MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – August 31, 2012
- Afghanistan One CF trainer’s story “…. This is not a war of religion, but one between distorted beliefs, some theirs, some ours. The main victims before and since the war began are ordinary Afghans and it is their protection that is paramount today. Surrounded by 1600 Afghan soldiers on the parade square at Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) during an interview with Aljazeera, fear in the reporter’s eyes at the number and rawness of the recruits enveloping us, I grasp that my experiences during this mission to train the Afghan National Army (ANA) are radically different from my time on operations in southern Afghanistan in 2008, were Afghans were on the periphery of my experience ….”
- Now we also know how old the incoming CDS is (as well as his nickname/callsign) “How old is the new Chief of the Defence Staff, Tom Lawson? Now we know. He’s 54 and will celebrate his 55th birthday Nov. 2. Lt.-Gen. Lawson was introduced Monday as the incoming CDS. The military provided a few details about his career, but it omitted his age. When asked to provide it on the day of the announcement, a Department of National Defence employee said he’d try and find an answer. By the close of business day Wednesday, there was still no response, despite a series of follow-up phone calls. But Thursday morning, a DND spokesperson provided the information, and said the delay was due to privacy concerns — the department had to ask Lawson before releasing it. The military has been clear about highlighting the length of Lawson’s career (37 years) and the names of his wife and children (Kelly, and Benjamin, Neil and Jack, respectively.) …. CBC News also asked, what was his call sign, or nickname, as a pilot? DND was forthcoming with that answer Thursday. Lawson was known as Shadow ….” If one read the Toronto Star 2-3 days ago, one would have already known the callsign – the age is handy to know if someone wants to figure out how much longer he would be allowed to stay in the CF.
- Mark Collins on “CF’s New CDS Knows About Working With the Russkies”
- U.S.-Canada-Russia anti-terr ex wrapped up “Vigilant Eagle 12, a joint computer-based command post exercise, is designed to build and strengthen cooperation between U.S., Canadian and Russian military forces during a terrorist hijacking where the aircraft moves between U.S. and Russian airspace. This year’s exercise scenario focused on procedures for monitoring the situation and cooperative hand-off of the track of interest from one nation to the other while exchanging information …. Unlike Vigilant Eagle 11, Vigilant Eagle 12 did not include a live-fly element. Instead, the scenario was simulated with computers. Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard Scobee, NORAD deputy director of operations, said the command post exercise allows them to run through the complex scenarios that will be flown the following year without a risk to safety. One of the things we’re trying to do is increase the complexity of our exercises,” Scobee said. “We take safety very seriously, so our first exercise was a command post exercise but it was very simple in execution. The next year we flew that exercise and so it added a margin of safety to that scenario. This year our scenario was a little more complex, so as we’re stepping up that complexity, we want to do it first in a command post environment where we can learn the lessons that would impact safety. Then, when we actually fly the exercise, we know the communications systems are robust, we’ve exercised what the flight paths would be and we’ve done all the other planning that goes into an aviation endeavor.” One of the new complexities included in Vigilant Eagle 12 was the removal of airborne warning and control aircraft from the scenario. In Vigilant Eagle 11, E-3 Sentry and Russian A-50 aircraft were used to communicate with and control the escorting fighters. In Vigilant Eagle 12 the simulated fighters had to speak directly to each other. This new facet of the exercise will be tested during the live-fly portion of Vigilant Eagle 13 next year ….”
- Way Up North “Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just completed his annual trek to the Canadian North. Unlike previous years, when he emphasized international challenges, this trip focused on domestic Arctic issues. Several important new initiatives were announced, such as the creation of a new park. However, while the normal focus on the protection of Canadian Arctic sovereignty and security were not as evident, no one should be under the impression that the case for fulfilling previous promises has been reduced. International interest in the region only strengthens it. With a record polar ice-cap melt this year, our neighbours’ use of military power will continue to increase – not to threaten war, but to protect their interests in the region. Canada must be able to respond ….”
- Mark Collins again, this time with worries about China’s eyes on Canadian (and others’) resources: “The Wall St. Journal provides background on the company that has now formally sought federal government approval of its big bid for Canadian oil and gas producer Nexen (more on that here, here and here). It’s striking that the suitor seems to be assisting China’s vast claims in the South China Sea; one wonders what our government might think about that–and CNOOC’s possible use of Nexen’s expertise in the area: “BEIJING—When China launched its first deep-water oil rig in May, Cnooc Ltd. CEO -0.62% Chairman Wang Yilin delivered a message to employees and his Communist Party superiors about what it meant to Beijing’s ambitions abroad. “Large-scale deep-water rigs are our mobile national territory and a strategic weapon,” he told a crowd gathered at Cnooc’s glittering headquarters in central Beijing as well as rig workers by videoconference” ….”
- Stuart Langridge, R.I.P. “A Public Interest Hearing into a complaint related to the military police investigations conducted following the death of Corporal Stuart Langridge will resume in Ottawa on Wednesday September 5, 2012 …. “The first witness on September 5 will be Mr. Shaun Fynes, Cpl Langridge’s stepfather. The hearing will continue for another six weeks, during which time the subjects of the complaint will appear. Cpl Langridge committed suicide at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton on March 15, 2008 ….”
- The Pentagon’s Info-machine tells us about some joint work done about 10 days ago “Soldiers from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and Canadian Army worked on a medical scenario as part of the mission Steadfast Warrior here, Aug. 21, 2012. “I think this type of training is priceless,” said 1st Lt. Daniel Clark, medical platoon leader and field medical assistant for the medical platoon of Headquartersand Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment. “Being able to work with other countries and other medics from different units, you cannot get that anywhere else.” The joint training scenario involved a Canadian casualty reported by forces in the field as if a real-world incident ….”
- A new Honourary Colonel prepares to take her post “Canadian rocker Sass Jordan is taking on a new gig that comes with a uniform. Jordan is in Cold Lake in advance of her official appointment Friday as honorary colonel of 417 Combat Support Squadron. On Tuesday, she noted on Twitter that she was “in Cold Lake with my phenomenal 417 Combat Support Squadron!” She said she expected to be “jumping out of helicopters and shooting pistols.” “Wait until you meet some of these men and women up here at 4 Wing Cold Lake,” she wrote Wednesday. “I am in awe, once again, of our Canadian military.” The military appoints people as honorary colonels to help foster spirit within the forces and serve as the public face for a unit ….”
- Well done NavCanada! “NAVCANADA will fund two new scholarships for air cadets, each valued at $500, for two cadets who excel in navigation and air traffic control during the Royal Canadian Air Cadet airport operations course offered each summer. The course introduces cadets to the operations of an airport by engaging them in a dynamic learning environment and by exposing them to a variety of activities that occur in the air industry. Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed between NAV CANADA and the Air Cadet League of Canada, NAV CANADA will also provide air cadet squadrons with the opportunity to tour NAV CANADA facilities enhance cadets’ awareness of opportunities in air navigation through promotional material and guest speakers. The Air Cadet League sees this as “a significant step to continue to work together to encourage young people to choose careers in aviation and aerospace” ….”
- Note to headline writers: an accused deserter is NOT a “war resister”, headlines notwithstanding…. “The first female soldier to flee the U.S. military for Canada to avoid the war in Iraq has been ordered deported, a spokeswoman for the War Resisters Support Campaign said Thursday. Michelle Robidoux said that Citizenship and Immigration Canada has ordered Kimberly Rivera to leave the country by Sept. 20. Robidoux said Rivera is meeting with her lawyers Thursday to determine her next course of action and was unavailable to comment on the deportation order. “We are very upset about this decision,” said Robidoux. “The cases of war resisters are not being looked at properly. (Immigration Minister Jason) Kenney continues to intervene by telling immigration officers to red flag US soldiers who are applying for asylum as criminally inadmissible. We think that has tainted the whole process and the government should withdraw that directive.” Robidoux said they will likely call on Kenney to grant the family humanitarian and compassionate consideration and allow them to stay ….” Lookit the number of stories on Rivera with “resister” in them compared to those without – looks like media headline writers are drinking the anti-war Kool-Aid. An editorial on this one here.
- “Birds circle in silence above Prisoner of War Bay like a snow dome for hundreds of metres back into the swamp. Partly because of the richness of life that surrounds it, there isn’t much left to see on the site that was used as a German prisoner-of-war camp from 1943-1945. Even now, it’s easy to tell why the site was chosen. The nestled cove in the dark woods of northern Ontario feels like it’s the last refuge from the weather at the very edge of the Earth. Fast-growing deciduous trees are rooted deep in the fields where wooden cabins once held 120 men working in a makeshift logging camp. Seven decades later, the conifers they cut for the Ontario-Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company have yet to return. By almost all accounts, the 33,798 Germans sent to 26 camps and base camps throughout Canada during the Second World War were treated with strict adherence to the rules of engagement laid out in the 1929 Geneva Conventions. Soldiers maintained rank “within the wire” of capture and were able to choose to work, learn or volunteer to head across the vast country to camps like those on Prisoner of War Bay near Lake of the Woods, Ont ….”
