MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – September 4, 2012
- Afghanistan Mark Collins on the REST of the story re: (some) training being halted by the Americans after Afghan forces have killed ISAF troops
- How the Chief of Defence Staff and Deputy Minister work together ” Lieutenant-General Tom Lawson is “intelligent,” a “good listener,” and “respected by his peers,” but he must learn to work “in tandem” with the Defence department’s deputy minister to be a success in his new role as Canada’s chief of defence staff, say military observers. “The two senior executives, the chief of defence staff and the deputy minister, must work closely in tandem,” said former assistant deputy minister of defence Allan Williams. “Neither one can do the job unilaterally. Each has his own accountabilities and they have to work together.” Mr. Lawson, former fighter pilot and recently the deputy commander of NORAD in Colorado Springs, was promoted into the military’s top job Aug. 27. He replaces General Walter Natynczyk, who has held the post since 2008. In his new job, Mr. Lawson will be responsible for the more than 100,000 troops and reservists, and the Canadian Forces’ operational readiness. He does not, however, have control over the thousands of civilians that support the armed forces, as well as administration and finances. “That’s in the hands of the deputy minister, civilian, at the other side of the building, said retired Colonel Alain Pellerin, executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute ….”
- Canada taking part in big exercise in Florida “U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South will be conducting a field-training exercise at Camp Blanding in Starke, Fla., which will begin Sept. 3. The 13-day training exercise, known as Partnership of the Americas, is led by MARFORSOUTH and is part of a larger exercise known as UNITAS, which is conducted annually by U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. Partner Nation forces from the following countries will participate in UNITAS-Partnership of the Americas 2012; Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay ….”
- Pentagon Info-machine on an exercise almost two weeks 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 Headquarters and 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. “It was an exercise scenario where we get a call, called a 9-liner. Basically it gives us the information about an accident that has occurred or injuries that have occurred, and so we had a person come in with a fictitious femur fracture and basically we had to stabilize and or treat as necessary,“ said Capt. Jennifer Purdy, general duties medical officer for the 2 Field Ambulance, and a Kanata, Ontario native ….”
- “A former soldier traumatized after four of his fellow soldiers, including his best friend, were killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan has been ordered to stand trial on weapons charges. In June 2010, Yan Joseph Marcel Berube, a former member of the Third Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry, pleaded guilty to a number of offences, including possession of a restricted weapon. While a Veterans Affairs nurse was at his home in Cumberland, B.C., Berube, agitated that someone had broken into his home and stolen his service medals, brought out a scarf with a loaded handgun wrapped in it and placed it on a table, according to admissions of fact in B.C. Provincial Court. Berube said he would either shoot himself or the RCMP would shoot him. Police later came to his home and arrested him without incident. Eight years earlier, on April 18, 2002, then-Cpl. Berube and his fellow Alpha Company Troops had been conducting a live-fire night exercise in Afghanistan when a U.S. air force major flying an F-16 dropped a 250-kilogram bomb on them. The friendly-fire incident killed four Canadian soldiers, including Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Berube’s best friend. In a ruling staying the charges against Berube following the guilty plea, Judge Peter Doherty noted that Berube had accompanied his friend’s flag-draped coffin to a burial in Edmonton and, after separating from the service, had suffered from a form of post-traumatic stress or perhaps survivor’s guilt ….”
- Why we have to protect our coasts “Nova Scotia’s vast coastline and relatively small population provide daunting obstacles for those policing drug and human smuggling. Drug seizures in this province make up only a small fraction of the number of busts across Canada. There were just 34 drug busts in Nova Scotia in 2011, out of 10,307 nationally. But while they might be fewer in number, drug busts on Nova Scotia’s coastline can be massive in size. Seizures on land might involve whatever drugs can be hidden in the back of a vehicle, but busts along the coast can easily net millions of dollars worth of drugs, police say. “Typically, if someone’s going to go through the trouble of importing drugs from abroad, they’re going to go for a substantial amount to try to make as much money as they can,” said Sgt. Keith MacKinnon of the RCMP’s drugs and organized crime awareness service in Nova Scotia. Cocaine, marijuana and hashish are the drugs most commonly brought ashore, MacKinnon said. Stolen goods and counterfeit money also show up. The shipments are almost always tied to the many organized crime groups in Canada and overseas, and the drugs are usually destined for Quebec or Ontario. In the past five years, drug busts in Nova Scotia have ranged from 22 to 60 per year. While the numbers fluctuate, Nova Scotia averages about 30 per cent of busts in Atlantic Canada. The RCMP have just two officers dedicated to patrolling the shores of Nova Scotia full time. But their numbers are augmented in the summer months and they partner with other authorities such as the Canada Border Services Agency, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard ….”
