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Topic: Afghanistan - 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment - Predeployment (Read 6012 times)
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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Not so good news about the young boy , but great news that our lads will be ok...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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Firefights but no Canadian casualties in military sweep west of Kandahar
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canadian troops have swept through a volatile district west of Kandahar in an operation designed to ferret out nests of insurgents.
The four-day swing, code-named Operation Rolling Thunder, was conducted alongside Afghan government forces. The operation saw several firefights in Zhari district, long a hotbed of Taliban activity.
No Canadian casualties were reported Friday by military officials who released information about the operation.
An unknown number of militants were believed killed in the operation.
The Taliban had for months been using roadside bombs and booby traps to chip away at better armed NATO troops. Over the last few weeks, however, they have chosen to stand and fight small-arms engagements, using AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades.
Speaking on background, Canadian commanders conceded there has been a "significant increase" in direct-fire attacks, but they are not ready to conclude that the Taliban have switched tactics.
The Taliban have long been active in Zhari district, stretching back to the first deployment of the Canadian battle group in early 2006.
The area has been repeatedly cleared of militants, only to have them sneak back in because the Afghan National Army or the police have not established a permanent presence.
The last Canadian soldier to die in action, Cpl. Michael Starker, was killed in Zhari district near the community of Pashmul during a May 6 ambush.
Over the last year, Canadian troops have been mounting an increasingly sophisticated campaign to go after insurgent bomb-makers and small explosives factories.
With the arrival of 3,200 U.S. marines in southern Afghanistan, the Canadian battle group has been able to concentrate on the troublesome districts of Zhari and Panjwaii - arid stretches of farm land.
For the last few weeks, the marines have been fighting along with British troops in neighbouring Helmand province, taking down a substantial number of Taliban fighters that could conceivably have been operating in the Kandahar region.
But since the end of the poppy harvest, tens of thousands of local young men have become unemployed. The Taliban were believed trying to recruit them as fighters, and there has been a steady increase in violence.
A roadside bomb exploded in Arghandab district centre on Friday, killing a child near the community's ornate mosque.
The attack had been aimed at a passing Afghan Uniform Police patrol in the community, north of Kandahar, which had been relatively calm since last fall when Canadian troops fought a major offensive to retake the area from militants.
Also on Friday, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up at a police checkpoint on a road leading out Kandahar towards the Panjwaii district. Afghan cops noticed something strange about the man and apparently tried to get him to surrender before he detonated the bomb.
There have been several attacks in Kandahar City over the last week, including a suicide car bombing that wounded four Canadian soldiers.
NATO's principal base in the region, Kandahar Airfield, has also been hit almost nightly with 107 mm Chinese-or Russian-made rockets. The wildly erratic attacks have caused little damage.
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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
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Operation Rolling Thunder ends successfully
KATHERINE O'NEILL
From Saturday's Globe and mail
May 30, 2008 at 8:30 PM EDT
PASHMUL, AFGHANISTAN — Even by Afghanistan standards, Major Stacy Grubb has had a very long week.
On Sunday, the commanding officer of a Shilo, Man.-based battle group company wound up in the hospital after his vehicle was hit by a suicide bomber. By Friday, he had finished leading a top-secret military operation that saw Canadian soldiers engaged in the heaviest fighting so far this year against Taliban militants.
“I started the operation on a hospital operating table and I'm ending it with everybody coming back safely. I couldn't be happier,” Major Grubb said Friday. He leads the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (2PPCLI), Charles Company.
Code-named Operation Rawa Tander, Pashto for Rolling Thunder, the joint Canada and Afghan military mission was aimed at disrupting insurgent activity in one of Kandahar province's most dangerous areas, Pashmul.
The Globe and Mail
Located in Zhari district, the birthplace of the Taliban movement, the area is a hornet's nest of insurgent activity. The battle-scarred region, southwest of Kandahar, has been the site of several, often bloody, battles for Canadian soldiers since 2006.
The operation, which involved multiple platoons, started before day-break on Tuesday and, by 6:15 a.m., bullets were already ripping through Pashmul, a collection of small, ancient villages and farmland. The few locals still living in the area either fled by foot or hunkered down in their compounds before the fighting started. Most are poor farmers.
Canadian and Afghan soldiers were able to sneak up on a suspect compound and take the militants by surprise. The insurgents, toting AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, returned fire for about half an hour from a grape hut.
The battle ended a short time later after the Canadians called on U.S. military air support to drop several bombs, including Hellfire missiles, on the area.
As the week progressed, the fighting intensified, with Friday being the most hard-fought for Canadian and Afghan forces.
About 8 a.m. Friday, a large number of insurgents began shooting at the soldiers from several positions. The terrain, which was mainly lush grape fields and small groves of dense trees, made it difficult at first to tell exactly where the militants were hiding.
For about two hours, the two sides exchanged fire, with the Canadian and Afghan forces calling in air and artillery support. More than 30 rounds of artillery fire whistled through the hot, spring morning air and hit mud grape huts and compounds where the insurgents were positioned.
By 11 a.m., the shooting had largely stopped. A short time later, Afghan National Army soldiers followed a trail of blood into one compound. Four insurgents were inside; only one was alive. He was later detained.
During the lengthy operation, several dozen insurgents were killed or injured. Only one Afghan soldier was hurt; he accidentally shot himself in the foot. No Canadians were injured.
Major Grubb acknowledged the operation isn't a “permanent result” because the Taliban seem to have an unlimited supply of fighters willing to battle for Pashmul. However, he quickly added that, in the short-term, it “really hurt” their activities in the area and showed ISAF has the ability to “project power anywhere, any time.”
Soldiers who have fought in this turbulent spot before have already noticed small but important security improvements.
“ISAF and the ANA have a better grip on this area now. When I was here the first time, we wouldn't have been able to walk around like we have,” said Sergeant Pete Dunwoody, with 2PPCLI Charlie Company, 7 Platoon. He also pointed out there are now more people living in the area than there were during his first Afghanistan tour in 2006.
Sgt. Dunwoody said the Afghan military, which is being mentored by NAT0 forces, including Canada, has also improved dramatically since 2006. “They are 10 times better. It's good to see. It makes our job easier.”
For many Canadian soldiers, the operation was the first time they've been engaged in combat during this tour, which for most started in February. Up until this week, the Taliban had avoided lengthy gun battles and largely staged one-off attacks, including suicide bombs and roadside bombs.
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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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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Infantry group returns from anti-Taliban sweep
Updated Sat. May. 31 2008 8:08 AM ET
Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Disrupting Taliban bomb-making networks was a major objective of this week's Canadian army operation west of Kandahar, a senior officer said Saturday.
"The aim was to get out there and cause them to be off balance,'' said Maj. Fraser Auld, a battle group planner.
Militant bombers have a routine.
They observe the movements of NATO troops and try to anticipate where and when convoys -- or patrols -- will come by next. And then they plant lethal roadside bombs and booby traps that kill and maim not only Canadians, but local Afghans.
"We want to take them out of their cycle of watching us and planting (improvised explosive devices),'' said Auld, the day after a security blackout on the operation was lifted.
There were several firefights as troops of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry came across several nests of militants.
There were no Canadian casualties, although one Afghan army soldier was slightly wounded.
Dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder, the infantry battle group swept through remote hamlets in Zhari district, long a hotbed of Taliban activity and support.
The Taliban are able to slip back into the district because there is little permanent Afghan National Army or police presence.
"The locals that are living there really have no way to prevent these folks who are armed, to prevent these thugs from doing what they do,'' said Auld.
Taliban similar to organized crime
Canadian commanders have been taking a more nuanced look at the Taliban structure and methods of operation and Auld says there are many similarities to organized crime.
They operate in small, secretive cells. They rely on threats and intimidation to get their way with mostly law abiding citizens.
"They are organized and execute their operations in the same way as I would say a (criminal) gang,'' he said.
But Auld conceded that there are tribal and family ties in the restive farm region outside of the provincial capital, which allow the Taliban "freedom of movement'' and tacit support.
The militant movement was born in the rural area near Kandahar and its leader, Mullah Omar, preached at a mosque in the community of Sangisar, about 30 kilometres west of where this week's sweep took place.
Auld said the operation was part of a larger NATO push in southern Afghanistan to target the networks that build and plant roadside bombs and booby traps.
The vast majority of the 83 Canadian soldiers who've lost their lives in Afghanistan have died as a result of improvised explosives.
The last soldier to die in action, Cpl. Michael Starker, was killed in the Zhari district, near the community of Pashmul.
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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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Ah , yes organized crime , for sure.. with the booty being the poppies.. and the drugs they allow.. the other part of the equation is the fact they now admit , that people are related.. so sometimes, and who knows who, where, people are related and the bad guys mingle with the good guys...and wreak havoc, with it....we need a way to stop this, but it is like trying to stop life itself....blodd is thicker than water....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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4 Canadian soldiers wounded in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Monday, June 2, 2008 | 3:46 PM ET Comments3Recommend9
CBC News
Four Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were wounded Monday in two separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, according to the Canadian Forces.
While all five are expected to survive, one soldier was "very seriously" wounded and two others "seriously" wounded, army spokesman Maj. Jay Janzen said in a release. The interpreter is in good condition.
The most seriously wounded Canadian will be flown to Germany for further treatment at the American hospital in Landstuhl.
None of the soldiers' names will be released, said Janzen.
The troops were on routine patrols in Zhari district where the Canadians have recently conducted operations to disrupt bomb-making operations by the Taliban.
In the first incident, troops were attacked with small arms fire and one soldier was wounded.
At about the same time, three Canadian soldiers on foot patrol were injured when a roadside bomb detonated. This incident caused the most serious injuries.
Janzen described the attacks as retaliation for the gains made by Canadian soldiers against the Taliban.
Canada has about 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, most of them based in Kandahar province.
Insurgents have recently stepped up attacks against Afghan and foreign troops in an attempt to weaken the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Since 2002, 82 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan.
Parliament recently approved an extension to the Afghan mission, which had been slated to expire next year. The approval came after other NATO countries promised to provide more troops and extra equipment.
The presence of Canadian troops, diplomats and development workers is now assured until July 2011.
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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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May they all heal completely and return to normal life.. and may i say thank you to you all for all the good you do..ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Canadian dies in Taliban gun battle
Steve Leary was remembered yesterday as jovial, polite and always ready to help.
"He was a good boy, a really good boy. We joked with him and sometimes when we needed something he would help us," Josey Ciammo, a next-door neighbour of Leary's parents in Brantford, told The Star.
Ciammo said she and her husband, both senior citizens, would occasionally ask Leary to help them move heavy objects in their home. He would always readily oblige, she said.
Leary and his wife, Rachel, wed in 2002. They had no children.
According to the website of the The Expositor of Brantford, Leary, 32, is also survived by a sister, Brandi Leary of Princeton, Ont., and parents Richard and Gail.
Leary's aunt, Terry Careswell, said his parents are devastated at losing their only son. She said they always thought he would come back safely.
"This is something he always wanted to do," Leary's mother told the Brantford Expositor.
"He was a very good man."
Gagandeep Ghuman
With files from The Canadian Press
Captain shot as troops 'trying to make their way to a safer position'
Jun 04, 2008 04:30 AM
Rosie DiManno
Columnist
KANDAHAR–A Canadian flag at half-mast was the first clue, precipitously lowered, jumping the gun.
It came down. It went back up. It came down again ... and stayed there. Another Canadian soldier had been killed in Afghanistan.
The mistake in protocol was yanking that cenotaph Maple Leaf up and down like a yoyo as confirmation was apparently sought about the fatality. Ultimately, there was no mistaking the sad fact: Canada had lost its 84th soldier on Afghan soil; a diplomat has been killed, too.
Capt. Richard (Steve) Leary, a platoon commander with Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based at Shilo, Man., was shot and killed yesterday morning during a firefight in the Panjwaii district of southern Afghanistan, familiar insurgent terrain for Canadian troops.
Medics fought to save the life of the Brantford, Ont., native, who was on his first tour in Afghanistan, but he was pronounced dead when the evacuating helicopter arrived at Kandahar Airfield.
"On behalf of the entire task force, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Capt. Leary," a sombre Col. Jamie Cade, deputy commander of Task Force Afghanistan, told reporters last night.
"Capt. Leary was what we in uniform are expected to be – he was a soldier and he was a leader. In his memory, and in memory of those who have gone before, we remain steadfast in our resolve to bring peace and stability to the people of Afghanistan."
Those under his command were stricken, added task force spokesperson Maj. Jay Janzen.
"It's a very difficult time. When you lose a leader that was as effective as Capt. Leary, as personable, it is difficult. And so there's no question that the military family is grieving this loss.''
The repatriation ceremony for Leary, 32, is scheduled for Friday.
The firefight – during a joint patrol with Afghan forces – started early in the morning and continued, sporadically, for a "prolonged'' time. Leary was shot, Janzen said, around 9:30 a.m. but the engagement continued after that.
It is unclear – officials here could not or would not clarify – whether the platoon was withdrawing from the position, may even have considered the firefight contact over, when Leary was hit. The patrol had come under small arms fire.
"The soldiers returned fire and, under Capt. Leary's leadership, repositioned, when he was struck,'' said Cade.
As a public affairs officer later told reporters, "they were making their way to a safer position."
Close air support was called in to help repel the insurgents' attack. The coalition air strikes "defeated'' the enemy, Janzen claimed, though he didn't provide more details.
"I don't have any figures in terms of how many insurgents were killed. Really, we don't like to brag about that or even talk about that. That's not how we measure success.
"We measure success by improving the security situation. When we start to hear that people are feeling safer in the area, that reconstruction is going on, that the economy is growing, that's how we measure success."
Yet this was the second Canadian soldier killed in a gun battle on a dismounted patrol in the past month. Canadians have been increasingly going into villages and hamlets on foot, leaving their vehicles behind, in part to avoid the constant threat of improvised explosive devices.
It seems apparent the Taliban have twigged to this shift in tactics, are more prepared to ambush troops with small arms fire rather than relying exclusively on their preferred roadside bombs.
Southern Afghanistan is well into IED season now, with much of the opium crop harvested. It takes no particular genius to seed roads and verges with booby traps and mines, although unprotected civilians are more often hit by such blasts.
The vast majority of Canada's Afghanistan dead have been killed by explosive devices, rather than in conventional combat, the Taliban usually loath to stand and fight.
The last Canadian killed, prior to yesterday, was Cpl. Michael Starker, 36, a medic gunned down during a fierce firefight in the Pashmul region of Zhari district May 6.
The Taliban, as a force mustering for a direct confrontation, had been pretty much licking its wounds since catastrophic losses from heavy artillery in summer 2006.
But planting booby traps and roadside bombs, detonating and darting, killing and maiming in the manner of an absentee opponent – the insurgents have cultivated that strategy and reaped much propaganda value while risking little.
Denuding the terrain of IEDs is impossible. Repeatedly, and increasingly, battalion companies are patrolling villages on foot, hiking hours to reach destination, not so much because they want to show their faces – as was the friendly intention two years ago – but to more cautiously scour the ground for things that might go BOOM.
But sometimes, like yesterday, it's the crack of gunfire that kills, dead on.
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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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Another Cdn Hero lost..may you rest in Peace Capt., and thank you for all you have done for so many..my condolences to his family and friends...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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Canadian soldier's body returning home from Afghanistan
Doug Schmidt
Canwest News Service
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Into a glorious setting sun and the belly of a Canadian Forces Hercules, the Maple Leaf-draped casket of Capt. Richard Leary, "Stevo" to his friends, was carried Wednesday to start the final trip home from the war zone of Afghanistan.
"His wish to serve his country by leading his troops into combat was one of his greatest desires," said Canadian battle group chaplain Capt. Darren Persaud. "When he was informed that he was coming to Afghanistan, he could not have been happier."
Thousands of NATO troops lined the runway as Leary's company comrades, followed by a piper playing a lament, carried the coffin into the aircraft bound for home.
Leary, 32, was the second Canadian soldier in a month to die in an ambush while on foot patrol west of Kandahar City. He was leading his platoon during a small-arms fire fight Tuesday morning when he was shot - the 84th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002.
"He was always pushing it, pushing it as much as he could . . . he was a real inspiration to his troops," said Lt.-Col. Dave Corbould, battle group commander with Canada's Joint Task Force Afghanistan.
Corbould said Leary's men would likely hold a small ceremony in the field but that they would not be interrupting their work.
"As Capt. Leary was loyal to his men, they're loyal to his memory and they're getting on with the mission," he said.
Leary is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart Rachel of Shilo, Man., his Brantford, Ont., parents and a sister. A McMaster University history graduate who completed officer training in Sept. 2006, Leary served with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based at CFB Shilo. He was serving his first tour in Afghanistan.
The Canadians have seen a lot of action in recent days, including roadside bomb and suicide driver attacks, as well as regular fighting with the insurgents in southern Kandahar Province.
On the same day as Leary's send-off, a suicide bomber drove into a Canadian military convoy in Spin Boldak, next to the border with Pakistan. There were no Canadian casualties, but a local Afghan boy was injured and sent for medical treatment at Kandahar Airfield.
Following Leary's death, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued condolences on behalf of the government and all Canadians.
"We honour Captain Leary's sacrifice. His efforts will not be forgotten," Harper said.
"The Afghan people have a right to freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. These are the values that we hold dear in Canada and these are values that our brave Canadian Forces' members are working to promote in Afghanistan," he added.
© Windsor Star 2008
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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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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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New NATO commander in Afghanistan says he plans to revive Pakistan meetings
2 hours, 15 minutes ago
By Jason Straziuso, The Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan - The new U.S. commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said Wednesday that he plans to visit Islamabad to revive a stalled cross-border security dialogue with Afghan and Pakistani military leaders.
Army Gen. David McKiernan also said that ungoverned areas in Pakistan potentially create a sanctuary for militants with bad intentions for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The last three border security meetings involving top-ranking generals from NATO, Afghanistan and Pakistan have been cancelled, Pakistan's chief military spokesman said.
"I want to re-energize that process," McKiernan said at his first news conference since replacing Gen. Dan McNeill as NATO commander in Afghanistan on Tuesday. "One of my early trips I intend to make is to Islamabad and meet Gen. (Ashfaq Pervez) Kayani, the Pakistani army chief of staff, and discuss again how do we get energy back into the tripartite process."
McNeill said before stepping down that recent tripartite meetings had been cancelled in part because of political changes in Pakistan. The country elected a new government in February.
In his final days of command, McNeill also repeatedly told journalists that the peace agreements negotiated between Pakistan and some militants gave the insurgents a safe haven and training grounds from which they can attack Afghanistan. Attacks have spiked in recent weeks in areas where U.S. forces operate along the border.
"I share Gen. McNeill's concern that the ungoverned areas in the FATA (Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas) potentially creates a sanctuary for people with bad intentions," McKiernan said. "I can tell you that I personally intend on developing a close relationship with Pakistani counterparts so we can work issues of security along the border."
McKiernan, who led U.S. ground forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, said he would ask the Pakistan government what can be done to assist with security issues in the border area. He would also ask: "How do we exert more control over the border area? How do we make sure there are not the wrong people and items moving across the border?"
Pakistan army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Athar Abbas said two of the cancelled cross-border meetings were dropped at Pakistan's request while one was at NATO's bidding. But he called it an "effective platform" that should continue and said it was "quite normal" that planned meetings are sometimes postponed.
McKiernan labelled suicide bombers as a "very, very difficult challenge" for Afghanistan. The country saw a record 140 suicide bombings in 2007 and has experienced more than 50 already this year. The four-star general said NATO troops need to get to the "root motivation" of suicide bombers - poverty, ideology or fear.
McKiernan has taken charge of some 51,000 troops in the 40-country International Security Assistance Force. It is the largest ISAF force since its creation in 2001, shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
He takes command during a period of heightened violence and a spiralling opium poppy heroin trade in Afghanistan. More than 8,000 people were killed in insurgency-related attacks in the country last year, the most since the 2001 invasion.
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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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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Tearful widow grieves for dead soldier
The widow of the most recent Canadian casualty in Afghanistan struggled through her grief to deliver a short statement about her husband at Canadian Forces Base Shilo in Manitoba on Wednesday afternoon.
Capt. Richard (Steve) Leary was loyal, brave and dedicated and "my very best friend and a wonderful husband," Rachel Leary said. "I never doubted how much he loved and missed me."
"He believed in what he was doing," she said, on the verge of tears.
Steve Leary, as he was known in Afghanistan, was a platoon commander of the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry regiment, based in Shilo. He was shot by insurgents Tuesday in the Panjwaii district on his first missionoverseas.
"What a wise and very brave lady," Bonnie Korzeniowski, the Manitoba government's special envoy for military affairs, said before Rachel made her statement.
The Learys, high school sweethearts, met in their hometown of Brantford, Ont., and were married in 2002.
The public will be able to share its grief when the Shilo-based troops return from their tour of duty in the fall, Korzeniowski said.
Then "there's going to be a more public service that everyone will be involved in," she said.
The event will commemorate the deaths of all Manitoba-based soldiers in Afghanistan, she said. That number now stands at 13 — 10 from the Patricias, and three from the 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, also based in Shilo.
Provincial politicians observed a moment of silence at the Manitoba legislature Tuesday to recognize Leary's death.
"We are reminded of the daily sacrifices that members of the Canadian Forces and their families make to bring peace and stability to a country torn apart by decades of war," said Premier Gary Doer.
While military families have an excellent support network in both Winnipeg and Shilo, Korzeniowski said, they often need privacy most during a time of loss.
Rachel Leary concluded her statement with a request for privacy to deal with her grief.
Eighty-four Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2002.
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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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Dozens come out to show support as body of Canadian soldier returns home
Fri Jun 6, 8:10 PM
By Kristine Owram, The Canadian Press
BRIGHTON, Ont. - Maureen Campeau stood in the afternoon heat on an overpass near Brighton, Ont., with only a camouflage-coloured hat decorated in military pins and other paraphernalia to shelter her from the oppressive sun.
But her mind wasn't on the weather.
She was one of dozens of people waiting for the body of Capt. Richard (Steve) Leary to pass beneath. Leary was killed Tuesday during a firefight with Taliban militants in Afghanistan, and his body had been repatriated to Canadian soil only minutes ago at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, just down the road.
Campeau and the others, many dressed in red and clutching Canadian flags, were there to show support for Leary's family as they accompanied his body down Highway 401 - dubbed the Highway of Heroes for the 83 soldiers' bodies that made the journey previously - to Toronto, where it will be examined by a coroner.
Campeau, who is from Brighton, has three brothers-in-law in the Armed Forces, and she said she was "ashamed" this was only the second time she stood on the overpass to show her support.
"It's the only way you can say thank you," she said, her eyes filling with tears.
"When you lose someone close to you, it's nice to know that other people are there to support you. I will be here from now on. Hopefully there won't be another, but if there is, I will be here."
The hearse's arrival was heralded by a single black police car, its siren wailing. The overpass fell silent as people waved their flags or simply stood and stared, some with hands over their mouths.
Afterwards, Cindy Clitherow picked up her baby and took her four-year-old daughter by the hand. It was the first time she had come out to stand on the overpass.
"It's interesting to explain this to a four-year-old, but she understands what she can, and I think it's important that she's here," Clitherow said.
At CFB Trenton, several other supporters lined up outside the air base where the plane delivering Leary's body landed.
Jim Dixon of Belleville, Ont., has only missed four repatriation ceremonies out of the 84 that have been held, and he plans to keep on coming.
He doesn't have any family members in the military, but he believes it's important show support just the same.
"It means a lot to the family to see such a large turnout," Dixon said.
Colin Stillwell, a retired serviceman who spent 28 years in the Canadian Forces, said he's missed "less than six" repatriation ceremonies.
"It's paying respects to a fallen comrade, and it's also to show support to the family that the loss was not in vain and that we do appreciate the sacrifice that the soldier made," Stillwell said.
Leary was the 84th Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan since 2002.
The 32-year-old native of Brantford, Ont., was leading a foot patrol of Canadian and Afghan soldiers when they were ambushed.
He was a platoon commander with the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man.
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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
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It makes me feel good about being a Canadian to see my compatriots from the region getting out to honour our heroes, and give what support they can to the families....good stuff people.. good stuff..ranrad
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