the commander of Canadian troops overseas said "massive activities" are coming to win over key districts in the troubled Afghan province.
Speaking to reporters at Kandahar Airfield on Saturday, Lieutenant-General Marc Lessard said that "in the fall, high level security operations" will be conducted in Panjwaii and Dand districts, involving Canadian and Afghan National Security Forces.
" There’ll be a flurry of military operations starting with the major ones this fall, (and) there’ll be other ones certainly in the winter and spring," said LGen Lessard, head of Canadian Expeditionary Force Command. "We’re ready to launch."
Focused combat and counterinsurgency activities will continue for ten months, to the conclusion of Canada’s combat mission in Kandahar in July 2011, he added. "Until the last minute we’re going to do every military operation."
If Canadian troops do not improve conditions in the districts before leaving next year, their sacrifices since 2006 will have been wasted, he suggested.
"At the end of the day, when we cease operations in July ... we have to ensure the situation is better in Dand and better in Panjwaii," he said. " Because that’s part of our legacy. With the 150-plus killed, the hundreds of seriously injured, from our Canadian point of view, that’s our legacy."
Afghan president Hamid Karzai "is aware of these operations," he said. "They will be as, if not more, important than a large-scale military offensive in neighbouring Helmand province launched earlier this year.” Centred around the Taliban-controlled town of Marjah, the February campaign involved some 15,000 troops from Great Britain, the U.S., Canada and Afghanistan.
The next round of operations in Kandahar " will be at a very, very high level, in Zhari, Panjwaii and Dand (districts)" said LGen Lessard, without going into specifics. Zhari district is now an American area of operation but the plans in place involve it as well.
MGen Lessard acknowledged that his troops have encountered significant setbacks since 2008, when hard-won territory in Panjwaii district was ceded to insurgents. "Let’s face it, it’s been a tough go," he said.
As late as this June, the Canadian mission was in his view "regressing ... There was a lot more enemy presence and a lot more activity ... The enemy in eastern Panjwaii was definitely taking the initiative. I believe in the last two months, we’re holding. We, I believe, have stopped the enemy initiative. That’s good, but that’s not good enough."
Clearing the district of Taliban insurgents is just one element of a successful campaign, he added. Delivering services to long-suffering civilians is another.
LGen Lessard has stressed to his new commander in Kandahar, Brigadier-General Dean Milner, that "when we cease operations, we want to make sure that we’ve improved the stability effects in our area of operation. That means Dand district and Panjwaii."
Most important is building on what he calls the "enduring effects" of a military operation. "After we do these operations we (must) have something to ensure we keep the security, and we’re definitely looking to our Afghan partners, police and ANA (Afghan National Army) to have a foot on the ground, ensure security, be seen to ensure security. (Local) perception is sometimes more important than what we perceive," said LGen Lessard.
Copyright (c) Postmedia News

[John McGillivray]

Canadians Help Corral Taliban as Major Operation Begins
Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News • Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Can...923/story.html

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan —The Royal Canadian Regiment battle group established blocking screens to try to trap the Taliban this weekend as U.S. and Afghan forces swooped down on the Horn of Panjwaii, which has been one of insurgents’ last strongholds in Kandahar.
The long-anticipated air assault to clear the Horn, where many Canadians have lost their lives in recent years, is part of a much larger operation that has been evolving for weeks. The crucial part of the campaign in western Panjwaii was declared to have officially begun Saturday, with about 800 Afghan troops supported by a much smaller number of Americans, the New York Times quoted Maj.-Gen Nick Carter, NATO’s commander in the South, as saying.
To support the operation, Canadian engineers have recently built trenches, berms and other barriers on the eastern margins of the Horn. They are designed to funnel travellers into checkpoints manned by Afghan and Canadian forces. Other Canadian soldiers have taken up key ground near the Horn to deter insurgents from trying to run this gauntlet.
“(The Canadian) job is primarily to enable the operations in the Horn of Panjwaii by stopping uncontrolled movement to the east,” said Lt.-Col. Doug Claggett, Task Force Kandahar’s chief of staff.
The farming area about 50 kilometres west of Kandahar City is home to about 8,000 Afghans, many of whom are well known for being sympathetic to the Taliban and its leader, Mullah Omar, who was born in the area. It has long been used by the Taliban as a bed-down area and logistics hub for insurgents headed to the provincial capital.
Clearing this area of Taliban is considered necessary because “the Horn of Panjwaii has been an area that has not had the same security emphasis for the last little while,” Lt.-Col. Claggett said. The intent now was, he said “to provide the same security effect in the west of Panjwaii as elsewhere.”
If the operation is successful, it would undoubtedly enhance security in the much more densely populated Canadian sector, too, because “anything that happens in one part of Panjwaii effects the other part,” he said.
Holding the Horn has proven to be a persistent problem for NATO since Canadian troops arrived in the South in 2006. The first task force to take a crack at the area was led by Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant in 2007. Not a shot was fired during Operation Baaz Tsuka and the area remained quiet for several months before security began to deteriorate.
A year later, in a bloody operation that lasted several months, Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche’s task force eventually launched an attack on the Horn from north of the Arghandab River. But the small Canadian force, which was still virtually alone in Kandahar, did not have anywhere near enough troops to hold the area, nor was the Afghan government able at that time to provide sufficient security personnel or administrators to maintain effective control.
As a result of these shortcomings, Canada closed several patrol bases it had established in the area.
After the Canadians quit the Horn, the Taliban moved in to fill the vacuum created with large numbers, heavily sowing the area with homemade landmines and meting out their own particularly violent form of Islamic justice.
“They have had courts set up, but not in one specific area,” said Lt.-Col. Roger Cotton, who does future battle planning for Task Force Kandahar.
“It is an area where they have had freedom of movement because there has not been enough GIROA (Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan) and coalition presence.”
Should the campaign in the Horn and others that have taken place in the Canadian sector in Panjwaii finally result in an enduring Afghan and NATO presence, “if they (insurgents) come back in the spring, it is going to be a lot harder for them to establish a foothold,” Lt.-Col. Cotton said.
This weekend’s assault involved far more troops than Canada and the Afghans were able to devote to this task in the past.
The effort has been enormously helped by the recent arrival of more than 10,000 U.S. combat troops in Kandahar as well as a big increase in the number of Afghan soldiers available.
Since the U.S. troop surge and the arrival of additional Afghan forces, Canada’s task force has been able to concentrate almost its entire focus on the Panjwaii and Dand districts.
As well as transferring command responsibility to U.S. forces for Kandahar City, Arghandab and Zhari at the beginning of July, the Canadians handed control for the Horn of Panjwaii directly to NATO’s Regional Command South during that month.

[John McGillivray]

He’s now home after his second tour over there!

Van Doos take over as last Canadian combat group
The Canadian Press
Date: Saturday Nov. 27, 2010 12:43 PM ET
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/2010...keover-101127/
KANDAHAR — The new commander of Canada's battle group in Kandahar will have an iron fist, but hopes to use a velvet touch with the war-weary population of this embattled province.
Lt.-Col. Michel-Henri St-Louis, who is in charge of the 1st Battalion Royal 22e Regiment combat team, officially took charge Saturday and will carry the baton through to the end of the country's combat mission in July.
In an earlier deployment, he spent time in Kabul as part of a military team that advised the Afghan government on ways to reconstruct a shattered civil service.
It made a profound impression on him.
Years of war have hardened Canadian soldiers and made them wary of locals, a mindset that St-Louis said must change.
"At the end of the day, not all Afghans are your enemy and I tried to instill that in my troops before getting here," St-Louis said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"The (Strategic Advisory Team) showed me that there are some devoted Afghans who want a better future and have seen a better past."
Urbane and articulate, St-Louis seems perfectly in sync with NATO's strategy to win over recalcitrant Afghans, especially after a hard, bloody summer of fighting.
He brings to the job a keen awareness of cultural sensitivity, being born in Nicaragua and growing up the son of a Canadian father and a Central American mother.
The battle group will concentrate on building confidence in the hardscrabble hamlets of Panjwaii, Dand and Daman districts, said St-Louis, who wants to take full advantage of the current ebb in fighting.
It's unclear whether the lull is related to the onset of winter -- or whether the Taliban has been soundly defeated, he added.
The outgoing commander of Canada's mentoring team, Col. Ian Creighton, declared on Friday that the back of the insurgency was broken by the NATO offensive on the outskirts of Kandahar this fall.
"I'll reserve my assessment of that for a while, and maybe the real test will be in the next spring and summer" when traditional fighting season returns, St-Louis told reporters shortly after a ceremony that marked the departure of the [ 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment battle group .
Soldiers coming in from the forward bases and patrol shacks west of the provincial capital were happy to see the fighting ease off.
"Boring is good. I'll take boring any day," said Master Cpl. Colin Chabassol, a Pictou County, N.S.-native who fought with India Company.
One trouble spot awaiting St-Louis is Nakhonay, a notorious Taliban redoubt that Canadian troops have chipped away at year after year with repeated clearing operations.
"There was outright disapproval of the leadership of the town to our presence this summer; they had to disapprove because they were forced to disapprove by the insurgents," said Lt.-Col. Conrad Mialkowski, the outgoing battle group commander from Petawawa, Ont.
"Yet, we still remained and were interactive with them. That spoke volumes to the local population."
Mialkowski acknowledged there is likely more hard fighting ahead, but the growing Afghan National Army will be there to carry a bigger share of the burden.
The fledgling Afghan force, which is 134,000 strong on paper, is due to be expanded to 260,000 over the next few years. But one of the biggest drawbacks it faces is its lack of what the military calls enablers -- specialized units such as artillery, air support and engineers.
It is the combat engineers who've drawn the most applause from soldiers who are headed home.
Sgt. Chris Jeapes, a member from 8 Platoon of [Charles Company, 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, couldn't say enough good about the troops whose job it is detect and clear away improvised explosives.
"A lot of foot patrols, engineers were able to actually pick up and find them before we moved into an area and found them ourselves by stepping on them," Jeapes said in a recent interview.
"It saved our lives numerous times on this tour."

[servicepub (RIP)]

Originally Posted by John McGillivray

He’s now home after his second tour over there!

Really glad to hear that John. Happy for both of you. Mine goes in 2011 but as part of the new, gentler, mission.
Clive