Canadian Forces recruiting centres and demographics #nlpoli

The Canadian Forces is planning to move its three full-time recruiting staff out of the office in Corner Brook and move them elsewhere.

From now on,  recruiting on the west coast will take place like it does pretty well everywhere else in Canada:  via the Internet.  The military recruiting system will send staff out to Corner Brook a few days a month.  They can always travel to high schools or job fairs to promote the Canadian Forces as they do now.

Documents leaked to David Pugliese at the Ottawa Citizen  last month said that the Corner Brook office has one of the lowest numbers of recruits in the Canadian Forces system.  The Corner Brook office, along with the one in Sydney Nova Scotia and Oshawa Ontario are affected by the changes.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning… #nlpoli

 

We will remember them.

 

 

Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Corporal Nathan Cirillo

 

 

 

 

 

 

-srbp-

Response and Responsibility #nlpoli #cdnpoli

“How satisfied are you with what they [DND officials] had to say?”

And with those words, CBC Here and Now’s Jonathan Crowe asked the man whose officials were responsible for directing the search for a missing 14 year old boy in Makkovik last week what he thought of explanations offered by people who weren’t directly responsible for the search efforts.

Municipal affairs minister Kevin O’Brien took the opportunity in his reply to obfuscate, to hide provincial responsibility for directing the search either through Fire and Emergency Services or through the police.  His officials were just responding to requests from the police, in this case the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The uninformed – and there are plenty of those out there – might assume that because the RCMP are a federal police force, therefore this was a federal option.  The provincial officials were just helping out as good citizens.  That’s not the case at all:  the police work for the province, but O’Brien was apparently quite content to slough this off on the feds, even if implicitly.

A federal failure is an implicit theme local media reports have taken up and O’Brien went right along with it.  He talked about the need for clarity, by implication from the Canadian Forces, on timelines and why they made key decisions.

Over the past couple of days, other politicians have taken up the same sorts of commentary.  For his part, Crowe, was just running with the same tunnel vision that has gripped some local media in covering the story of a search that ended in tragedy with the discovery of the young boy’s body.

There’s nothing new in any of that.  The politicians and the media have tried to pin responsibility for other tragedies – like Cougar 491 – on the air force search and rescue teams as well.  Then, as now, though, the effort to find a scapegoat for a tragedy is powerful and wrong.

National defence officials didn’t help themselves on Wednesday.  In a joint news conference with the acting commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s B Division, Rear Admiral David Gardam talked about the military role in the mission.  Gardam and his senior air staff officer talked about when things happened and why the military did certain things.  You’ll find the raw video in this CBC story.

But while Gardam may have understood where he fit into the scheme of things, you could tell by their questions, reporters didn’t.  As a result, they never really figured out who was really supposed to answering questions about how the search went and why things happened.

Gardam also appeared tense and uncomfortable. At the end of the newser, as if it wasn’t already bad enough, Gardam interrupted the air staff officer who was answering a simple question simply.  Gardam then took responsibility for deciding to use CH-146 Griffons, instead of CH-149 Cormorants, as if that made a fundamental difference.

Gardam may have thought he sounded leader-like with his abrupt “I’ll answer that” interjection. He was wrong. His reference to moving air assets around to meet the mission may work in the mess, but the talk of what he does during lobster season – in Nova Scotia – came off as a load useless macho posturing.  The mainland reference and his complete inability to pronounce the name of the community grated on ears and confirmed for local audiences that the feds are out of touch with anything in this province.

The real answer was not that Gardam’s balls were big enough to make the tough decisions.  It was that the 444 Squadron aircraft were closer to the scene and had the capability (apparently including forward-looking infrared) to get the job done. By cutting off the questions and walking out, Gardam just made a bad situation that much worse. 

As a result of the DND newser, the Department of National Defence wound up taking it on the chin for something that they didn’t do. Gardam didn’t cut off the story.  He guaranteed the anti-DND turn the story has taken will have legs and the controversy will grow. 

His political masters will be still be dogged out by the likes of Jack Harris and Ryan Cleary. Since Gardam took responsibility for aircraft movements, someone will soon wonder why he thought it a good use of Cormorants to heli-lift the defence minister out of a fishing camp but that a search for a 14 year old boy would compromise his primary mission.

No one should be surprised if Gardam’s Career Indicator Light blew out in the gust of wind as he left the room.

Most of that is Gardam’s fault, not because he’s the boss but because he just screwed up so badly.  What isn’t Gardam’s fault belongs to the idiot who thought it was a good idea to use people to talk to the media  who didn’t actually direct the operation.  The old axiom for military public affairs stills works:  the closer to the pointy end, the better.  The people who do the job know best at every level.   Everyone else is a know-nothing REMF, and it usually shows in embarrassing ways. 

For all the political posturing by the ghouls and for all the media tunnel vision on this, nothing will change the simple tragedy that is at the centre of this:  A young boy died cold and alone.  He died not because of anything anyone did or failed to do but because sometimes really bad things happen no matter what you do.

The family will grieve.  Time will help them move on but they will never get over their loss.

For the police, volunteer searchers, provincial officials, sailors, air crew and all the others who tried desperately to find young Burton Winters, they know they tried and that sometimes this is what happens despite all the good efforts. That may be true but it won’t help them sleep at night.

As for the ghouls and the REMFS and the other shitbirds?

All the rest of us can do is just carry on.  There is nothing you can do about them anyway. They hold no real responsibility and they deserve no better response.

- srbp -

Unseen wounds are no less real

Two new studies of Canadian soldiers who served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2008 shows the prevalence of psychological casualties in modern combat operations.  The Globe and Mail reported that:

In one study of 792 frontline soldiers who fought in Afghanistan in 2007, some 20 per cent suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, while 3.1 per cent suffered other mental illnesses such as depression.

In a larger national study, researchers examined medical records of 2,045 soldiers who served from 2001 to 2008 and found 8 per cent suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder and another 5.2 per cent suffered other mental-health illnesses over a follow-up period averaging five years. (Globe and Mail)

The studies also found that 98% of those experiencing symptoms had sought and received treatment. 

Things have changed radically since the first deployments to the former Yugoslavia almost 20 years ago.  But psychological casualties still turn up, even from older operations.  As the Globe story also noted:

“People are still coming forward from Chicoutimi and Swissair,” said Colonel Rakesh Jetly, head psychiatrist for the Canadian Forces. The Chicoutimi submarine fire killed one seaman in 2004, and the military was deeply involved in recovering bodies and wreckage after the 1998 Swissair crash.

- srbp -

Related:  Those interested in the history of the treatment of  psychological injuries in the Canadian Army can find a excellent account in Terry Copp and Bill McAndrew’s Battle exhaustion: soldiers and psychiatrists in the Canadian Army, 1939-1945.

Sadly, much of the experience gained in pioneering work done during the Second World War vanished in the years after only to be rediscovered – out of sheer necessity – since the end of the Cold War.

Harper/Williams disconnect #igornl

According to the Prime MInister, engineers from 4 Engineer Support Regiment in Gagetown are on their way to Newfoundland to assist in disaster relief.

As well, two or three ships – HMCS Fredericton, HMCS St. John’s and maybe HMCS Moncton – and helicopters on Fredericton and St. John’s are available for hurricane relief as well.

News media are reporting that. Here’s a Telegram story complete with a picture of Fredtown offshore Grand Bank.

Seems no one told the provincial government which delayed a newser Friday afternoon by a whole hour after the Prime Minister left town.

In addition, the Provincial Government has requested from the Government of Canada the provision of support from the Department of National Defense. [sic] The specific support being requested consists of Sea King helicopters and the ship-based naval support necessary to maintain operation of these helicopters, which have night flying and heavy lifting capabilities.

That release seems like the provincial government specifically wanted to limit the DND help available by asking only for helicopters.  And for the record, the helicopters don’t actually need ships.  The ships just happen to bring other capabilities with them, like water-purification units, medical facilities and other essential services needed during disaster relief operations.

Either the person who wrote that bit of the news release simply didn’t know what was going on or he or she wanted to minimise the scope of the help the provincial government needed.

Still no word on whether the engineers are coming or why the provincial government didn’t request help earlier.  Given the magnitude of the disaster it seems strange the provincial government would hesitate to take advantage of the considerable resources available even through the local reserve forces of the navy, army and air force.

General and master corporal face charges over relationship

 

From the Department of National Defence:

Charges Laid Following Brigadier-General Ménard Investigation

CFNIS NR – 2010-11 - July 12, 2010

OTTAWA – The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS), which is the investigative arm of the Canadian Forces Military Police, has concluded its investigation relating to allegations of inappropriate conduct and has charged Brigadier-General Daniel Ménard and Master-Corporal Bianka Langlois. The investigation was initiated in May 2010 and is related to the Canadian Forces Personal Relationships and Fraternization directives [DAOD 5019-1].

Brig.-Gen. Ménard was charged with:

• two counts of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline contrary to section 129 of the National Defence Act (NDA), related to alleged inappropriate conduct as outlined in the Canadian Forces Personal Relationships and Fraternization directives;

• one count of obstructing justice contrary to section 130 of the NDA, pursuant to section 139(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada; and

• one count of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline contrary to section 129 of the NDA, laid in the alternative to the obstructing justice charge.

Master-Corporal Langlois was charged with:

• one count of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline contrary to section 129 of the National Defence Act, related to alleged inappropriate conduct as outlined in the Canadian Forces Personal Relationships and Fraternization directives.

The charges were laid following allegations made in May 2010 while Brig.-Gen. Ménard was the Task Force Commander in Afghanistan.

The CFNIS is an independent Military Police unit with a mandate to investigate serious and sensitive matters in relation to Department of National Defence (DND) property, DND employees, and CF personnel serving in Canada and abroad.

- 30 -

Section 129 of the National Defence Act (RSC 1985, c. N-5) provides that:

Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order and Discipline

Prejudicing good order or discipline

129. (1) Any act, conduct, disorder or neglect to the prejudice of good order and discipline is an offence and every person convicted thereof is liable to dismissal with disgrace from Her Majesty’s service or to less punishment.

Offence and contraventions prejudicial to good order and discipline

(2) An act or omission constituting an offence under section 72 or a contravention by any person of

(a) any of the provisions of this Act,

(b) any regulations, orders or instructions published for the general information and guidance of the Canadian Forces or any part thereof, or

(c) any general, garrison, unit, station, standing, local or other orders,

is an act, conduct, disorder or neglect to the prejudice of good order and discipline.

Attempts to commit offences

(3) An attempt to commit any of the offences prescribed in sections 73 to 128 is an act, conduct, disorder or neglect to the prejudice of good order and discipline.

Saving provision

(4) Nothing in subsection (2) or (3) affects the generality of subsection (1).

Not intended to cover offences elsewhere provided for

(5) No person may be charged under this section with any offence for which special provision is made in sections 73 to 128 but the conviction of a person so charged is not invalid by reason only of the charge being in contravention of this subsection unless it appears that an injustice has been done to the person charged by reason of the contravention.

Officer’s responsibility not affected

(6) The responsibility of any officer for the contravention of subsection (5) is not affected by the validity of any conviction on the charge in contravention of that subsection.

Section 130 of the National Defence Act allows for charges to be laid against military personnel for offences under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Stack takes regional army command

Brigadier-General Anthony Stack took command of the Canadian army’s regular and reserve units in Atlantic Canada in a ceremony at the Halifax Armoury on Thursday, January 21, 2010.

Stack succeeded Brigadier-General David Neasmith.

Chief of Land Staff Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie oversaw the ceremony. Invited guests in attendance included Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor Mayann Francis, Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, regional navy commander rear Admiral Paul Maddison, LFAA soldiers, and family and friends of the incoming and outgoing commanders.

Incoming LFAA commander Brigadier-General Anthony Stack, left, shakes hands with outgoing commander Brigadier-general David Neasmith during a change of command ceremony at the Halifax Armoury, January 21, 2010. 

In the centre is Chief of Land Staff Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie.

 

“The role as Commander of Land Force Atlantic Area is a tremendously rewarding and difficult position,” said Lieutenant-General Leslie.  “As Land Force Atlantic Area’s new Commander, Brigadier-General Stack has accepted this responsibility and I know that will continue to serve his country and Atlantic Canada well in this role.”

“It is an honour to serve and I would like to thank Brigadier-General Neasmith for his outstanding efforts as Commander. Land Force Atlantic Area is engaged in a multitude of operations around the world, and our successes speak to the immense training and readiness of our soldiers. It has been a pleasure to work with you as Deputy Commander and I look forward to serving Atlantic Canada in my new role as Commander.”

In civilian life, Brigadier-General Stack is principal of St. Peter’s Junior High School in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador.  Brigadier-General Stack will be taking a leave of absence from his civilian job in order to take up his new appointment in service of Canada.

As Commander, Brigadier-General Stack will continue the Area’s support in the coming Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., as well as in operations abroad in Haiti and Afghanistan.  Land Force Atlantic Area is responsible for all regular and reserve army units in the four Atlantic Provinces. The Area’s current strength is approximately 7,000 regular and reserve soldiers in four regular, 32 reserve and 40 Ranger patrols across the region.

-srbp-

Related:  “Nflder to command Atlantic area soldiers”

Biography:

Brigadier-General Anthony Stack was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador in 1961. At Memorial University of Newfoundland, he earned Bachelor of Education (Secondary) and Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) degrees in 1985 and obtained a Master of Education (Leadership Studies) in 2001.

Brigadier-General Stack began his military adventure in high school with 2415 Gonzaga Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps. He joined the Canadian Forces army reserve in 1978.  He completed two terms as the commanding officer of 56 Field Engineer Squadron and a term as G3 Newfoundland District responsible for operations and training for  army reserve units in the province. He has also served as a company commander and Chief Instructor at the Atlantic Area Rank and Trade School in Gagetown, New Brunswick.

He is a graduate of the army command and staff college,  Kingston Ontario and the Joint Reserve Command and Staff Program at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, Ontario.

In 2001, Brigadier-General Stack was the first Commanding Officer of the Land Force Atlantic Area civil military cooperation (CIMIC) unit.

In January 2004, he deployed with OPERATION ATHENA to Afghanistan where he served as the Chief of CIMIC Operations for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul.

Upon return from theatre, he was appointed deputy commander of 37 Canadian Brigade Group in September 2004 and assumed command of the brigade in June 2006.

In December 2009, he was promoted to his present rank and assigned the position of deputy commander, Land Force Atlantic Area.

Brigadier-General Stack resides in St. John’s NL with his wife Wanda and son Shane. In civilian life, he is the principal of St. Peter’s Junior High School in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Brigadier-General Stack enjoys running, reading, and watching his son compete in basketball and volleyball.

Nfld reservist to command Atlantic area soldiers

Brigadier-General Tony Stack, left,  will assume command of Land Force Atlantic Area in a  ceremony in Halifax this evening.  He replaces Brigadier-General David Neasmith.

Stack is currently the area deputy commander.

Land Force Atlantic Area is responsible for all army regular and reserve units in the four Atlantic provinces, with the exception of the Combat Training Centre at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown.  Currently there are approximately 7,000 soldiers in Atlantic Canada serving in four regular and 23 reserve units.

-srbp-

Stack’s bio:

Brigadier-General Anthony Stack was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador in 1961. At Memorial University of Newfoundland, he earned Bachelor of Education (Secondary) and Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) degrees in 1985 and obtained a Master of Education (Leadership Studies) in 2001.

Brigadier-General Stack began his military adventure in high school with 2415 Gonzaga Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps. He joined the Canadian Forces army reserve in 1978.  He completed two terms as the commanding officer of 56 Field Engineer Squadron and a term as G3 Newfoundland District responsible for operations and training for  army reserve units in the province. He has also served as a company commander and Chief Instructor at the Atlantic Area Rank and Trade School in Gagetown, New Brunswick.

He is a graduate of the army command and staff college,  Kingston Ontario and the Joint Reserve Command and Staff Program at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, Ontario.

In 2001, Brigadier-General Stack was the first Commanding Officer of the Land Force Atlantic Area civil military cooperation (CIMIC) unit.

In January 2004, he deployed with OPERATION ATHENA to Afghanistan where he served as the Chief of CIMIC Operations for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul.

Upon return from theatre, he was appointed deputy commander of 37 Canadian Brigade Group in September 2004 and assumed command of the brigade in June 2006.

In December 2009, he was promoted to his present rank and assigned the position of deputy commander, Land Force Atlantic Area.

Brigadier-General Stack resides in St. John’s NL with his wife Wanda and son Shane. In civilian life, he is the principal of St. Peter’s Junior High School in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Brigadier-General Stack enjoys running, reading, and watching his son compete in basketball and volleyball.

Op Hestia: Canadian Forces Combat Camera

An unidentified member of 2 Air Movements Squadron (8 Wing, Trenton, Ontario) helps load a pallet of medical supplies onboard a Canadian Forces C-177 Globemaster bound for Haiti as part of Operation Hestia.

-srbp-

An abuse of our men and women in uniform

The federal Conservatives gave Canadians a lesson in Halifax yesterday, a lesson most of them likely didn't want.

A group of Second World War veterans were trotted before the cameras alongside Peter Mackay, the national defence minister as props in a campaign announcement.

The lesson was Manipulation, Cynicism and Crassness 101.

Ostensibly they were there to announce that the Halifax Rifles - a disbanded militia unit - would be reactivated.  The veterans had fought with the Canadian Forces during the Second World War, many of them receiving their initial training with the Rifles.

But here's the thing:

No one knows what this unit will do.

No one knows where the soldiers for this unit will come from.

No one knows where they will train.

In short, there is no Halifax Rifles, any more than there are the various battalions of soldiers promised by the Conservatives to any town and city in the country that wanted one.

The regional commander of the army stated the problems, albeit in the guise of making it sound like this was a good thing that the army was squarely behind:

Simply getting people to join will "be a challenge because there’s a lot of demand on reserve (units for) folks that are very, very good," he said.

"Both industry here as well as the Canadian Forces and all the other units are going to be competing for the same quality folks. . . . That’s why it’s going to take a little bit of time to actually stand up the unit and get the folks in there."

He expects it will take three or four years to fully re-establish the regiment.

You see the Friends of the Halifax Rifles have been lobbying for years to recreate the Rifles.  They've worked every room they can to get the name back on a uniform.  They are well-intentioned and sincere with a justifiably love of their former unit and desire to see their own cherished memories continued.

But up to now both the Canadian Forces and the politicians who over see the military have understood that we cannot create military units for what essentially amounts to sentimental reasons. 

The military cannot and should not be used for anything other than the reasons we have soldiers, sailors and aircrew.  They don't exist to proper up failing local economies.  And they don't exist in the active military force to serve - essentially - as living relics of another time, looking good on parade, chewing up scarce cash and human resources and no really contributing anything to the defence of Canada.

There is a fine reserve infantry unit in Halifax already, one that has to work hard to keeps its ranks full.  It's not so different from the other reserve units for the army, navy, and air force in Halifax and the surrounding areas or anywhere else in the country in that respect.  All of them have well defined missions and they are set up within areas where the competition for talent is already fierce.  They recruit hard and they train hard all year long to do a job. Adding another reserve unit doesn't increase the capability in the area;  it just sets the military to competing with itself for people. 

At one point, the Friends were suggesting that the Rifles could be a reconnaissance unit, an idea that appears in this latest announcement.  What they had in mind at one point was buying a whole bunch of civilian type jeeps.  Soldiers would spend their training time bombing around the coasts of Nova Scotia keeping an eye out - on the weekends only, of course - for enemy submarines or smugglers.  All wonderful ideas a half century ago but all hopelessly out of touch with the current reality.

What makes this announcement crass, cynical and manipulative is that people involved in the announcement on the government side know there is very likelihood the promise will ever come to light. National Defence has already been through the debate between the professional military and the amateurs and wannabes who came into office a couple of years ago over where the Canadian Forces should put its priority for the defence of Canada.  The whole episode wasted valuable time and chewed up valuable cash resources for absolutely nothing except to show seeds of confusion in some cases.  Thankfully that was short-lived.

There will be no Halifax Rifles in four years times just as there will be no rapid reaction battalion in Goose Bay or any of the other hare-brained schemes cooked up in Conservative backrooms to fool just enough naive voters to get the party elected.

In this case, a group of very sincere and well meaning men have been taken advantage of.  They are proud of their service to the country and Canadians should be respectful of them.

Instead, the defence minister has done little more than stick a "Kick Me" sign on their backs.  He could easily have stuck bunny ears up behind their heads for the cameras and been every bit in keeping with the substance of his announcement.

He certainly couldn't have been more disrespectful or abused them - and us - in any greater way.

-srbp-

New headquarters and military info system for CF by 2014

The Canadian Forces will have a new operational headquarters complete with an integrated information management system by 2014, according to a story by David Pugliese in the Monday Ottawa Citizen.

The computer network to be acquired will "fuse" intelligence data and information into a package easily accessible by commanders in Ottawa, across the country and overseas.

That project, known as the joint information and intelligence fusion capability, will merge large amounts of information, including video, photographs, map displays and other data as it is transmitted from various sources.

In some cases, officers would be able to watch live imagery from robot aerial drones flying on missions in Afghanistan.

Estimated combined cost of the projects are upwards of $150 million.

-srbp-

Fail to plan...

Plan to fail.

It's an old military axiom.

That's why it was surprising when CanWest called last week to discuss a story they were working on in which the Department of National Defence said he didn't have any casualty estimates or projections for the mission in Afghanistan.

Runs contrary to everything your humble e-scribbler knows about armies anywhere, let alone the Canadian version of the beast. Even on a road trip to training ranges at Mackinsons, there'd be provisions for a road accident or for a cut or scrape. There'd be a casualty estimate - even if it was zero - and there'd be contingency plans to deal with what would occur if something went off the rails.

But no cas estimates at all?

Sheeet, in the work up for a possible deployment to the Persian Gulf in 1990, the Canadian army included a casualty estimate in Contingency Operations Plan Broadsword.

In a 1995 international exercise, casualty estimates were prepared as part of the normal planning routine. That situation was a bit special since the public affairs officers on the exercise - role-playing media - used their knowledge of the military world to ask questions most journalists would miss.

The media briefer - somewhat inexperienced with reporters - talked frankly about the whole thing, referring to a certain number of casualties as light. In his world, they were light. To the rest of us out here in the world, the numbers he used would be considered appalling. They actually weren't appalling, but civilian sensibilities have changed with 60-odd years of peace.

Anyway, said senior officer learned the value of picking words carefully and understanding how his audiences out beyond the tent flaps might respond.

But he had casualty estimates.

His successor apparently goes to morning prayers with his boss and smiles like Dr. Flox, er, an idiot: "No sir, no casualties. None. Nada. And we know because we didn't prepare a casualty estimate."

Sounds like every anal ops officer or J7 plans guy you'd ever meet.

CF in Afghanistan to get new mine protected vehicles

The Canadian Forces will be taking delivery of 10 Buffalo and Coyote mine protected vehicles.

The Buffalo is an engineering vehicle equipped with a remotely controlled arm for inspecting and detonating improvised explosives of the type that killed eight Canadian soldiers in separate incidents over the past two months.

Soldiering on

An unidentified soldier salutes the remains of two comrades as they are loaded on Canadian Forces aircraft bringing them back to Canada.

The soldier is from an unspecified community in Conception Bay, Newfoundland.

Names of latest fatalities released

The Canadian Forces has released the names of two Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan:

OTTAWA – The names of the two Canadian soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on April 11, 2007 are as follows:

Master Corporal Allan Stewart, The Royal Canadian Dragoons, based in Petawawa, Ont.; and,

Trooper Patrick James Pentland, The Royal Canadian Dragoons, based in Petawawa, Ont.

These two soldiers were killed and two others were injured, one seriously, when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle earlier today. The incident occurred shortly before 8 p.m. Kandahar time, approximately 38 km west of Kandahar City. The soldiers had been assisting another vehicle that had been struck by a roadside bomb earlier in the day, one soldier suffered only minor injuries in this earlier attack.

This brings to eight the number of soldiers killed in the past four days by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). According to some news reports, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of IEDs.

"Starting about a week ago we have been finding IEDs on all the roads around here pretty much every single day," said Maj. Steve Graham of the Royal Canadian Dragoons.

"The fact there has been a spike of IEDs tells me that the places we are going and things we have been doing are starting to hit closer to the areas the Taliban have been working in."

Roadside bombs, random rocket attacks and suicide bombers are the main dangers Canadian troops face so far this year in their efforts to bring security to Kandahar province.

The job of finding and disposing of IEDs is dangerous as this story from the Globe attests.

-30-

Note to Stephane: Let's find Denis a new job

Denis Coderre needs a new job.

Creating a ghetto for aboriginal soldiers, sailors and airmen/women is not a good idea no matter how Denis tries to doll it up.

Aside from revealing a general ignorance of the Canadian Forces and how it operates, Coderre's suggest demonstrates an appalling ignorance of the diversity of Canada's First Nations people.

Two major gaffes since January suggest that Coderre is as gainfully employed as the guy whose ministry he is shadowing.

-30-

Mid-week round-up

1. Even the nationalists are moving from Newfoundland and Labrador. Greg will be missed by many of us.

2. This piece on Scottish separatism has been getting plenty of hits over at Offal News.

3. Then there's this Offal News devastating critique of Danny Williams' comments on Tuesday about the offshore oil industry.

4. It only took a decade, but the federal government is finally building new offices and training facilities for the Canadian Forces at St. John's. The new facility will house CFS St. John's, as well as army, air force and communications reserve units and cadet units.

It's a$101 million capital project.

New Leo 2s for Canadian Army in Afghanistan

Canadian Forces will be leasing 20 Leopard 2A6Ms for service in Afghanistan.

The new tanks will replace a squadron of 30 year old Leopard 1 tanks currently deployed.