MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – September 26, 2012
- Afghanistan (1) 24 Apr 12: “In Herat, the western-most province of Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army command team and training staff of Regional Military Training Centre (RMTC)–West are now running a full slate of courses independently, and no longer require a full Training Advisory Group from the NATO Training Mission–Afghanistan (NTM-A)….” 19 Jul 12: “…. “”The Canadian team that has been working with you over the past four months will be reduced by some 23 personnel,”" said (Major-General Jim Ferron of Canada, attending in his capacity of Deputy Commander–Operations of the NATO Training Mission–Afghanistan (NTM-A)) as he completed his remarks. “”As their commander, let me thank you for being such great hosts and friends. To my Canadian comrades, I thank you for the assistance you have provided the commanders, staff and instructors at RMTC-N and to the people of Afghanistan. You have done everything I asked of you, and I wish you all a safe journey back to your families. Bravo Zulu!”" ….”
- Afghanistan (2) More on Robert Semrau saying nothing in his book about THE incident “…. “I’ve never admitted anything. I’ve never said what I did or didn’t do. I’ve told my wife the truth of that moment,” Semrau said. “In the book, when we get to that moment, I leave it as a matter of public record. I say what was said at the court martial, that’s basically what I said in the book. I’ve chosen not to get into that moment for personal reasons. “ Instead, Semrau said he wanted his book to be about “the bigger picture, the broader context” of what a soldier experiences in Afghanistan, so that a civilian reader could gain an accurate perspective on what the battlefield is truly like ….”
- Afghanistan (3) Former Canadian OMLT’eer: just because they may believe the Taliban doesn’t mean the Taliban is behind the Afghans-killing-NATO troop killings “…. To say that an increasing number of Afghans, including soldiers, are buying into the insurgents’ world view to the point of being willing to kill and die for it, even granting that view is being transmitted in as well propagated an information operation as they can make it, does not mean most of these green-on-blue events were in any way coordinated by them ….”
- Afghanistan (4) “…. Calgary Police Sgt. John Langford, heard that the Afghan Special Olympics had to cancel their summer games because of financial difficulties. John has been a volunteer for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics in Calgary for several years and decided he would help. He organized a Canada Day ball hockey tournament and raised over $500 for the Afghanistan Special Olympics. While that was a good start, he knew more money would be needed to run the Special Olympics, so he applied for a donation from Boomer’s Legacy Fund (http://www.boomerslegacy.ca/). This fund was set up in memory of a Canadian soldier and medic, Corporal Andrew Eykelenboom, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2006. John was thrilled when Boomer’s Legacy donated $5000. In August, John presented over $5,500 to a representative of the Afghanistan Special Olympics in a small and private event at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul. During the ceremony, we learned another piece of the story. Earlier this year, the Special Olympics team was in a neighbouring country training and visiting. A group of insurgents attacked them, hospitalizing some of the kids and adults. Although the attack was reported to the appropriate government officials, nothing was done. So when the money was presented to the Special Olympics representative, it was indeed a very special and emotional time; his gratitude was palpable and absolutely genuine. On August 30th, Sgt. John Langford and a few other Canadian police attended the opening ceremonies of the Afghanistan Special Olympics at Ghazni Stadium ….”
- Afghanistan (5) Canada’s war poet on working on a requiem on the war “…. I stripped the Latin mass to bare bones, stripped it of much of its God and its Christ at least overtly, in reflection of the post-religious or multi-faith generation who experienced the Afghan war. I laid the Latin text down, or rather Jeffrey Ryan laid the Latin text down, almost as a churning war machine over which the soloists and choirs (Children singing in Pashto) sing my words … the travails of the returned soldier suffering from soldier’s heart, the one who stands by him, the everyman soldier, the medic, the mothers/fathers, and crucially, the redemption of the land, as most often it is to the land we, especially Canadians, turn to for our healing, our redemption.”
- Lessons to learn about Africa from Southwest Asia “…. Mali’s collapse this year, almost exactly a year after they welcomed Western special forces training teams, is another example that probably should be read along with Afghanistan about the troubles of using Western trainers for indigenous forces. Again you had the bordering Iran-style ally with its own agenda (Algeria), involving pushing/cajoling potential rebels out of their country over the border, and a West so focussed on the Al Qaeda affiliate threat that they completely ignored the much more capable and popular Muslim nationalist group that routed the deeply unpopular government’s forces, at least somewhat co-opted by Western power support ….”
- “Search and Rescue crews from 442 Squadron responded to a paraglider crash on Mount Cheam, near Chilliwack, B.C. Sunday, September 23rd. RCAF Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR Techs) were hoisted almost 300 feet from a hovering Cormorant helicopter to the injured paraglider early morning on Sunday. The incident took place at a height of 4900 feet, with steep terrain complicating the rescue. “We were pulling a lot of torque, using all the power our three engines could give us to maintain the hover, allowing our SAR Techs to descend with the rescue basket,” said Captain Pete Wright, pilot. “Because the terrain was steep, we didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver the helicopter and we had to be careful the downwash from our rotors didn’t blow debris onto the patient.” “We got on scene, assessed his injuries and stabilized him,” said Sergeant Steph Clavette, SAR Tech “He was cold with serious injuries so we had to be very careful.” Once on-board the helicopter, the patient was flown to Abbotsford where he was transferred into the care of BC Ambulance ….”
- Canadian military police train south o’ the border ” “Every trigger pull is training.” And that training can be paramount for a special agent, according to Master Sgt. Jim A. Stillman, with the 6th Military Police Group (Criminal Investigation Division) out of Joint Base Lewis McChord, Wash. Stillman is one of many instructors leading training during the 200th Military Police Command’s 2012 Annual Special Agent Training exercise, held from Sept. 20–30 in Maxton, N.C. …. This year, law enforcement personnel from Australia and Canada are provided the opportunity to work side-by-side with their American counterparts and U.S. Army Reserve soldiers during the event. Along with protective services training, the event also training in arson investigation, evasive driving and post bomb analysis ….”
- Canadian troops also helping train Lithuanian, eastern European forces(news release also here if previous link doesn’t work) “On September 21 at 11.00 hrs. a unit of King Mindaugas Mechanised Infantry Battalion completed a successful assault and capture of a building previously secured by fictitious insurgents. Lithuanian military received assistance from Polish mechanised infantry and Ukraine’s motorised assault units which had attacked their objects and took support positions. The operation completed by a joint Lithuanian, Polish, and Ukrainian company at the Pabrades Training Area under the observation of instructors of the Canadian Armed Forces concluded the multinational military exercise “Maple Arch 2012”. During the training event opened on September 16 Canadian troops shared their tremendous multinational operations experience through training Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian military to complete counter-IED, force protection, convoy, area defence and search tasks. The total of over 200 troops was involved in the training event. “The training audience of “Maple Arch” has acquired priceless experience through training with their brothers in arms from other countries. We have also amassed a considerable collective experience from the multinational exercises in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and especially Afghanistan. We must continue with our collective tasks,” Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force Maj Gen Almantas Leika thanked the participants at the closing ceremony ….”
- “Mr. Chris Alexander, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, (Monday) participated in the Tri-National Military Mental Health Symposium at the Embassy of Canada in Washington. The forum was hosted by the True Patriot Love Foundation and gathered representatives and distinguished guests from academia, charities, government agencies, and industry in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States ….”
- “The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, today addressed delegates at the Tri-National Military Mental Health Symposium, held at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Representatives from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada are discussing opportunities for collaboration between public and private sectors to promote awareness of military mental health issues and share research findings ….”
- What one of the medical experts had to say at the Washington conference: “More than 10 years of war in southwest Asia has created a major problem in military families of post-traumatic stress disorder that will remain a paramount healthcare issue for years to come, according to a high-level tri-country symposium held …. Monday. The symposium, which featured top military and civilian experts from Britain, Canada and the United States, marked the first time the NATO allies have come together to share their experiences and knowledge of PTSD. “We don’t want the people of Canada, the leadership and the soldiers themselves to conclude that since we are sort of drawing down on the combat operations that we are going to see less of the mental health issues that we are seeing impacting our members and their families,” Colonel Rakesh Jetly, psychiatry and mental health adviser to the Canadian Forces Surgeon General, said. “For years after deployment conditions can emerge.” ….”
- “Defence Minister Peter MacKay defended the government’s dedication to veteran’s health Monday, one week after Canada’s military ombudsman questioned the military’s ability to handle a growing number of mental health cases. As Parliament returned last week, Canada’s military ombudsman, Pierre Daigle, released a report in which he expressed concern that the military had not hired enough psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to deal with a tide of post-traumatic stress cases that is hitting its peak. The report stood at odds with the Conservative government’s reassurances that the treatment veterans are receiving is adequate. Daigle says the biggest challenge is the department’s “chronic inability” to meet its target of hiring 447 mental health staff – a number set before the war in Afghanistan. In some instances, the system is operating with 15 to 22 per cent fewer caregivers than needed ….”
- Defence Minister MacKay defends the Government’s record on helping the troops on mental health issues in the House of Commons, too.
- “National Defence Minister Peter MacKay told a global conference of military ombudsmen in Ottawa on Monday that, in his view, the role of an ombudsman is to be a neutral arbitrator of disputes. It is not the job of an ombudsman, said Mr. MacKay, to veer into advocacy. The Defence minister expressed this as if it were his personal opinion. Perhaps it is. But it’s also the designated duty of the Department of National Defence/Canadian Forces Ombudsman, as spelled out in the Ministerial Directives that established the post in 1998. The ombudsman shall “act as a neutral and objective sounding board, mediator, investigator and reporter on matters related to” Canada’s defence community. Pity ….”
- MacKay on the ‘Budman in the House of Commons: “…. I will tell the House, I am so proud of the support our government has provided for our men and women in uniform, $1 billion annually to address all the needs across the Canada first defence strategy. With respect to the ombudsman, he was very supportive in his remarks that he made about our changes. He said, “we’re very, very pleased to see that there’s a strong commitment from the minister and the senior leadership, and as a matter of fact, to address this shortfall and to bring more care providers on the front line”. That is a glowing endorsement from the ombudsman, whom the hon. member seems to be trying to defend.”
- This from the Parliamentary Secretary for Veterans Affairs on the $740K+ in legal fees Canada spent on fighting vets getting their disability pensions clawed back “Mr. Speaker, our government has enormous respect for the veterans who have served and sacrificed for our country. We agreed with the court decision and we are acting expeditiously to ensure that the veterans and the current members who need this benefit receive it as soon as possible. Our government has significantly improved benefits for veterans, including the benefits for disabled veterans, while the NDP and the Liberals consistently vote against these benefits.”
- Way Up North “With the Conservative government’s foreign policies already under a critical spotlight this week, a conference on the future of the Arctic to be held Thursday in Ottawa will urge Canada to assume a new leadership role on the circumpolar stage at a time when the remote region is heating up — politically and literally — like never before. Canada is set to begin a two-year term in 2013 as chair of the Arctic Council, the eight-nation body steering the region’s emergence as an economically and strategically important part of the world, a place increasingly accessible — thanks to a sustained, record-setting thinning and retreating of sea ice — to shipping and tourism, oil and gas exploration and military activity ….” Hosting the conference is the Rideau Institute, which also helps keep ceasefire.ca on the interwebs.
- Canada’s proposed Nuclear Terrorism Act passes First Reading in the House of Commons.
- “Ottawa’s forthcoming decision whether to approve the takeover of Nexen by the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) will set an important precedent in this country. The decision will also reverberate globally, not least because this is the largest Chinese SOE acquisition anywhere in the world …. In the end, the government might conclude that there is nothing to worry about from a national security and broader geopolitical standpoint. But before we get there we need to ensure this dimension of the transaction is thoroughly debated. So far it hasn’t been. Recent Chinese government efforts in Canadian media to support the play make plain that debate is overdue ….” – more on this from Mark Collins here.
- Bloc Quebecois pissed at the potential of fewer public events on the Plains of Abraham – the official response from Canada’s heritage minister: “…. we are currently in discussions with Quebec City and the National Battlefields Commission in order to come up with a formula, a process to protect Quebec City’s great cultural community and the heritage of that structure and area that is so special for Canada.”
