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Topic: Afghanistan - 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment - 2007 (Read 12909 times)
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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FROM CHAOS TO CANADA | War in Afghanistan will leave a lasting impression on troops
More than 600 soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Gagetown deployed to Afghanistan in February for six months.
Local soldiers — part of the 1,150- strong Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (2RCR) battle group — were sent to help Afghan authorities extend and exercise their authority and influence across the country.
The idea was to create the conditions necessary for Afghanistan’s stabilization and reconstruction.
By the time the mission ended last month, 18 members of the battle group had been killed, including five soldiers who called CFB Gagetown home.
Master Cpl. Scott Seeley of Rusagonis was among the local soldiers who travelled to the wartorn region.
The former champion wrestler at Oromocto High School was riding in a convoy of three light-armoured vehicles on Easter Sunday when the lead one struck a roadside bomb — claiming the lives of six soldiers, including his friend Sgt. Donald Lucas of Burton.
Seeley, who also survived a suicide bombing in July, said the experience of serving in Afghanistan changed him and made him appreciate life in Canada.
Since arriving home on Aug. 8, he has been busy spending time with his family and enjoying home life.
He sat down this week with The Daily Gleaner’s military reporter MICHAEL STAPLES to discuss his time in Afghanistan and how it has affected him.
Mission to Afghanistan
A look at how the recent mission to the wartorn country affected local troops:
<LI> Canadian Forces Base Gagetown employs about 4,000 military members and 700 civilians.
<LI> About 1,150 members of The Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (2RCR) battle group, including more than 600 from CFB Gagetown in Oromocto, served in Kandahar, Afghanistan, for six months, starting in February.
<LI> Eighteen members of the battle group, including five from CFB Gagetown, were killed over six months.
<LI> Statistics indicate anywhere from three per cent to five per cent of returning soldiers will have an operational stress injury.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Kandahar Portraits: The Faces Of War
With pencil and paper
National Post
Published: Saturday, September 01, 2007
The National Post's Richard Johnson spent six weeks this summer chronicling the daily lives of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in a very old-fashioned way: with pencil and sketch pad. The result was a powerful, personal collection of drawings, accompanied by written commentary in the form of a blog that became one of the most popular sources of information on the Internet about the Canadian mission in Kandahar. Letters poured in from readers -- military people and civilians, in Canada and from around the world -- who were touched by the sketches in a way they said they could never be by regular pictures and video. Starting today, the Post will run a series of Richard's portraits, sketches that are helping to revive the honourable tradition of war art. Some of them ran with the blog while Richard was in Afghanistan, many did not. Most of the soldiers portrayed in the sketches have since come home to their relieved families, having finished their tours of duty. We begin today with a series of images on Pages A12-13. Throughout the month of September, one of Richard's portraits of a soldier will appear every weekday on Page A2 of the Post. His popular Kandahar Journal blog can still be seen at national-post. com.
The soldier above is Corporal Jonathan Williams, India Company, 2nd Royal Canadian Regiment
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Now this pisses me off..... We spend six months of blood, toil, death and, within weeks...
Taliban back in strategic areas around Kandahar
Richard Foot
CanWest News Service
Monday, September 03, 2007
OTTAWA -- Taliban insurgents have re-occupied strategically important areas around the city of Kandahar, including ground won by Canadian forces in deadly, hard-fought battles last year, according to a report published Sunday in The New York Times.
"The setback is part of a bloody stalemate that has occurred between NATO troops and Taliban fighters across southern Afghanistan this summer," says the report on the front page of the influential newspaper.
After Canadian troops gained control of Panjwai district last fall, they withdrew from parts of the area and left largely ineffectual Afghan government forces in their place.
This summer, however, insurgents have re-infiltrated the district and overrun police-held bases or checkpoints. In one such attack on Aug. 7, police called for help from Canadian forces but none came for several hours, until after 16 policemen were dead, says the report.
"Syed Aqa Saqib, Kandahar's provincial police chief, said Canadian and Afghan forces began withdrawing from four checkpoints and two small bases in Panjwai in early July (2007)," says the report.
Those withdrawals coincided with the August rotation of soldiers from the Royal Canadian Regiment, with fresh troops from Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment.
Saqib told the newspaper that the pullback left two police posts relatively unprotected.
"On Aug. 7 the Taliban attacked the posts simultaneously. For several hours, the police held them off and called for help from Canadian forces, (Saqib) said, but none arrived. Sixteen policemen were killed," the report says.
"'The Canadians didn't support them,'" Saqib said. "'Then, we went to collect our dead.'"
The report says when police issued their plea for help, an Afghan army unit was dispatched to assist them, but it returned to its base and issued its own calls for Canadian help. Canadian troops were then sent to the scene.
The episode highlights one of biggest problems facing the NATO mission in southern Afghanistan - a lack of troops.
With only a single infantry battalion to secure all of Kandahar province, and less than 1,000 actual fighting soldiers, Canadian forces can capture ground and defeat the Taliban in battle, but they, like their coalition allies, do not have enough soldiers to hold an area once it has been seized.
At least 30 Canadian soldiers were killed, and dozens more wounded, during operations last year to kill and root out insurgents from the districts around Kandahar.
Canada and its allies therefore rely on Afghan police to hold strategic areas. But the Afghan police are notoriously unreliable, underpaid and poorly trained and equipped.
The New York Times quotes the Panjwai police chief as saying he has only 64 novice policemen to defend the district against hundreds of Taliban.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay seemed unaware of such challenges on Sunday when he said in a CTV television interview that the increasing reliance on Afghan government forces is one of the success stories of the war.
Canadian sacrifices in Kandahar "have paved the way for incredible progress," he said. "We're seeing an Afghan army and Afghan police force able to participate in a more fulsome way in the defence and security of their own country."
MacKay's comments signalled the start of a new public relations campaign by the Conservative government on the home front this weekend, designed to highlight the successes of the mission and sell the war to Canadians.
"I think you're going to see a more concerted effort to make those statements and demonstrate the progress that has come about because of the work of our military," MacKay said on Sunday.
"Yes, the progress is in some sectors more challenging than others, but again, I hearken back to where that country was just five or six years ago - an incubator of terrorism.
"We are now starting to see tangible progress."
Data from an internal United Nations report, revealed by The New York Times, paints a different picture.
The U.N. report says violence has spiked across southern Afghanistan over the past year. The number of "reported security incidents" - which include everything from bombings and firefights to cases of Taliban intimidation - is up to about 500 a month this year from roughly 400 a month last year, according to the Times.
Meanwhile the UN report says about 2,500-3,000 people - a quarter of them civilians -have died from insurgency-related violence this year, a 20 per cent increase over 2006.
CanWest News Service made requests on Sunday to MacKay's office, and to the Department of National Defence, for a response to the New York Times story. No response was provided.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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It seems like we are still where we were... looking and waiting for adequate numbers of trained combat people to do the job properly... all we seem to be able to do is go from pillar to post.. and good people are lost for  ?? ... someone had best get a grip... i hope the new Min.of Def will make this a priority....ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Barrie soldier safe at home after Afghanistan tour
September 04, 2007
Friends, family and fellow soldiers held a big bash of a homecoming Saturday night for Barrie native and soldier John Woolvett.
Woolvett arrived home a week ago after serving for just over six months in Afghanistan with the Royal Canadian Regiment based out of Petawawa.
Woolvett said he enjoyed his time overseas, but it feels good to be home.
“It my first trip there, it was a rewarding experience and it had its ups and downs, but the ups heavily outweighed the downs,” he said.
As for the huge party in his honour, “It’s a little overwhelming. It’s all people that I’ve missed though, and it’s nice to see everyone,” he said.
Woolvett’s mother, Diana Monteiro, held the party at her Barrie home.
“We have a large family, and friends and neighbours. We are expecting anything from 30 to 300 people here,” she said.
Monteiro said a party was in order to celebrate the safe homecoming of not only her son but of his fiancée Shellie Walsh as well.
“The kids are back home after six months,” she said. “It was tough. Every time we listened to the news (about troop fatalities) we really didn’t know if they were one of them. And in the end, if it isn’t them it’s someone else.”
Woolvett’s fiancée Walsh, who is a medic, was stationed in Afghanistan at the 1st Canadian Field Hospital.
“It was a very good experience,” said Walsh. “They trained us well, but I don’t think you can really know what to expect until you get there.”
The couple did have the chance to see each other a few times while overseas.
“He came into the camp a few times so that was nice. It was better than a lot of other people who were there who were away from their families for six months,” said Walsh.
John’s father, Greg Woolvett, said he is glad to see his son and Walsh home on Canadian soil.
He admits that not seeing your son for six months is tough, but that they managed.
“The most unique thing was that he could call by satellite phone, so once a week he’d call me and fill me in on what was going on,” he said. “John would call you and it would be 11 p.m. or 12 p.m. over there and he’d say ‘I’m just getting ready for guard duty,’ and it was like he was standing right beside you.”
For now Woolvett is not sure if he’s going back to Afghanistan or not, but said he would jump at the opportunity.
“I’m looking forward to going back if I get the chance, but I don’t know if I will be,” he said. “I’m not getting out of the Army, that’s for sure. It’s the best job in the world.”
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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A soldiers view
Date: 2007-09-18
Author: Reka Szekely
Army Private Dave MacDonald has hundreds of pictures from his time in Afghanistan on his laptop, some taken by himself, some by friends, some by photojournalists.
He points to one photo where his face is in the foreground and a sun-baked town is behind him.
"This whole town right here used to be vacant," he said. "Now, this place is completely filled with markets, people living, that's a school right there."
He said people can get a distorted view of what it's like in the troubled country.
"You never hear the good, you hear about the Canadians dying."
But he says there is good being done by Canadians and he's proud of the work he did there during his six-month tour.
"These people have nothing. They just want to live in harmony and not get shot at have schools and hospitals."
Mr. MacDonald was born in Scarborough, and moved to the Kawartha Lakes area as a teen. His mother currently lives in Valentia and that's where Mr. MacDonald was spending some of his down time in August after returning home.
Now 29, he celebrated his birthday in July in Afghanistan. He's been in the army for five years.
But before that, he talked about joining the military since he was 18 and finally decided it was time to go for it when he was 24.
After high school, he spent some time working at golf courses, including a year at the Lindsay Golf Club. He's always liked outdoor work.
"I always wanted to join, and my mother and father were always open to what I wanted to do," he said.
Other reasons for joining the army include looking for some adventure and he relished the opportunity to travel.
"If I were to put it into context, it's like taking the red pill in (the movie) The Matrix, it's a whole different life," he said.
Mr. MacDonald takes a great deal of pride in his work and in the life he chose. He even has the word "Royal" tattooed on his back representing the Royal Canadian Regiment. He's part of India Company in the RCR's second battalion based out of CFC Gagetown.
"I'm pretty diehard about this stuff. It's like being part of the best family in the world."
When asked why he chose the army and the infantry in particular, his answer was simple.
"The army to me was like boots on the ground," he said. "I didn't want to be on the sea or in the air, I wanted to be where the action was."
When he joined, he knew there was a good chance he'd get sent overseas.
He remembers at the time the Canadian Forces were taking flack for having inappropriate equipment in Afghanistan.
That's no longer the case.
"We're the envy of all the forces when it comes to kit, I mean clothing, equipment," he said.
There was an immense amount of training involved before Mr. MacDonald was deployed to Afghanistan.
"We trained almost two years to go fight for six months and that saves so many lives," he said. That included a stint in Wainwright, Alberta, which is said to have similar terrain to Afghanistan.
Though there are minor differences.
"It was like -40, we were like, yeah, this place is just like Afghanistan," he laughs. But overall the time spent there was invaluable.
The training involved fake towns and actors portraying Afghanis.
Mr. MacDonald arrived in Afghanistan in January and spent the first three months there guarding a highway that was being built near Ma Sum'ghar, which is west of Kandahar. The road was guarded 24 hours a day by soldiers in small structures along the way.
"The construction of this road, the Taliban didn't want this. So we lived in the ground to prevent the Taliban from destroying it."
After that, Mr. MacDonald was involved in several combat missions. He patrolled regularly.
"You're walking around during the day and letting the villagers know you're there for them."
When asked if he felt fear, Mr. MacDonald said that gets put aside when it's time to do the job.
"Fear's contagious," he said. "I didn't see that in anyone in India Company."
Still, when it comes to firefights, he said no soldier wishes for them.
"I don't think you'd want to get shot at, it sucks," he said. "It's something you don't wish for, and if the time comes, you throw everything aside and take care of that."
Though Mr. MacDonald can't talk about specific missions, he would say he was part of "a lot of good pushes against the Taliban."
"We're security for that area; Kandahar is a real troubled area and it's the birthplace of the Taliban."
He's proud of the fact that his company didn't lose anyone during their tour, but feels sorrow for those that did.
"Every battle we've been in, we had no casualties in the firefights. I'm proud everyone came home."
He knew several of the six soldiers that lost their lives on Easter Weekend, when their light armoured vehicle, similar to what Mr. MacDonald himself drove, drove over an explosive device.
"They died doing what they wanted to do. Those guys are heroes."
Mr. MacDonald has a picture of a flagged landmine on his laptop. It's designed to blend with the ground perfectly. He said the Taliban keeps making the bombs bigger and bigger.
"You gotta be observant. The Taliban like to booby trap."
That's because in a straight fight, the Canadians got the best of them. But Mr. MacDonald didn't underestimate the enemy. He knew they were smart, trained fighters.
"If these people were to come here, they could level Lindsay, they're not stupid."
And they were always looking to retaliate.
"Near the end of the tour, our base was getting rocketed three or four times a week."
And then of course, there was the heat.
When he first arrived in Afghanistan, it was the rainy season but it was sweltering before he left.
"When you first open that oven and you get that waft, that's what Afghanistan's like."
Even with all that, Mr. MacDonald and his fellow soldiers were always primed to go, when the order came down, they had 15 minutes to get ready.
"You could be sitting there watching a movie in your underwear and they're like, you gotta go.'"
And though the conditions were tough, Mr. MacDonald said he was able to communicate with his family while there, via the phone and via the Internet. Even in remote areas, there were satellite phones.
"I'd be like, 'Dad, you won't believe where I am right now. It's so surreal, you're so far away.'"
He said the soldiers appreciated all the care packages they received from back home. The candy was mostly distributed to Afghani children.
He also appreciates the support he got when he came home and said it's touching to see the We Support Our Troops ribbons, stickers and signs in his hometown.
People are generous in other ways too. During the Valentia 200th celebration, Reid Forrester charged a fee for people taking pictures with his eagle. He donated the proceeds to the troops and passed them to Mr. MacDonald.
"When I go back to my battalion, I'll give it to the family resources centre or something like that," said Mr. MacDonald.
He plans to continue his career with the military and even said he'd go back for another tour in Afghanistan.
"I'm an army brat for the rest of my life. I love it, I get to travel everywhere."
Mr. MacDonald said he'll always remember the people he served with.
"I'll never forget what happened over there. There are so many times we could have died, but we made it through."
He said the military suggested that the troops visit legions in their hometowns after they got home.
"We're all war vets, it's hard to believe," he said. "Now you share something in common that no one else does."
And overall he has an unwavering faith in his country, it's military and the work he's done.
"This is what I do for a living. I love Canada. We live in the best country in the world and it's worth fighting for and helping countries who have nothing."
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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BJ MacLean
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how much proof do the bleeding hearts need that Canada is doing an impotant job and that we are continuing to be successful.
BJ
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B.J. MacLean
35 Yrs
Always a Proud Royal
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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I think it is a matter of the lack of support from the euros ... that or the war at home, politically, has already been lost to a a majority of people. I sheeet you not, BJ, and I do not live in a military town so perhaps this phenomena is more prevalent than what many of you might think. I can count the people who actually support the mission on one hand and those dudes are the old boys that hang at the legion where i play pool with my pops. At my local, sure, they support the troops but there is always that caveat... the troops do as they are told... it's like, well, like they f'n pity us! Frankly, it annoys the crap out of me but, well, it is what it is.
On a more brighter light... March on the valiant...
Returning soldiers awarded medals
By KEVIN BISSETT
The Canadian Press
Saturday, October 13, 2007 – Page A5
OROMOCTO, N.B. -- More than 600 Canadian soldiers who recently served in Afghanistan were honoured and officially welcomed home to their New Brunswick base yesterday, but many of them said their thoughts were still with the soldiers killed during the deployment.
Eighteen members of the battle group were killed during the six-month tour that ended in August, including five from Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, near Fredericton.
Private Brennan Leslie of Cole Harbour, N.S., was the driver of a vehicle that hit a roadside bomb on Easter Sunday, killing six soldiers.
He told reporters it was as though his fallen comrades were with him at yesterday's ceremony. "I was holding back the tears," he said.
Pte. Leslie was among more than 400 soldiers who were presented Campaign Star medals by Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie.
The Second Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Group was also honoured with its General Campaign Star.
Mr. MacKay said the soldiers' work has resulted in significant improvements for Afghanistan's people. "A free country is being reborn because of your contributions," he said.
The minister thanked the soldiers and their families, and made specific mention of those who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan.
"And I hope that you will find some comfort in the knowledge that, as in previous struggles in which Canada has been present, the freedoms and privileges that Canadians enjoy today are a direct result of those who have sacrificed to defend our country."
Lt.-Gen. Leslie spent time speaking individually to the soldiers, and said while the medals are made only of a bit of metal and cloth, they are symbols of their teamwork and sacrifice.
"It doesn't cost a lot to make, but by golly the price to wear it can be high," he said.
The hundreds of soldiers attending the ceremony stood shoulder to shoulder, row on row, filling the perimeter of a huge drill hall on the training base in central New Brunswick.
All stood at attention with eyes forward for the two-hour ceremony.
Afterwards, as the soldiers relaxed and mingled outside with family and friends, much of the conversation was about their fallen comrades, whose families were presented with medals at funerals rather than at yesterday's ceremonies.
Warrant Officer Brad Rogers of Canning, N.S., said his medal will always be a reminder of colleagues who were killed.
"There's no way of looking at that medal without being reminded of these soldiers that we lost, and the soldiers that are taking their place," he said.
At Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Governor-General Michaëlle Jean awarded another series of medals.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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I hope that each and every one of our heros can feel good about all the good they have done, and are doing... their legacy is peace and freedom for an oppressed people....they have a myriad of things they have accomplished... thank you all for your duty and sacrifices... ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Regt Adjt
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Topic locked because it was picking up spam posts.
Regt Adjt
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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One step at a time
Afghanistan veteran works hard to rebuild his bomb-shattered body
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
CPL. SHAUN FEVENS can walk, but he wants to run.
The 25-year-old Halifax soldier survived a bomb blast in Afghanistan last April that killed six comrades riding in the same light-armoured vehicle. The explosion fractured his right tibia and broke his left ankle in three places. Shrapnel injured his right wrist and took a chunk out of his right thigh.
"I was stuck in a wheelchair for three months," Cpl. Fevens says during a recent physiotherapy session.
"Then I was up on a walker and within a month I was on crutches."
His fiancée, Lana Dormiedy, is a Mount Saint Vincent University student who plans to become a teacher. They live in Clayton Park.
"I owe a lot to my fiancée (for her) patience," he says. "It was definitely trying for both of us. I could wash myself and all that jazz, but as far as cooking and cleaning goes, I couldn’t do anything. What I could do from the wheelchair was all I could do."
The crutches lasted another three months until last fall, when the young reservist got a brace for his left ankle. At first he needed a cane to walk with the brace, but that didn’t diminish his joy.
"I was a happy man. You know, crutching, crutching, and then instantly, foot on the floor and walking."
Cpl. Fevens is a part-time criminology and psychology student at Saint Mary’s University. He’s still receiving his military pay due to his injuries.
"This is full time," he says of his recovery.
It’s a process hundreds of his military colleagues have gone through. As of Sept. 17, according to Esprit de Corps magazine, 230 Canadian soldiers had been wounded in action in Afghanistan.
Cpl. Fevens often remembers his dead friends when he’s at the physiotherapy clinic.
"It’s definitely on my mind pretty much every day," he says. "It’s hard not to (think of them) when I come here to deal with what happened."
Dressed in a white T-shirt, red, white and blue shorts and new running shoes, he shows up for physio at 8 a.m. at the Stadacona hospital.
In May, he was spending as much as five hours a day in this clinic packed with exercise equipment, trying to recover from his injuries. Today, his program of stretching and strengthening a lower body battered by a Taliban bomb takes a little over three hours. He’s here five days a week.
» Click on photo below to watch slideshow
"And that’s not including if I go to the gym," says Cpl. Fevens, who also lifts weights for no less than 90 minutes three times a week to strengthen his upper body.
The military gave him two years to recover if he wants to stay in uniform. The clock started ticking last fall.
"I have to be able to return to duty when this is done, so if I let the upper half go, then I’ll be unfit."
Cpl. Fevens remembers everything from last Easter Sunday, when the bomb blew up under his armoured vehicle.
"It’s like a CD; it’s burned in," he says.
Before the 10 guys in his vehicle got moving that day, they opened some mail and took a shower from black bags of water left to warm in the sun. At that point, the soldiers from Hotel company had spent more than a month "outside the wire."
They were moving through a flat, sandy area in the Maywand district near the border with Helmand province when their vehicle hit the bomb. Activated by a pressure plate, it detonated a stack of shells hidden underground.
Cpl. Fevens was a rifleman standing in the back left side of the light-armoured vehicle, with his head poking out of a sentry hatch. He remembers feeling the shock wave from the blast engulfing his body. White noise replaced hearing; everything moved faster than he could see.
"It was like my whole body just went limp; it just shut down," he says.
The soldier from the Princess Louise Fusiliers infantry regiment was the only one in the back of the LAV III to survive the April blast. The explosion killed fellow Fusilier Master Cpl. Christopher Stannix, from Cole Harbour, and five members of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment of CFB Gagetown, N.B. They were Sgt. Donald Lucas, 31, Burton, N.B.; Cpl. Aaron E. Williams, 23, Lincoln, N.B.; Pte. Kevin Vincent Kennedy, 25, St. Lawrence, N.L.; Pte. David Robert Greenslade, 20, Saint John, N.B.; and Cpl. Brent Poland, 37, Sarnia, Ont.
When he opened his eyes, Cpl. Fevens was lying on the ground.
"It was definitely the weirdest feeling I’ve ever had," he says, describing the "Oh crap" moment when he realized what had happened.
Instantly, he knew six of his mates were dead.
"There was kit everywhere and the back of the LAV wasn’t looking too pretty because all the guys were still in it. The ramp was off the vehicle and I was just kind of waiting. The chin strap on my helmet was kind of wrapped around my nose."
Rather than panic, calmness settled over him.
"I kind of just hung tight for a minute because that’s usually how they ambush us," he says, describing common insurgent tactics after a roadside bombing.
But there was no followup attack that day — the most deadly Canada has experienced in Afghanistan.
"Fuel was leaking from the vehicle, so I had to drag myself (away) with one arm."
Cpl. Fevens had taken a three-week course in tactical combat casualty care at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick. There are supposed to be two soldiers in each section with that expertise, but the second one in his vehicle was dead.
"We actually had three, just out of luck. Our crew commander (Master Cpl. Brian McCallum) had the same training. But he was busy enough attending to everything else."
So Cpl. Fevens instructed the gunner, Cpl. Greg Robertson, another Nova Scotian they all called "Grubby," how to bandage his wounds.
"It was a lot to take in in a fraction of a second, so I just walked him through it," Cpl. Fevens says.
"I got him to find my (small medic’s) bag. Luckily, it wasn’t far from me. The blast had ripped it off my leg."
Cpl. Fevens explained how Cpl. Robertson should cut his pants off to look for arterial bleeding that could kill him in minutes. After they determined there was none, Cpl. Robertson used something soldiers call Israeli bandages to wrap both legs.
"They’re kind of like self-tightening when you wrap them."
A medic from another vehicle in the same convoy arrived minutes later to assess his wounds.
"I told him my armpit hurt and he was looking at me like I had three heads," Cpl. Fevens says.
The obvious major bleeding was coming from both his legs.
"My right leg was pretty bad; that was opened up like a hotdog pretty much."
The tibia was protruding from the skin. Cpl. Fevens is now missing about 2.5 centimetres of bone in that leg, which he suspects exploded inside his body.
"It was like making shrapnel in my leg coming out," he says of the missing bone fragment.
An American Black Hawk helicopter flew Cpl. Fevens to Kandahar Air Field, where he was stabilized for about 24 hours. A U.S. air force C-17 aircraft then took him to Europe.
"I have a different definition for pain," he says. "Sometimes you’re uncomfortable. But it’s nothing compared to what I had when I first got out of (Kandahar Air Field). That sucked. That hurt."
After a six-day stay at the American military’s medical facility in Landstuhl, Germany, Cpl. Fevens, who is from Yarmouth, landed back in Halifax a week after the bomb went off in Kandahar. He spent two weeks recovering at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre before doctors released him.
At first, the physiotherapist focused on his injured wrist. With casts on each leg, he was limited as to what he could do to counter the damage.
Almost a year later, on a treadmill at the physio clinic, he starts every session with a half-hour walk to warm up his muscles. He has special orthotics in his sneakers that are supposed to compensate for his injuries, but he still walks with a limp.
His left foot slaps noticeably harder than the right. The damage in that ankle has limited its range of motion.
There is also a lot less muscle in the left leg because it was in a cast much longer than his right.
"And that’s actually come a long way," Cpl. Fevens says.
On the day his left leg came out of a cast, the calf could have belonged to a small child.
"It was probably no bigger than my wrist," he says. "It was funny looking."
A surgical steel spike holds the right leg together. The bone has already started growing around it, he says.
Surgeons used 11 screws to secure plates onto his left ankle. "On a good day, you can actually physically see one of the screws. To me it looks like a Robertson."
He now sets off metal detectors in airports. "They call me the tin man."
A tattoo Cpl. Fevens got on his right wrist before he left for Afghanistan shows his blood type, O positive. The idea was to let medics know in case anything went wrong, though he doubts anyone would think to look in an emergency.
"It’s just a statement, I guess, more than anything. It’s just a little bit ridiculous."
He wanted to keep a piece of the shrapnel doctors took out of him for a souvenir. "But all of that has to go for ballistic analysis."
Cpl. Fevens led a physically active life before he went to Afghanistan.
"I wasn’t he-man or anything, by any means, but I was in good shape," he says.
Running 10 kilometres at a good clip "wasn’t an issue for me," Cpl. Fevens says, noting that as a civilian, he had run 25 kilometres on several occasions.
"I’d like to run 10 K," he says. "That’s my real goal."
His doctors are still advising him not to try running yet.
"They know I will run, or I’ve been told I’ll run. But to what extent, there’s no speculation on it now."
After a therapist manipulates the soldier’s ankle for a few minutes, Cpl. Fevens steps onto an elliptical trainer that allows him to approximate the motion of running, without the pounding, for a half hour.
"We had a platoon commander in training who said if you can talk and run at the same time, you’re not running fast enough," he says, panting as he speaks.
Next, Cpl. Fevens goes through a series of exercises designed to promote balance, co-ordination and strength in his lower body, including the core muscles around his spine.
He balances on a small, round wobble board, and then slides from side to side on a rectangular rocking device called a ski fitter.
Cpl. Fevens also does leg presses and lifts using high-tech exercise machines. One actually emits an electronic cheer when he does a good job.
Other exercises involve using large elastics and his body weight to condition leg muscles.
Coming down stairs can be difficult, as is standing on his tip toes.
But his physiotherapist, Lt. Adam Hannaford, says Cpl. Fevens has made tremendous improvement since they began working together almost a year ago.
"He’s now essentially independent," Lt. Hannaford says.
Cpl. Fevens still wears a brace on his left leg to ensure he doesn’t slip on ice or snow.
"If you saw Shaun in public, you wouldn’t even know he had it on," Lt. Hannaford says.
Given the soldier’s youth and fitness level before he was injured, his therapist isn’t taken aback by his recovery.
"I’m pleased, but I’m not surprised," says Lt. Hannaford, who steps in occasionally to show the soldier how to better perform various exercises.
Motivation has not been a problem, he says.
"The hardest thing with Cpl. Fevens is actually more putting the brakes on him a little bit," Lt. Hannaford says.
"Cpl. Fevens is really keen to run and, right now, it’s not the time for that yet. The tissue’s not ready. It would definitely slow progress. It could delay healing."
The repetitiveness is probably the worst part of the therapy, Cpl. Fevens says. "It’s not very exciting, that’s for sure. There are days when I say, ‘Am I done?’ And then I start realizing how many exercises I still have left."
But he knows the alternative — not doing anything — would leave him immobile. "It would be a gong show. I wouldn’t be in good condition."
Cpl. Fevens eventually wants to join the air force and become an air-traffic controller. But the five-foot-eight, 155-pound soldier can’t even apply for the transfer until he recovers.
He grits his teeth when asked if he’ll ever return to Afghanistan as a soldier. "I would like to go back as an (infantry member), but just in terms of my injuries, I’ve kind of got to take care of what I didn’t break," Cpl. Fevens says.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
Ultimate 2000+ Member
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Well deserved!
Officer decorated for leadership
Posted 3 hours ago
A Kingston officer is to be awarded a Meritorious Service Decoration from the Governor General in honour of his command of a battle group in Afghanistan.
Lt.-Col. Robert Daren Keith Walker was among 24 members of the Armed Forces who will receive the Meritorious Service Cross (Military Division) for "specific achievements that have brought honour to the Canadian Forces and to Canada."
Walker was deployed as the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment in Afghanistan between February and August 2007.
His citation cites Walker's "dynamic leadership" that enabled the expansion of a safe civilian development zone around the capital city of Kandahar and assisted the Canadian International Development Agency in its efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.
He will receive his decoration from Governor General Michaelle Jean at a date yet to be announced.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
Ultimate 2000+ Member
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Congratulations Col. well deserved..ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
Ultimate 2000+ Member
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