VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1 SPRING 2011 T H E C O M O X VALLEY AIR F O R C E M U S E U M ON PROUD WINGS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER David Stinson INSIDE THIS ISSUE: STINSON VIGNETTE 1 & 3 “From Armour HEIGHts to tHE GolAn HEIGHts AnD SNOWBIRDS VISIT 2 BACk, AnD AGAIn..” loGIstICs PRESIDENT’S 4 MANAGER’S 4 As David and Mary Sue move on to Sidney the gap left after David’s volunteering in the mu- COMING EVENTS 4 seum will be very tough to fill. His work as CVAFMA Secretary/administrator, Collections Management Committee & Library Committee Chair and secretary, and more to boot, have MEMBERSHIP 5 been a major asset to the Museum, and his recent award of CVAFMA life membership is but a token of the gratitude felt by all his colleagues. So, you may BOARD EXTRACTS 6 ask, what led this man here in the first place? From a family involved directly in both world wars, David A B O U T U S 7 was provided some formidable military tracks to follow. The only one of five siblings to pursue a military career, David WW2 EVACUATION 8 ended his high school days strongly disaffected by the aca- MIG 21 FAREWELL 9 demic system. It didn’t fit his view of the world; although, his time spent in army cadets did, so he signed up as an officer F U N F A R E 10 cadet-in-training in Toronto, went to Borden, then to the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps School at Longue Point, Montreal, DISPLAYS UPDATE 11 followed by a tactics course in Kingston, got his commission COLLECTIONS 12 and went off to Petawawa as a supply officer in the Canadian Army. From our discussions of his time with the Canadian Armed Forces, I have collected enough WCO’S 12 COMMENDATIONS information with which to write a short book! The highlights of David’s career are: RECENT EVENTS 13 ART AUCTION 14 ROSELAND (Y2K) 15 UPDATE ADVERTISEMENTS 16 SPECIAL POINTS Goodbye David Hello Snowbirds An historical war evacuation The Mig’s gone Quiz & humour New displays and the future Commendations What were the most interesting aspects of your postings to the Golan? from 19 Wing “The mobilisation process for my second Golan posting was interesting. I was a senior mem- ber of the staff at Canadian Forces College, Armour Heights, Toronto. Late in April 2003, I Museum recent agreed to a short notice deployment to the UN Disengagement and Observer Force in the Golan a c t i v i t i e s Heights to be the Chief Logistics Officer in UNDOF HQ, a job I was familiar with from my first Spitfire latest (Continued on page 3) Page 2 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1 ONON PROUD PROUD WINGS WINGS SPRING 2011 BACK AT COMOX, WITH MANY FRIENDS - ‘spring has sprung the grass has riz; it’s time for all the Snowbirds biz’ Ken Lin Ken Lin CVAFMA 2nd Snowbirds Photo Contest: 1 2 3 Bryan Walwork Kirk Friedrich Gloria Folk A good number of diverse entries were received, and judges had some trouble picking a clear winner. 1st place was won by Bryan Walwork of Comox for a picture he calls "Storm Clouds". Second place went to Gloria Folk, Courtenay, 3rd place went to Kirk Friederich and an honourable mention to Cathy Coates. Thanks to the sponsors, London Drugs, Labusch Skywear, O K Tire and the Comox Valley Record Page 3 ONON PROUD PROUD WINGS WINGS VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1 SPRING 2011 David Stinson... (Continued from page 1) is patrolled by Austrian ski troops. One of their hobbies is making crosses from the posting there in 1993/94. I was to be on the ground by 1st July, shards of shrapnel which litter the mountain but could not leave the College job until late June! Clearanc- – the cross in the UNDOF display in the es, medicals, PT tests, kit issue, first-aid training, etc, hap- Museum was a gift from my Austrian col- pened in somewhat chaotic bits and pieces and completely leagues at the end of my tour in 2004.” from scratch as I was on extension of service at the time. It Did your Administration and Cana- was a bit rushed, but I arrived at UNDOF in good order. Most dian studies do a lot to drive your in- interesting characteristics of the posting were: terests? 1) The multinational and multicultural nature of military “Not so much – the studies at CMR in teams deployed to our camps, which led to challenges in the 77-78, except for my courses in French-Canadian literature, communication of often opposite ideas and priorities in the job were really an extension of what I had been doing in the mili- we were all doing. Polish, Canadian and Japanese troops were tary, particularly in my procurement work at NDHQ, and of mainly quartered in Camp Ziouani on the Israeli side of the my particular interest in Canadian government and history. Area of Separation (AOS) while the second camp, at Faouar All of it, plus my Staff College education, fitted together.” on the Syrian side of the AOS, was home to Austrians, Slo- Back to an earlier event, please tell me about your vakians, a Japanese detachment and the UNDOF HQ. Military United States Meritorious Service Medal award. staff were drawn from all of the mission countries as well as “This is an award, authorized by the President, which may UN civilian staff from many countries and a sizable number of be made to members of the U.S. armed forces and to Syrian civilians. Civilians lived in Damascus, 60 km east of foreign forces personel to recognize a particular Camp Faouar, and commuted daily. The significant differ- achievement not connected with combat as such or ences in communication skills, work habits and cultures did to recognize valuable service to the U.S. make for some “moments”! I was seconded to HQ, US Army Europe, at Hei- 2) The Golan Heights are highly strategic for Israel. Many delberg, Germany, as the Canada/US Integrated Line of the Golan hills on of Communication (ILOC) officer. The US had agreed the Israeli side, in- to assist Canada with supporting its forces deployed in Germa- cluding the one on ny, a vital need to us as Canada could not then support its de- the left directly op- ployed forces in combat overseas. Canada assigned several posite our Camp officers and NCOs, most from the Logistics Branch with a few Ziouani gate, are from the Medical Branch, to be integrated into appropriate US crowned with masses of highly sensitive electronic, infra-red headquarters in Europe and in the US as expert Canadian mili- and optical sensors. Virtually everything in the open in a 50 tary points of contact for ILOC Agreement implementation. mile radius circle from that hill is under active observation, With most “bugs” worked out of the ILOC procedures by pre- sunbathers included! The infra-red detection capability is so decessors, I was able to spend much time working, literally, as good that the Israelis on that hill reported a fire in the Polish a US Army staff officer, a job that I loved. After a few months camp before the camp fire alarms went off! Another observa- as the only non-US officer in that HQ, the Americans trusted tion point, on Mt Hermon, can allegedly detect anything hot or me to get on with all kinds of logistics support arrangements anything flying, for 100 kilometres into Syria well to the east, on their behalf with the Belgians, the Dutch, the Luxembourg- past Damascus. ers and the British. It was a terrific education in international 3) Israel and Syria are both fascinating countries. Ironical- cooperation which served me well later as a student at Staff ly, given the years of conflict, both have much to offer each College, in my UN tours and as a senior staff member at Staff other. I wonder if they will ever have the chance to do so in College. peace.” At the end of the four year tour, my US superiors very gra- UNDOF, set up after the Oct 1973 Arab/Israeli conflict ciously nominated me for their Meritorious Service Medal. through Henry Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy”, patrols a Go- Although there was then a general resistance in the govern- lan Heights separation zone, the western boundary of which is ment against approving US decorations for Canadians, that very similar to the ceasefire line established after the 1967 resistance vanished with the Gulf War in 1990-91 and my conflict. The line is considerably to the east of the 1949 armi- award was approved. I received the medal, with much pride, stice line “border” of Israel, subject of recent discussions be- in 1993.” tween President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Cana- Last Word: da had a sizeable contingent in UNDOF from 1974 until 2006 when it was replaced by India. “The first question was – how did I land at CAFM? By How strategic was Mount Hermon and its water to late 2005, the move finished, the books read, etc., I was look- this conflict? ing for something to do in retirement. After 40 years in the “Mount Hermon (Jabal el-Shaykh), an extinct volcano Regular Force, 18 of which were in air force uniform, with a which consists of much porous rock, gets snowfall like Mt strong interest in Canadian military history and wanting to stay Washington. It is a great sponge, discharging mostly into the connected with military folks, the Museum looked like a good headwaters of the Jordan River.