MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 19 Feb 11

• It’ll now (one hopes) be easier for more troops and family members to get help when they need it. “The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, today announced the establishment of five new Integrated Personnel Support Centres (IPSCs) dedicated to the care of ill and injured Canadian Forces (CF) personnel, and the wider Canadian Forces family …. These new support centres will be added to the 19 IPSCs already operating under the national Joint Personnel Support Unit, which was launched in March 2009 by Minister MacKay. The new IPSCs will be located as follows: Comox, B.C., Cold Lake, Alta., Borden, Ont., Trenton, Ont., and Bagotville, Qué. A satellite unit will also be established in Moose Jaw, Sask ….” More information on the Joint Personnel Support Unit, under which the centres operate, here.
• How one veteran is trying to help other vets who need help. “Most people remember the humble and honourable work of veterans on Remembrance Day. But everyday many citizens unwittingly walk past some who served this country who are among about two dozen of the city’s homeless. Calgary police Const. John Langford, a veteran himself, was working in the city’s core with the mountain bike unit in early 2009 when he discovered fellow former service members among those down and out on the streets. “I ended up talking with a couple of gentlemen who were in the military and one was in the same unit I deployed overseas with,” Langford said Friday. “It certainly struck a chord.” …”
• James Patrick MacNeil, 1981-2010, R.I.P. Fiance (among other loved ones of fallen troops) visits Afghanistan to help heal.
• Myles Mansell, 1980-2006, R.I.P. Road in Langford, B.C. to be named in honour of the fallen.
• Talking about the Afghanistan mission in Edmonton. “Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber is holding a town hall meeting Tuesday night on Canada in Afghanistan. It’s part of a series of annual forums he has held over the years on various topics. Rathgeber says he got a lot of calls from voters last year when the government announced that it was extending its mission in Afghanistan. Although combat troops are scheduled to leave this July, about 900 other troops are expected to stay in Kabul to train locals. Many had also asked him questions about veterans’ benefits and support programs for troops coming back from the war. “We have a significant number of armed forces personnel in both St. Albert and northwest Edmonton,” he says, so he decided to hold a town hall meeting on the military. The meeting, set for Feb. 22 in Edmonton’s Griesbach district, will feature many officials and military members with experience in Afghanistan, including Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of defence. Christine Burdett of Veteran Affairs will also be there to answer questions ….”
• CF ship, planes help hunt down drug runners. “HMCS Toronto and two Canadian Forces CP-140 Aurora strategic surveillance aircraft return today from the Caribbean Sea, where they were busy performing counter-drug operations as part of Operation CARIBBE. The ship, aircraft and their crews return home following a month-long deployment with the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S), during which 68 bales of cocaine, amounting to approximately 1 650 kilograms, with an estimated value of $33M, were intercepted ….” More from the mainstream media here.
• “Military prosecutors in Guantanamo Bay are preparing to take on more cases in a development based in part on “the successful war crimes conviction” of Omar Khadr, insiders familiar with the tribunal say. While the Canadian-born terror suspect is serving an eight-year term resulting from a plea deal, a symbolic 40-year sentence imposed by the military jury shows that the military commissions can effectively prosecute terrorism cases, according to supporters of the tribunal. This contrasts with the recent civilian-court prosecution of Ahmed Ghailani, who beat all but one of the 285 charges he faced for his role in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He received a life sentence after the jury found him guilty of a single count of conspiracy, but the “near miss” raised questions about whether civilian courts are the right forum for prosecuting terrorists ….”
• “The Canadian Forces Liaison Council (CFLC) recognized eight organizations, including local businesses and an educational institution, with awards for their support to Canada’s Reserve Force, in a ceremony at the Armour Heights Officers Mess, on February 11, 2011 …. Organized by CFLC, the ceremony was attended by 75 military and civilian guests, as well as numerous VIPs, including Brigadier-General Fred Lewis, Commander, Joint Task Force Central – Land Force Central Area …. Employers & educators receiving awards included Air Canada, The Credit Valley Hospital, H&R Developments, Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers, The Ottawa Police Service, Toronto EMS, Windsor Mold Group, Precision Plastics, and The University of Western Ontario ….”
• Cozying Up to the United States (1):  We should because it’s good for both sides of the border.
• Cozying Up to the United States (2):  Joint perimeter security talks “building up the repressive apparatus of the state on both sides of the border and furthering collaboration between the two states’ large and growing military and intelligence apparatuses.”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 18 Feb 11

• For the latest on China’s alleged cyber attack on Canadian government systems (including Defence Research and Development Canada), check news streams on the story here (Google News), here (NewsNow) or here (Yahoo News).
• Canada’s Defence Minister’s set to announce “support (for) the ill and injured Canadian Forces (CF) personnel, former CF personnel, their families and the families of the deceased” at CFB Trenton today. QMI/Sun Media’s estimation of what’s coming?  “The Conservative government is set to announce millions in new funding to ensure returning soldiers who need medical or employment help have a less frustrating experience, QMI Agency has learned. Defence Minister Peter MacKay will announce Friday in Trenton, Ont., $6.9 million in infrastructure costs over three years and $4 million a year to operate five new one-stop shops for soldiers, veterans and their families. “When you are ill or injured, you just have to go to one roof and everything is there for you,” a senior government source said. “It’s to improve the quality of care for those people who serve our country and defend our interests.” The new centres will be in Canadian Forces Bases in Comox, B.C., Cold Lake, Alta., Borden, Ont., Trenton, Ont., and Bagotville, Que ….”
• Snagging drugs all part of a day’s work for Canadians working next to Afghan security forces. “A frail Afghan man is brought before Capt. Patrick Chartrand, begging for the return of five bags full of drugs that weigh about twice as much as him.  “All the people are growing opium,” the man, who appears to be in his 60s, says in Pashto.  “I am a poor man. What can I do?”  A group of Afghan National Army officers mentored by Canadians seized 108 kilograms of what’s believed to be opium earlier this week. Military officials will test it later for verification.  It is the largest drug haul in an eastern swath of Panjwaii district since the Royal 22e Regiment’s Bravo Company arrived in the area in early December.  “I was pretty surprised about this,” said Chartrand, 32. “I was not expecting that in my day when I woke up.” ….”
• Next chopper pilots & crews headed downrange prepare in the U.S. “Exercise Desert Gander launched off station Feb. 1, 2011, marking the final step of predeployment training for approximately 220 members of Canadian military forces. During the exercise, 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron based with the Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton, Alberta, practiced air-to-ground firing exercises, dust ball training and convoy operations at the ranges surrounding Yuma. “Dust ball training helps door gunners and pilots learn to deal with dust clouds that form when landing,” said Cpl. Ted McGirr, 408 Squadron flight engineer and right door gunner. “Another aspect to consider is the heat. When it is very hot the air is thin and it makes it difficult to lift off. By conducting these exercises we gain much needed experience.” The squadron has held their winter training here for the last three years, due to its ideal training environment and optimum facilities. “The terrain here is very similar to Afghanistan,” said Capt. Bob Hackett, executive officer and adjutant. “The heat and dust, something you don’t find in Canada, help our guys prepare for what we are going to see in our deployment.” ….”
• Ronald Megeney, 1982-2007, R.I.P. “A date has been set for a new court martial for a Nova Scotia reservist who successfully appealed his conviction in the fatal shooting of a fellow soldier in Afghanistan in 2007. The Defence Department says the new trial of Matthew Wilcox will begin on April 26 in Halifax before a military judge alone. Wilcox, who was a corporal, will face the same charges of manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death and negligent performance of a military duty. Wilcox, from Glace Bay, N.S., won an appeal of his earlier conviction at the Court Martial Appeal Court after his lawyers complained that the makeup of the military jury was unfair at his trial in Sydney, N.S ….” A bit more in the Canadian Forces news release here.
• Column:  What else COULD Canada really do or say about Egypt? “…. So what should the Canadian position in all this be? The Harper government had it exactly right during the demonstrations: stability was important and an orderly transition was critical. That still remains the correct position, despite what the Jeffrey Simpsons and Jim Traverses might write in their columns. The reality is that Canada has never had much influence in the Middle East, and such as it has today should be directed toward promoting stability ….”
• A bit of American gauge-fixing work for SOME Canadian company:  “$573,950 Federal Contract Awarded to Canadian Commercial WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 — Canadian Commercial Corp., Ottawa, Canada, won a $573,950.40 federal contract from the U.S. Naval Supply Systems Command, Philadelphia, for repair of digital indicators.”
• More union worries about the (alleged) Canada-U.K. joint ship talks. “Shipyard workers say they don’t trust federal government assurances that new naval warships and coast guard cutters will be built in Canada. Jamie Vaslet, of the CAW Marine Workers Federation, told a news conference on Parliament Hill that the Harper government has broken its word before, namely over the elimination of a 25 per cent tariff on ships built outside the country. “They hung us out to dry once (and) I don’t believe they’ll answer any questions because there is a hidden agenda,” Vaslet said Thursday. “If they don’t then they shouldn’t have a problem answering the questions that are asked.” He said the idea that Canada is talking to Britain about participation in the Global Combat Ship Program — the Royal Navy’s plan to replace its frigate fleet — “scares the hell” out of him and his members …”
• Military “Hesco” barriers to the rescue against flooding in Manitoba. “A portable barrier that’s been used to foil terrorist attacks has been recruited for use in Manitoba’s spring flood fight. The province and the city bought nine kilometres of the Hesco bastion from the United States to top up the province’s primary diking system. The large wire cages can be unfolded and quickly filled with dirt or mud.  Randy Hull, the City of Winnipeg’s emergency preparedness co-ordinator, says the mesh cages won’t replace sandbag dikes but there should be fewer clay dikes needed along places like North and South Drive in the Fort Garry neighbourhood. “It’s about rapid deployment, and it’s about logistics,” said Hull ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch:  It’s not the Taliban killing most of the kids, and it’s not the Taliban’s web page telling all the lies, honest!

Ontario Arctic Unit Being Raised in Barrie?

The Ottawa Citizen’s David Pugliese says the Canadian Forces has targeted four Reserve units to “form the backbone of a new Arctic force to be created over the next five years”.   Guess how many are from northern regions?