MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 8 Oct 11

• “Canada’s top soldier is defending the use of Challenger jets in an email to all the staff at the Department of National Defence ….”  Here’s the text of the e-mail sent to all CF members this week – media coverage here, here, here, here and here.
• Latest to the defence of the Minister, CDS on Challenger use:  former Ministers Graham and Pratt & former CDS’s Manson and Henault:  “…. We the undersigned, having served in the past respectively as ministers or chiefs of defence, view with concern the recent attacks regarding the use of government jets by the current incumbents. Alarming the Canadian public with dollar figures that dramatically inflate the real cost of using the Challengers, while misconstruing the context and realities of that use, does a disservice to the Minister of National Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff and the people they serve.”
• Blogger/info curator Mark Collins on future missions for the CF (if the U.S. gets its way).
• Afghanistan (1)  A timeline, ten years in – more here.
• Afghanistan (2)  Quebec Senator welcomes Valcartier troops back from Afghanistan.
• Afghanistan (3)  Khadr Boy on his way back to Canada?  “Omar Khadr has started the process to come back to Canada. Lawyers for Khadr, who is serving eight years in a U.S. prison for killing a U.S. soldier when he was 15, have filed the paperwork required to start the repatriation process. Corrections officials have received the request for transfer and now have to determine if Khadr is eligible to return to Canada to finish out his sentence. Once Canadian officials determine that, they send an official request to American officials. If U.S. officials agree, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has the final say. He has the option of refusing the transfer if he decides Khadr is a risk to public safety. The process is expected to take about 18 months ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch  Ten years after Americans hit Afghanistan, Taliban claim “divine victory is with us alike the previous ten years”.
• One Naval Reservist’s job in the fight against pirates.  “When she arrives at work each morning in a northwest suburb of London, Lt.-Cmdr. Susan Long-Poucher steps into the North Arabian Sea. Her windowless office at the the NATO shipping centre in Northwood is lined with maps of exotic locations such as the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Somali Basin and the Persian Gulf. From here, Long-Poucher, 49, helps keep tabs on pirates who, equipped with tiny speed boats and a handful of small arms, prey on a fortune of commercial shipping. “Even though I work in the United Kingdom, when I come to work I am in the gulf,” said Long-Poucher, commanding officer of HMCS Cataraqui, the local naval reserve unit. Long-Poucher is in the midst of a six-month assignment to the shipping centre as part of an international anti-piracy campaign. Long-Poucher is the senior of three Canadian officers assigned to the centre as part of Operation Saiph, Canada’s commitment to increasing maritime security in the waters around the Horn of Africa ….”
• Changes proposed to military law, specifically in how courts martial are run and military judges get to be more independent – more here and here.
• Talkin’ search and rescue way up north. “Delegates from eight circumpolar countries met in Whitehorse this week for a conference on Arctic search and rescue co-operation. The purpose of the meeting of members of the Arctic Council Oct. 5 and 6 was to study the Arctic Search and Rescue agreement signed in May in Nuuk, Greenland, and to examine ways to enhance search and rescue capability and response across the North. Besides Canada, the members of the Arctic Council are Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia and the United States. It took 30 hours for some of the delegates to get to Yukon ….”
• “Come lookit our non-lethal weapon tech” conference and trade show scheduled for Ottawa 25-27 Oct 11.
• What’s Canada Melting Down?  Loads of old pistols, apparently.  “Despite all its bluster about saving money and honouring Canada’s armed forces, the Conservative federal government is poised to melt down millions of dollars worth of military memorabilia. Specifically, the Department of Defence is planning to send 19,000 highly collectable Browning Hi-Power pistols made in Toronto more than 60 years ago to the smelter and destroy them, instead of allowing licensed firearm owners to buy them for hundreds of dollars each. As reported recently, the Canadian Forces are replacing the Browning Hi-Power semi-automatic pistols starting in the fall 2015. The decommissioned sidearms, the standard military issue pistol for the forces since 1944, are set to be destroyed ….”  Just a reminder – the process to replace the Browning HP has been “cancelled” – still no word from Public Works Canada re:  why.
• Congrats on hour #3000.  “Major Miguel Bernard joined an elite club on Aug. 15, 2011 when he flew his 3,000th hour in the CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft while transiting from Bagotville, Que. to Trapani, Italy, to support Operation Mobile. “It’s a significant milestone because not many people have it,” he said from Trapani. “It just takes time.” Maj Bernard is one of only two active CF-18 pilots with 3,000 hours in the aircraft ….”
• “Canada’s Veterans Ombudsman, Guy Parent, will travel to Quebec City to host a public town hall session (on 12 Oct 11) for Veterans, RCMP members, military members, families and other interested parties. Mr. Parent will deliver a short presentation outlining the mandate and services of the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman. This will be followed by a question and answer period with the audience ….”
• (Alleged) Terrorist Bad Guy Update  “Two men from a group accused of plotting terrorist attacks in Canada appeared briefly in court in Ottawa (this week) to learn some of the conditions of their upcoming trials. Misbahuddin Ahmed and Khurram Syed Sher and a third man, Hiva Alizadeh, were arrested and their homes raided last year in an RCMP investigation dubbed Project Samossa. All three were charged with conspiracy to facilitate terrorism. Police accused the three men of plotting with others in Canada and abroad to aid terrorism activities. Ahmed, an Ottawa X-ray technologist, is also charged with possessing an explosive substance with the intent to harm. On Wednesday, an Ontario court judge set aside a time from June 18 to July 13 next year for the pre-trial for both Ahmed and Sher ….”
• (Maybe) (Alleged) Terrorist Bad Guy Update  “The RCMP was last night interviewing a man in connection with a plot involving the national security of Canada. The man was first seen on Oct. 1 at a DocuServe Etc., store at 20 Dundas St. E., Mississauga, the Mounties. “We believe he can corroborate some information that we have received,” Const. Richard Rollings said. Rollings refused to comment on specifics citing an ongoing national security probe. Police said the man, who may be a suspect, holds answers regarding the legitimacy of a plot or where an incident may occur ….”  More from Postmedia News here, and a copy of the RCMP news release downloadable here (via Milnet.ca).
• Oopsie…. “Researchers in Winnipeg’s National Microbiology lab must now obtain extra approval before they transport lethal pathogens, after a “miscommunication” three years ago left senior officials scrambling to find out why a shipment of Level 4 viruses was sent out of the secure lab ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 2 Sept 11

• Libya Mission (1)  The PM talks tough to the troops in Trapani, Sicily – here’s my quick-and-dirty analysis of some of the messaging (via Army.ca).  More on the speech here, here, here and here.
• Libya Mission (2)  NDP want any new or extended mission debated, voted on by Parliament.
• Libya Mission (3)  Welcoming home HMCS Charlottetown.  Note the message development – we’ve gone from deploying to “Enforce UNSCR 1973″ through deploying “In Response To Situation In Libya” and “(Enforcing) A No-fly Zone Over Libya” to now “Fighting The Gaddafi Regime”.  More on the ship’s homecoming here.
• Libya Mission (4)  An editorial reminder:  “…. The first priority for leaders such as Mr. Harper, Mr. Baird and their NATO counterparts should be to examine the circumstances of this victory as closely as they would have a defeat, and to dedicate sufficient resources to helping Libya make the best of its post-Gaddafi existence. We’re only in Act One.”
• Libya Mission (5)  Canada lifts sanctions against Libya (but can’t unfreeze assets yet) – more on this here, here and here.
• Libya Mission (6)  One vet who’s been there, done that, watches Libya.  “As the world watches with horror and hope as North Africa is torn by revolution and war, retired air ace James (Stocky) Edwards is remembering as well as watching. The Comox resident, still going strong at 90, flew over the desert lands still under siege during his days as a Second World War pilot, ultimately earning the third-highest number of aerial victories in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Among other exploits in 1942, he bombed 200 Nazi vehicles parked “mostly in the desert in North Africa — in the land where they’re getting rid of [Moammar] Gadhafi,” he says. More importantly, he shot down 13 German planes on his own, along with eight “probables” downed and damaged another eight ….”
• New boss – LGEN Stu Beare – over at Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM).  More on the handover here.
• The Leslie Report/CF Reorg  Canada’s CF military boss says he’s behind the report, even if his isn’t the last word on some of the proposed changes.  “…. Speaking about the proposed cuts, (Chief of Defence Staff Walt) Natynczyk said: “Everything’s on the table.” He added: “I can’t implement all of this. A lot of this is government decisions.” ….”  More on this one here and here.
• What’s Canada Buying? (1)  Another entry in the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) sweepstakes.  “Force Protection Industries, Inc., a FORCE PROTECTION, INC. group company, today announced the submission of a bid and test vehicle to the Canadian Forces for the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) project. Force Protection is offering the Canadian Forces a 6×6 variant of the battle proven Cougar wheeled combat vehicle developed by Force Protection to meet the TAPV requirements. Force Protection will be the design authority and have overall responsibility for the acquisition contract to supply the TAPV vehicles and maintain configuration control. As Force Protection’s main Canadian partner, CAE will have overall responsibility for the comprehensive in-service support (ISS) solution, including: vehicle operator and mission training systems; engineering information environment; fleet management services; systems engineering support; and, lifecycle and integrated logistics support services. CAE will also be responsible for assembling a pan-Canadian team of companies to develop and support any country-specific requirements for Canada’s replacement fleet of tactical armored patrol vehicles ….”
• What’s Canada Buying? (2)  Wanted:  someone to help run kitchens at at USS Montreal, St Jean-sur-Richelieu, Farnham, Valcartier and Quebec.
• F-35 Tug o’ War  Mark Collins shows the half-empty glass that is the Joint Strike Fighter’s prospects outside Canada.
• Marc Hani Diab, 1986-2009, R.I.P.:   “More honours continue to roll in for the documentary, If I Should Fall, produced and directed by Londoners. The film, about Trooper Marc Diab, 22, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009 by an improvised explosive device, will be screened at the Canadian Embassy in Berlin on Remembrance Day. International guests and military personnel will be at the Berlin screening. “There is no higher recognition than being asked to represent one’s country to other nations of the world,” said producer Paul Culliton. The poignant feature-length film, which includes interviews with Diab’s family and comrades and with retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, was created by three Fanshawe College graduates: Brendon Culliton, director; Dan Heald, assistant director; and Brock Springstead, photographer of the documentary ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Lookit the cool charts in the Taliban’s (alleged) stats summary for August 2011 (links to Sribd.com)
• Westjet supports the troops by not charging them for extra checked luggage.  “Canadian soldiers traveling in uniform won’t have to lighten their pockets to pay for excess baggage when flying via WestJet. The Canadian airline will allow military personnel to check in a maximum four bags at no additional charge. Oversize and overweight charges will also be waived. It’s WestJet’s way of honouring the men and women who serve the country. “The reason we chose to do this is to demonstrate support for the men and women of our armed forces, and to thank them for their service to Canada,” Westjet spokesperson Rob Palmer said. “It is a small gesture compared to what they do for us, certainly, but it’s something we wanted to do to express our appreciation to them.” ….”
• 9/11 Plus Ten  “As the horror of Sept. 11 sank in, it was a refrain repeated over and over for months: the world would never be the same. As a close relative, neighbour and trading partner to the anguished, grief-stricken United States, Canada was emphatically a big part of that world. “We were terrified,” recalled Janna Trosman, who was a 12-year-old elementary student in the Toronto area at the time. “Toronto is like a main world hub as well.” Now 22, Trosman said she will never forget the horror and shock on the faces of her classmates as they sat in her elementary school library watching the Twin Towers crumble. “That is like an everlasting effect. I remember the day very, very clearly,” she said. Ten years after terrorist attacks reduced the Twin Towers in New York City to rubble in one of those I-remember-exactly-where-I-was moments, some things are no longer the same for Canadians ….”
• Globe & Mail opens story about vets having trouble finding work by talking to….  a veteran of the British army living in Toronto.  “During three tours of duty in Afghanistan, Captain David Mack commanded dozens of combat troops on missions in unpredictable situations, often amid the whiz of bullets and the scream of shells. Throughout his 10-year military career, the Torontonian’s leadership skills and experience were never questioned by fellow soldiers in the British Army’s Royal Regiment of Scotland, in which he served as a platoon commander. But when he made the transition back to life in Canada, employers couldn’t easily see how his military skills and experience would translate to a civilian workplace. “Whenever I started describing to employers what I did in the military, people would just scratch their heads,” said Mr. Mack, who had been studying theology at Oxford University when he enlisted in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks …. “  Don’t worry – by paragraphs 20 and 21, we hear from a Canadian vet who’s found work and is helping others do so as well through a non-profit networking group he helped set up, Treble Victor Group. Insert slow clap here….

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 26 May 11

• Libya Mission (1):  “Canadian fighter jets have dropped 240 bombs over Libya in 324 flights, the military says. The figure was released in a defence department briefing one week after air force officials said such information might compromise the safety of Canadian pilots and the success of the mission to support rebels who are trying to topple Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi. But as doubts grow about the political and military purpose of the mission, the Canadian Forces is still refusing to say where Canadian bombs have been dropped, whether they’ve successfully struck their targets and how much the whole endeavour has cost taxpayers so far ….”  More from the Canadian Press here and CBC.ca here.
• Libya Mission (2):  “…. A spokesman for the Libyan rebels said he wanted to see Canada supply more fighter jets to the mission and more support to the rebels fighting forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. “It’s the people trying to protect themselves against an army and it’s not equal at all. If NATO suspends its mission, there will be a slaughter,” said Sufyan Maghur, who is the liaison between the rebels and the Canadian government. The Canadian Libya Council, organized in response to the conflict, said it believes an increase in NATO strikes is necessary to avoid a prolonged conflict ….”
• Libya Mission (3):  “A Canadian frigate stopped and boarded a ship off the coast of Libya, but then let the vessel go despite the fact it was ferrying a large amount of arms and explosives to the rebel movement fighting Moammar Gaddafi’s regime. The revelation, stemming from a video posted on NATO’s website on May 24, has some experts fearing Canada and the military alliance are picking and choosing how they apply the UN-mandated arms embargo—and effectively allowing the ongoing Libyan civil war to continue. The video, which was also posted on YouTube follows the men and women of the HMCS Charlottetown in early April as they stop a tugboat in international waters near the Libyan port of Misrata. The Charlottetown has been patrolling in the Mediterranean since April and is Canada’s major contribution to enforcing the UN arms embargo. In the video, the Charlottetown’s captain, Craig Skjerpen, says he has received information that the ship—flying the flag of the Libyan rebels and appearing in the video jam-packed with people—is carrying weapons. The Canadians subsequently send a boarding team that uncovers what the video’s narrator describes as “lots of weapons and munitions on board,” including “small ammunition to 105mm Howitzer rounds and lots of explosives.” However, when the Canadians relay the findings up the chain of command to NATO headquarters, they are ordered to let the tugboat go without confiscating the arms. When asked to explain why NATO chose not to enforce the resolution in this instance, a NATO official who asked not to be named said “obviously it’s a fairly fine line.” NATO says it does not consider internal movements between Libyan cities to be a breach of the arms embargo at sea, especially between Misratah and Benghazi, two rebel-controlled cities that the alliance says has fairly frequent maritime traffic now ….”
• Libya Mission (4):  “Two Canadian soldiers in Italy were under medical observation Wednesday after they walked away from a car crash that killed an Italian fighter pilot. The Department of National Defence said the two Canadians were unharmed in the accident. The accident happened a little after 9 p.m. Tuesday about 100 metres outside the entrance to the Trapani-Birgi airbase where Canada’s air force for the Libyan mission is stationed, the department said. Local Trapani newspaper Telesud reported Wednesday that the two Canadian women were in a car that collided with a Ducati motorcycle. Telesud reported that 33-year-old Francesco Rinciari, a sergeant in the Italian air force, was killed in the accident. On Wednesday, Canadian Forces spokesman Brig-Gen. Richard Blanchette expressed his condolences to Rinciari’s family ….”  Note to Postmedia editors:  Telesud 3 is a local TV station, not a newspaper (check the video of the story here about 9:15 into the newscast).  Also, although I stand to be corrected, Italian media aren’t saying the man killed was a pilot, they’re saying he was a senior NCO (who don’t tend to fly planes).  More in the Italian media here, here, here, here and here.
• Afghanistan:  “After nearly a decade of “tremendously successful work” in Afghanistan, the general commanding Canada’s elite, secret special forces says they are to end combat operations here at the same moment as the country’s regular combat forces. “The Taliban cannot operate with impunity anywhere in Kandahar largely because of all the SOF (special operations force) community, because it is an alliance, but certainly because CANSOF was focused on it,” Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, commander of the country’s clandestine military community, said in a rare interview. After the Taliban lost badly on the battlefield to mostly Canadian troops in 2006 and early 2007, the insurgents “essentially changed their tactics from holding ground and trying to be the shadow government in a large part of the province and directly challenging the authorities with formed units” to using “intimidation tactics,” Thompson said. “They started to go after the Afghan leadership and upped the ante with IEDs and suicide bombings and became much more asymmetrical. “That’s when their leadership became the more critical component and that’s when SOF began to play its role.” ….”
• Robert Giruourd, 1960-2006, Michelle Mendes, 1978-2009, R.I.P.:  Planting trees to remember the fallen.
• Taliban Propaganda Watch:  More attacks claimed in Kandahar, Zabul.
• Flooding/Quebec:  “Defence Minister Peter MacKay toured the flood-ravaged Richelieu Valley south of Montreal on Wednesday, but his appearance did little to tamp down a controversy over the military not taking a role in the eventual flood cleanup. While hundreds of Canadian troops have been in the area for weeks sandbagging and helping out locals, the Quebec provincial government has requested that the troops stick around to help with the aftermath, too. The request comes as both the provincial and federal governments deal with anger and resentment over the way the flooding of 3,000 local homes has been handled by authorities in both Quebec City and Ottawa ….”  More from CBC.ca here, and the Canadian Press here.  The CF’s Fact Sheet on the flood assistance work in Quebec, OP Lotus, is here.
• “Canada’s defence minister says information about the delivery of the country’s new maritime helicopters will be released at a news conference Thursday. Peter MacKay made the comments Tuesday night in New Glasgow, where he and Gen. Walter Natynczyk, chief of the defence staff, met with a group of cadets and reservists from MacKay’s Central Nova riding. The helicopters, the CH-148 Cyclone, are being produced by Sikorsky and are to replace the aging fleet of Sea Kings. MacKay admitted the helicopter program has faced a number of challenges. “There’s a long and, dare I say it, tortured history when it comes to the maritime helicopter program,” he said, calling it “one of the worst examples of a military procurement that went badly.” ….”  Last week’s announcement that “we finally have one (but not for using on ops just yet) here.
• F-35 Tug o’ War:  As Mark Collins asks, who do you believe?
• “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, tactical reconnaissance radars, and surveillance systems, and CAE today announced that the companies have signed an exclusive teaming agreement to offer the Predator® B UAS to meet Canada’s Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance needs …. Under the program presently referred to as the JUSTAS program, the Canadian Government will establish a requirement to field and support interoperable, network-enabled UASs to provide ISTAR and all-weather precision-strike capabilities in support of its operations worldwide. GA-ASI and CAE will jointly compete for this program, with GA-ASI serving as the prime contractor supporting a U.S. Foreign Military Sale procurement. The teaming arrangement between GA-ASI and CAE is designed to offer the best combination of experience and proven capability to meet program and Canadian-specific requirements while reducing technical, cost, and schedule risks ….”  A bit more on this here.