Hello Fellow Dragoons,
The following extracts may be of interest to our Association members:
Hillier arms Canada for war
Defence chief wants to upgrade military, add beef to Afghan role
By Scott Taylor | Halifax Chronicle Herald
ACCORDING TO OTTAWA insiders, Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier has put
his senior staff at National Defence Headquarters on notice that as of now,
the Canadian military is on a war footing. Armed with the moral support of
Defence Minister Bill Graham, Hillier is trying to implement a rapid and
radical rationalization of the befuddled bureaucracy and the ponderous
procurement process. Those who voice objections to Hillier's reforms are
being told to hand in their security passes and shuffle off into early
retirement.
Using his vast operational field experience, Hillier is applying the combat
arms "mission is paramount" mantra to remove or eliminate all obstacles in
his path. The primary objective the good general has lined up in his sights
is the deployment of a 2,000-strong, combat-capable expeditionary force in
Afghanistan next spring. These troops are to serve as the nucleus of a
NATO-based allied rapid reaction corps that will conduct offensive
operations against the Taliban insurgents in the volatile Kandahar region.
This new NATO force will ostensibly free up about 4,000 U.S. special forces
personnel who will likely be transferred directly to Iraq.
To meet this challenge, the Canadian military procurement officials have
gone on a spending spree. By begging, borrowing and paying a huge premium
($234 million), DND hopes to acquire 50 new armoured personnel vehicles, six
new howitzers, airborne surveillance drones, John Deere utility vehicles and
new communications systems - all by February. As the new role in Kandahar
will focus on aggressive patrols aimed at hunting down Taliban guerrillas,
it is Hillier's intention to deploy an unprecedented number of our elite
Joint Task Force 2 commandos. One source speculated that up to 200
operatives will be in Afghanistan by February - nearly two-thirds of the
unit's entire trained manpower. As an unorthodox special forces
unit, the JTF2 has a separate - and highly classified - procurement budget.
Despite the secrecy surrounding this commando force, it is known that they,
too, have been out purchasing a multitude of new hardware and vehicles for
the upcoming mission. Everything from automatic grenade launchers and new
assault weapons to armoured trucks has been hastily added to the JTF2's
inventory.
Unfortunately, there are some things that simply cannot be obtained or
produced before Hillier's expeditionary force heads off to battle. In the
mountainous region of southern Afghanistan, the majority of the combat
missions are facilitated by heavy transport helicopters escorted by heavily
armed helicopter gunships. As Canada has neither of these types of aircraft,
our troops will presumably be hitching a ride aboard allied helicopters. As
well, to deploy and keep a 2,000-strong contingent supplied in theatre will
require the use of strategic airlift, which Canada does not possess. If
history repeats, we will either rely upon the help of our friends or rent
some old Russian commercial airplanes.
While many senior Canadian officers are quietly wondering why Hillier is
insisting on putting all his combat eggs in one basket called Afghanistan,
there are now even more serious rumblings coming from the other NATO
participants. The Dutch were to contribute up to 1,000 troops to the allied
force - including a number of Chinook heavy-lift helicopters (yes, the very
same choppers that Canada gave them in 1992, when our policy-makers
concluded there was no future need for such aircraft). But that decision has
been delayed by the Dutch parliament, pending additional guarantees of
support from the Pentagon.
The British defence minister is also reportedly having second thoughts about
this new mission, with some senior officers suggesting the whole operation
should be abandoned. Their rationale is that there is presently no stated
end game for Afghanistan and no apparent exit strategy for the international
community.
One would like to think that similar constructive consideration is taking
place here in Canada and that someone somewhere is calculating exactly what
Canada's long-term projected involvement in Afghanistan is. (Whatever
happened to Osama bin Laden anyway?) But the signs are not hopeful.
With an election campaign in full swing and Canadian casualties already
mounting, the only political leader to even raise this issue is Jack Layton
of the NDP.
In the meantime, it seems that Hillier remains a man on a mission, and come
hell or high water, next spring, our military is gonna kick some "scumbag"
butt in Afghanistan.
Keep JTF2 'killers' on military base: Tory
Highly secretive unit trained to be 'anti-social:' ex-general O'Connor
by Lee Greenberg | Ottawa Citizen
Soldiers in Canada's special forces unit, JTF2, should move from their
current Dwyer Hill location to a military base because they are highly
trained in "anti-social" behaviours and need to be kept strictly
disciplined, says Conservative defence critic Gordon O'Connor.
"They're very highly trained people who are trained in anti-social skills, I
would call it -- they're trained to kill people in various ways," Mr.
O'Connor, a former army general, told the Citizen's editorial board
yesterday. "I would prefer them to be under iron-tight discipline inside a
military base."
The top-secret Joint Task Force 2 is currently located at the corner of
Franktown and Dwyer Hill roads, about 20 kilometres south of Ottawa's
downtown core, in Mr. O'Connor's riding of Carleton-Mississippi Mills.
Relations between the top-secret unit and its neighbours have been less than
harmonious in recent years. Neighbours have complained about low-flying
military helicopters, gunfire and explosions and accused JTF2 officials of
harassing them in an effort to force them to sell their land.
One landowner is suing the Defence Department for digging a trench across
his property, an act defence officials have admitted. (The unit offered to
purchase the land, but declined a counter-offer to buy him a similar-sized
lot in the area.)
With the unit in the midst of an expansion from 300 to 600 soldiers, defence
officials are contemplating moving it somewhere else in the region or
expanding the current location. Mr. O'Connor has previously suggested moving
the installation to the former airbase in Rockcliffe Park or to Petawawa.
"I want organizations like that in military bases," Mr. O'Connor said.
"(With) a force like that, you have to maintain very tight discipline."
The two challengers in Carleton-Mississippi Mills yesterday said the unit
should stay where it is.
"I would be very proud to represent men and women of that calibre in the
riding," Liberal hopeful Isabel Metcalfe said.
"It's got to go somewhere, so it might as well stay where it is," NDP
candidate Tasha Bridgen echoed.
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