New Captain on Deck

OWN YOUR OWN HOME Volume 54 Number 9 | March 2, 2009 DEBT CONSOLIDATE Anne Flynn Don Barr Mortgage Consultant Mortgage Consultant 250-516-5262 250-744-6984 Best Rates. Best Service. ACCESS EQUITY Quick Results. MARPAC NEWS CFB Esquimalt, Victoria, B.C. Serving the Defence Team of Greater Victoria | www.lookoutnewspaper.com RENEW YOUR MORTGAGE NEWS 2 Deployment to Sudan an eye-opening experience NNewew CCaptainaptain oonn ddeckeck COMMUNITY 3 Military diaramas decorate D100 FEATURE 10-11 Raising rabbits a hopping hobby Cpl Drew Deics, Esquimalt Imaging Services Steven Point, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, is all smiles as he greets Rear Admiral Tyrone Pile, Commander Maritime Forces Pacific/Joint Task Force Pacific, at the Admiral’s residence on Feb. 24. RAdm Pile presented the Lieutenant Governor with the rank of Honorary (Navy) Captain. In addition to receiving a naval uniform with his rank, LGov Point received a commission- Editorial & Opinion .........4 ing scroll. HCapt(N) Point became the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia on Oct. 1, 2007. See the full story on page 9. Brain Ticklers ...................5 In Brief ...........................14 Want to know... Where in the world is HMCS Winnipeg? Classifieds .................18-19 Visit www.navy.dnd.ca/winnipeg/ PPostedosted ttoo GGagetown?agetown? 27 Years of the Valerie Forward has the Finest Real Estate KNOWLEDGE and EXPERIENCE Service to help you ﬁ nd your perfect home. Are you being Posted? Call Toll Free: (800) 386-1344 Ask about Cash Back incentive S Cell: (506) 447-1741 o u t e n o Email: [email protected] n s s p o o Nevenka Kardum r T Web: www.valerie.nb.ca r u O rt n po o p s 250-532-3321 u t r Group Four Realty Ltd. Realtor S o u p e Independently owned and operated www.nevenkakardum.com WESTCAN REALTY s 2 • LOOKOUT March 2, 2009 SSLOWLOW BBUTUT RREWARDINGEWARDING mmakingaking pprogressrogress iinn SSouthernouthern SSudanudan Mary Ellen Green to see different approaches to Staff writer To work alongside the same problem, so I thought I was aware of what was to be When Canadian Air Force people with very expected,” he said. “To work Capt Robert Millen was on different values, alongside people with very dif- patrol in the searing heat of ferent values, training or ideas Southern Sudan last year, he training or ideas was completely eye-opening saw what seemed to be a little and was one of the best privi- piece of home. was completely leges of the experience for me, Within a group of young men eye-opening. as frustrating as it could be gathered around him and other sometimes.” -Capt Robert Millen UN observers was a man wear- The 24 Observers stationed in United Nations Observer ing a well-worn 1980s black Bor were responsible for patrol- Vancouver Canucks jersey. ling by road or by air to villages The vintage jersey caught the is predominately Muslim. The and towns in the area to gather Captain’s eye, and he sought South is home to Christian information about security and out the man for a photo. beliefs, poverty and a resilient disarmament. “rebel movement. “That’s a big part of the equa- “I couldn’t believe the coinci- dence of this man wearing my In June 2008, Capt Millen, 27, tion if you want to maintain home town team. I couldn’t deployed to Southern Sudan in peace,” he said. “But we also believe my eyes,” he said. “This support of Operation Safari, investigated other things that had been his only shirt for much Canada’s military component in threatened to unhinge the com- of his life.” the whole-of-government com- prehensive peace agreement, The jersey had been donated mitment to the United Nations like tribal violence, child abduc- by an aid agency many years Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). tion and cattle theft.” ago. The UN’s mandate is to sup- Normally each team site has The UN Observers were in port the realization of the peace two officers from each UN the area to investigate alleged agreement, aid humanitarian nation represented; howev- contraventions of the 2005 assistance, and protection and er, Capt Millen was the lone peace agreement signed by both promotion of human rights. Canadian after his teammate the Government of Sudan, rep- Stationed at a small team site got re-deployed to another site. resenting the North, and Sudan in the village of Bor in Jonglei “I really enjoyed being the People’s Liberation Movement/ State, Capt Millen was the lone only Canadian,” he said. “On Army (SPLA). Canadian in what he called a my way into camp for the first Photos courtesy of Capt Robert Millen Sudan, Africa’s largest coun- “microcosm of the world” host- time, a very wise Major told Capt Robert Millen came across a young man wearing a vin- try, has been viewed as a nation ing dozens of military members me ‘Two years from now they tage Vancouver Canucks jersey. It was the man’s only shirt for divided between north and from different countries. won’t remember the name Rob many years. south. The North is more devel- “I had taken courses with Millen, but they will remember oped and more prosperous, and other officers, courses designed Canada based on how you con- were frequently impassable. you’re living among the most duct yourself,’ and I thought Another concern was the land upsetting conditions and pov- that was a pretty powerful les- mine threat and banditry along erty and human suffering that I son for what I was about to do. the main surface routes,” he could possibly imagine, and not That stuck with me through the said. “Not to mention that you being able to immediately help whole deployment.” might get stuck in the mud.” was a challenge.” He soon found out it was But the biggest problem the Capt Millen returned to CFB true. road conditions caused was Esquimalt just before Christmas. “When we stopped at the vil- asymmetric disarmament. But he’s still working, in a slow lages, I would hand out Canadian “We were in charge of collect- and steady way, to make prog- flags to the children and we ing information about disarma- ress in Southern Sudan. would laugh together and give ment. If the roads were better to “I got an email from a very each other high-fives. The next one village than the other, then close friend who is still there. time I saw them, they would there was one with guns and the They’re going to remove a land- laugh and wave at me and say other without. When there’s a mine that was a thorn in our Canada. That was one of the shortage of cattle it’s not hard to side for the whole deployment. greatest parts, even if I was hav- figure out what’s going to hap- It was an anti-tank mine that ing a challenging day that would pen,” he said. had been there for 20 years, so always make things better.” When the roads were really long a tree had grown on top of Capt Millen was the bad, the observers would have it. We couldn’t dig it up because Operations Officer of his team to turn around and go back to we didn’t have the training, and site, so he was in charge of coor- the team site empty handed. we couldn’t get it out of there dinating patrols, when and who Capt Millen said it was frustrat- because we couldn’t fly explo- Photos courtesy of Capt Robert Millen would go and how they would Young children often gathered around Capt Millen and other ing to not always feel pride in a sives on the aircraft. It became travel. job well done. a logistical nightmare to have United Nations Observers who came to their village to inves- “Rainy season started in May, “It put my mind at ease when qualified experts remove that tigate alleged contraventions of the peace agreement. Capt so for the first part of my tour I realized that I’m a small cog mine. Anyway, she told me a Millen said interacting with the children and teaching them we used mostly helicopters for in a big wheel. It was hard to couple of days ago that they are about Canada was one of the most rewarding experiences of transport. Twice, the Nile River get used to because there’s no pulling it out. So that was really his deployment. flooded the town and roads immediate sense of progress and rewarding to hear.” Posted to Halifax/Dartmouth? Your Western Communities Custom Milling Sandy has extensive knowledge of IRP program. & Sooke Taxi Company Check out www.sandyhines.com for detailed 24 HR. SERVICE &Lumber Sales 10% Descriptions and Photos of almost 100 (250) 474-4747 (250) 642-7900 Cedar & Fir Subdivisions in Halifax, Dartmouth, Sackville, MILITARY • Appearance grade timbers • Custom Proﬁ les Eastern Passage, Timberlea, Bedford and Fall River/ DISCOUNT • Finished lumber products • Commercial & • Decking & Siding Residential Waverley. 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