March 2012 Esprit De Corps 1 OSHKOSH
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March 2012 Issue $3.95 Cdn / $4.50 US Display until April 4, 2012 Publications Mail # 40069149 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Dept. 204-1066 Somerset St. W. Ottawa ON K1Y 4T3 march 2012 esprit de corps 1 OSHKOSH NEW AD 2 volume 19 issue 2 e ON TARGET? Volume 19 Issue 2 Defence Minister Peter MacKay Publisher Manager continues to whistle past the Scott Taylor Julie Simoneau Scott Taylor publisher graveyard of the Afghan mission Assoc. Publisher Circulation Avi Gavai Natasha Overduin Columnist Atlantic Rep On the eve of a major NATO summit who even suggested a possible negotiated Michael Nickerson Gord Crowe meeting in Brussels last February, a rather settlement with the Taliban was derided by Contributing Editors bleak report was leaked regarding the future the pro-war lobby as a weak-kneed traitor. Les Peate, Norman Shannon fate of Afghanistan. Now, after a decade of bloody fighting, Reporters Jessica Campbell, Marlee Wasser OAfter conducting extensive interviews there is not a single voice denying the Special Events with over 4,000 Taliban prisoners, the Taliban should have some sort of presence Thérèse Darêche, Lale Eskicioglu survey concluded that the morale of the at the peace table. Michèle Simoneau insurgents remains high and that these While it has long been known by those Contributors in this issue religious fighters remain convinced that, engaged in the Afghan mentoring opera- Vince Courtenay, Col. Michel W. Drapeau, once NATO withdraws its combat forces tions, this latest NATO report confirms the Joshua M. Juneau, Eric Leclerc, David Pugliese, Hon. Peter Stoffer, George Sweanor from Afghanistan in 2014, the Taliban will fact that there is widespread collusion reclaim the country. between the Afghan security forces and the Regular Contributors Paul Culliton, Vincent J. Curtis, Col. Michel Drapeau, After conducting absolutely no indepen- insurgents. This support for the Taliban Newell Durnbrooke, Eric Leclerc, Michael Hurley, dent research of his own, and without even ranges from the provision of weapons, John P. Maclean, David Pugliese, Steven Staples reading the entire NATO report, Canadian ammunition and intelligence right up to the Esprit de Corps #204-1066 Somerset St. W., Defence Minister Peter MacKay was quick recent instances of Trojan-horse attacks by Ottawa, ON K1Y 4T3 to dismiss the findings: “It’s a compila- Afghan army recruits against their NATO Tel: 613-725-5060 • Fax: 613-725-1019 tion, essentially, of opinions of captured instructors. www.espritdecorps.ca Taliban prisoners, so naturally it’s going This, of course, is not news to anyone Toll-free: 1-800-361-2791 to reflect, in my view, an overly optimistic within the Canadian Forces’ chain of view of what’s happening on the ground command — and presumably Minister E-mail: [email protected] in Afghanistan.” MacKay. Officers tasked with mentoring Subscriptions One could easily argue that it is Afghan army units invariably reported on $34.95 for 12 issues • $95.95 for 36 issues Mr. MacKay who has held and continues the poor morale, lack of discipline and, Esprit de Corps (ISSN 1194-2266) is published twelve times a year (HST (no. 135453157) included). to maintain an overly optimistic view of most alarming, the sale of NATO-provided Please send cheque, money order, Visa or MasterCard what is actually happening on the ground ammunition to the Taliban. information with your subscription request. If you are moving or need to correct your mailing address, call in Afghanistan. In fact, when Canadians provided brand us toll-free from anywhere in Canada. All physical evidence points to the fact new C7 assault rifles to outfit a number of that the Taliban movement has never Afghan army kandaks (battalions) in the A candidate of the been stronger since the U.S. first invaded Kandahar region, the new weaponry was a Patrol Pathfinder Afghanistan in 2001. Not only are the num- source of immediate resentment. Instead of Course relaxes after the instructors ber of violent Taliban attacks on NATO being delighted with the new C7 rifles to call “end exercise” targets increasing in both intensity and replace their old, worn-out Kalashnikovs, during a field frequency, but the once all-but-eliminated the Afghans quickly realized that these training exercise political movement has also re-emerged as Canadian rifles use a different calibre of in the training area of CFB Borden a prominent player on the Afghan stage. ammunition. Not being able to sell the new in Ontario on 28 In the early, heady days of NATO’s July 2011. (CPL KATIE HODGES, DND) counterinsurgency operations, anyone PUBLISHER ... CONTINUED ON P. 46 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069149 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: #204-1066 Somerset St. W., Ottawa, ON K1Y 4T3 www.espritdecorps.ca Tel: (613) 725-5060 march 2012 esprit de corps 3 V O L U M E 1 9 I S S U E 2 F E A T U R E S LT.-GEN. PETER DEVLIN A one-on-one interview with the Canadian Forces’ Commander of the Army 8 16 24 LAND WARFARE FORT ROUILLÉ The Canadian Army bulks up Toronto’s first defence was a with added armour while small fort built by the governor revitalizing its equipment fleets of New France in 1750 — by David Pugliese — — by Eric Leclerc — D E P A R T M E N T S 6 Posted In: Letters to the editor 14 Commentary: “Privacy scandals at Veterans Affairs” by Peter Stoffer; “Beware the Bogeyman,” by Michael Nickerson 20 Law & Order: “Achieving fairness, justice and ethics in Career Administrative Review,” by Michel W. Drapeau and Joshua M. Juneau 23 Incoming: Hits & Misses: News from the front lines and the backrooms 28 Profiles: “Yoga Warriors”: Uniting the mind and body to overcome operational stress – an American program now serving Canadian soldiers and first responders, by Marlee Wasser 31 At Ease: Test your military knowledge against quizmaster Les Peate 32 Second World War: “March 24, 1944 — The Great Escape: Fact vs. Fiction”: Comparing what really happened during the Allied prisoners’ escape from Stalag Luft III to the fictionalized account in the film, by participant and survivor George Sweanor 36 The Old Guard: News and information for serving members and veterans, by Les Peate 40 In Memoriam: Paying tribute to veterans advocate Ed Hanson, by Vince Courtenay 4 volume 19 issue 2 4 esprit de corps march 2012 NAMMO NEW AD COMING march 2012 esprit de corps 5 e I argue that the “best of the rest’” aircraft WHY NOT GO WITH GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN available to Canada is the British Eurofighter My name is Al Gaudet, and I’m a former THE “BEST OF THE REST”? Typhoon, then the French Dassault Rafale. trooper of the 1st Airborne Commando Group Both use only 10-year-old aircraft systems, Recce of Canada. I am writing to you all from much newer then our CF-18s and the Super Gascony, the ancestral home of the Muske- Hornet. Another good compromise would be teers and the French foreign Legion. the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. This aircraft would In 1998 I found the resting place of one still meet and/or exceed any requirements for of our missing in action, Pilot Officer Leslie Canada’s role in the world and with a much Arthur Peers, up the Pic du Douly. (On the newer system then our CF-18. night of July 13/14, 1944, a four-engine RAF The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is billed as a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine The bottom line for me as a concerned Halifax crashed on the Pic du Douly at 1,400 stealth multirole fighter, that can perform close taxpayer is that the F-35 JSF is too expen- meters altitude in the Haut Nistos in the Com- air support, tactical bombing, and air defense sive, with too few aircraft, and absolutely not mune of Sacoué. The plane, which had left missions. Although Prime Minister Harper remains stalwart in his government’s decision, needed for Canada. Also, if we are going to from Blida, Algeria, was crewed by six British the minister in charge of defence procurement buy new planes then let’s buy a truly new and one Canadian servicemen, all of whom is perhaps less so (see page 23 for more aircraft system, not the Super Hornet quick fix. perished in the crash. The plane’s mission information on the F-35). (PHOTO LOCKHEED MARTIN) That leaves the Typhoon, Rafale and Gripen was to parachute weapons, munitions and es, I want the very best for our Canadian as three aircraft systems Canada should be equipment to the Maquis of Nistos–Esparros. Yforces, within reason. looking at. We could afford more of them, The crew took enormous risks to execute its The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is not the and still save billions overall when compared night mission in the Piedmont of the Pyrenees answer. I’ve yet to see anything positive about to the F-35. occupied by the Germans.) this aircraft, other then the price positively go- Ronald McIsaac I immediately contacted Joe Drouin in ing up. Does Canada really need the top of the New Brunswick Ottawa, who then referred me to Major- line, most expensive aircraft in history (next General Lewis MacKenzie (whom I proudly to the F-22 Raptor)? I don’t think so. If money VETS DON’T HAVE THE VOTES now salute). He moved heaven and earth to were no object then I’d talk the Americans into You may not be aware that the Office of the get things rolling and gave the ball to General selling us the “real” stealth aircraft, the F-22.