June 2012 Esprit De Corps 1 OSHKOSH
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June 2012 Issue $3.95 Cdn / $4.50 US Display until July 2, 2012 Publications Mail # 40069149 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Dept. 204-1066 Somerset St. W. Ottawa ON K1Y 4T3 june 2012 esprit de corps 1 OSHKOSH NEW AD COMING 2 volume 19 issue 5 e ON TARGET? Counting the actual costs of Volume 19 Issue 5 Canada’s mission in Libya proves Publisher Manager problematic for Peter MacKay Scott Taylor Julie Simoneau Scott Taylor publisher Sales Director Circulation Blake Hurdis Natasha Overduin Columnist Atlantic Rep For the past few months the Harper govern- defence handy for any future Revenue Michael Nickerson Gord Crowe ment has been taking it on the chin for Canada audit. But I digress.) Contributing Editors allegedly low-balling the acquisition costs of To be fair to MacKay and his senior Les Peate, Norman Shannon the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. bureaucrats, it would be a very difficult Business Development Avinash (Avi) Gavai FThroughout the 2011 election cam- task to attempt to predict a finite cost of Journalist paign, the Conservatives insisted repeatedly purchasing and operating a new generation Marlee Wasser that no matter what transpired among the fighter aircraft for the next 20 to 30 years. Special Events 10 partner nations, and regardless of This is especially true given that the F-35 Thérèse Darêche, Lale Eskicioglu reported delays and cost overruns in the is still in the development phase, and no Michèle Simoneau project, Canada would spend $15 billion unit price per plane has been established. Contributors in this issue Alex Davis, Michel Drapeau, Bob Gordon, to acquire and operate 65 fighter jets for a As for future maintenance expenses, only a Thom Gordon, Michael Hurley, Joshua Juneau, 20-year lifespan. crystal ball could determine the magnitude Paul Keery, Eric Leclerc, John McKay, Mark M. Miller, Bruce Poulin, David Pugliese, Michael Wyatt, To further alleviate any voter concerns, of these potential costs. Mark Zuehlke Defence Minister Peter MacKay person- That being said, let’s take a look at how Regular Contributors ally flew down to Fort Worth, Texas, to accurate MacKay and company have been at Paul Culliton, Vincent J. Curtis, Col. Michel Drapeau, tour Lockheed Martin’s F-35 production predicting and calculating far more tangible Eric Leclerc, Michael Hurley, John P. Maclean, Mark Miller, David Pugliese, Steven Staples facilities. After a brief inspection, MacKay present-day operational costs. Esprit de Corps told any reporter who would listen that Last June, at the height of the conflict #204-1066 Somerset St. W., the whole program looked cool to him. in Libya, when Parliament was debating Ottawa, ON K1Y 4T3 He promised the acquisition would come whether or not to extend Canada’s con- Tel: 613-725-5060 • Fax: 613-725-1019 in on time — and on budget. tribution to the mission by another three www.espritdecorps.ca However, subsequent reports by both months, MacKay was asked to calculate the Toll-free: 1-800-361-2791 the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the monetary cost. His estimate at the time was E-mail: [email protected] Auditor General have cast some serious roughly $60 million for a full six-month Subscriptions doubts on MacKay’s prediction. operation. That same month, the Rideau $34.95 for 12 issues • $95.95 for 36 issues After crunching the numbers, the Institute, an independent Ottawa-based Esprit de Corps (ISSN 1194-2266) is published Auditor General concluded that the F-35 think-tank, released its own estimate of $85 twelve times a year (HST (no. 135453157) included). purchase will set taxpayers back at least $25 million for the same six-month mission. Please send cheque, money order, Visa or MasterCard information with your subscription request. If you are billion — a whopping $10 billion more When asked to comment on the pro- moving or need to correct your mailing address, call than the Conservatives have admitted to jected difference, MacKay smugly retorted, us toll-free from anywhere in Canada. the Canadian public. “The Rideau Institute, as so often is the In February 2011, Cpl Unrepentant DND and government case, is wrong.” Alexandre Thibault of the st e officials are attempting to shrug off this On October 28, eight days after the 1 Battalion, Royal 22 Régiment Battle Group, massive discrepancy as nothing more than death of Moammar Gadhafi and three days pauses during clearance a simple difference in accounting principles, before Canada officially ended its mission, patrols in the Nakhonay rather than a deliberate attempt to mislead MacKay gleefully told the CBC that Region of Afghanistan citizens. during Operation HAMAGHE SHAY. (MCPL (Fellow taxpayers should keep this F-35 PUBLISHER ... CONTINUED ON P. 78 ANGELA ABBEY, DND) 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 june 2012 esprit de corps 3 V O L U M E 1 9 I S S U E 5 F E A T U R E S A BRIEF HISTORY OF TERRORISM The roots of modern terrorism date back to ancient times — by Eric Leclerc — 8 30 40 NEW MODEL BATTLE OF ARMY STONEY CREEK Industry on parade Confusion and disorder reigned in Ottawa at CANSEC 2012 supreme in a rare night battle — by David Pugliese — — by Michael Hurley — D E P A R T M E N T S 6 Posted In: Letters to the editor 14 Commentary: “The fog of war has no place in procurement,” by John McKay; “Nostalgia for war,” by Michael Nickerson; “Dereliction of duty on the F-35,” by Mark M. Miller 18 Eye on Industry: VBCI; AMAP technology; ATX8; Integrated deployable workspaces 33 Law & Order: “The Military Families Fund: Myth vs. Reality,” by M. Drapeau & J. Juneau 36 Incoming: Hits & Misses: News from the front lines and the backrooms 46 Perspectives: “A tragedy that has not healed,” by Bruce Poulin 48 Second World War: “Assault on Juno: Canadians storm ashore,” by Mark Zuehlke 50 Second World War: “Les Buissons to Buron: 3 kms, 30 days, 1,000 casualties”: Canadian soldiers face stiff resistance from the fanatical Hitlerjugend, by Bob Gordon 56 Second World War: “Murder in Normandy,” by Thom Gordon 59 Second World War: “Canada at War: A Graphic History of WWII,” by P. Keery & M. Wyatt 63 At Ease: Test your military knowledge against quizmaster Les Peate 64 The Old Guard: News and information for serving members and veterans, by Les Peate 67 On Review: Military Justice in Action; Redcoated Ploughboys; NORAD & the Soviet Nuclear Threat 4 volume 19 issue 5 4 esprit de corps june 2012 SAAB NEW AD COMING june 2012 esprit de corps 5 e the modus operandi supported by patrolling. CANADA’S AFGHANISTAN LEGACY What a waste; patrolling only guarantees casualties with no tactical or strategic ad- vantage. Remember Korea (1952-1953)? Over 150 Canadian soldiers were killed in action while patrolling. Withdrawing to defensive FOB deployment in 2010-2011 resulted in fewer casualties, but the job was not done when Canada withdrew from a combat mission. Now Canada has joined the “Caveat Contingents,” acting in a training role only. Creating “Potemkin Villages” in the Panjwaii district may have been good public relations but is not combat. Canada did not In May 2010, soldiers from 1 Royal Canadian Regiment’s Bravo Company conducted a presence patrol go to Afghanistan to win but only not to lose! of Haji Baba and the surrounding area. As part of Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg), the Canadian Look for a return to emphasis on peace- Forces contributed to the international effort in Afghanistan. Its operations focus was on working with Afghan authorities to improve security, governance and economic development in Afghanistan. keeping or, in the more extreme, peace- Many foot patrols were conducted during the Canadian Forces’ “combat” mission. Some have making, but not to combat. “No boots on argued that patrolling only guarantees casualties with no tactical or strategic advantage. Of the 158 the ground,” please, we’re peacekeepers Canadian soldiers who lost their lives or were seriously wounded in Afghanistan, many occurred while conducting foot patrols. (SGT DAREN KRAUS, JTF-AFGHANISTAN, ROTO 9, COMBAT CAMERA) — although bombing from 20,000 feet as in Libya or Serbia seems acceptable to Can- he Canadian contingent to Kandahar Basically, the army’s problem has been adians, collateral damage notwithstanding. It T has returned to Canada having given that the officer corps does not view the appears Canada will participate under RPT up “combat.” Thanks to aggressive offensive battalion group as a fighting unit, but rather [Responsibility to Protect initiatives] as long operations by the Americans, Kandahar is as a number of sub-units to be tasked and as casualties are few. now basically clear of Taliban. The American deployed separately. Too much peace- How tiresome it is to listen to the self-con- mission is to defeat the Taliban; the Can- keeping residual influence remains rather gratulatory murmurings regarding Canada’s adian mission was, unfortunately, scrambled than a mastering of sub-unit deployment performance in “combat” in Afghanistan. into a combination of reconstruction, good in a mutually supporting role capable of “Best little army in the world,” “punching governance promotion and local security concentrating force in space and time. The above our weight,” etc. If Britain can deploy with a view to winning hearts and minds. old maxim of infantry’s role being to close 10,000 to Afghanistan and are still in theatre Real COIN (population-centric counter- with and destroy the enemy seems to have in the fight, why did Canada skulk away insurgency) calls for the separation of the been forgotten in favour of being satisfied leaving its allies to continue combat? How populace from the insurgents accompanied to “shoo” the enemy with fire supremacy, telling it is to look at casualty figures for by aggressive offensive operations until the which only results in fighting him again and 2010-2011, compared to 2006-2009 when insurgents are destroyed or sue for peace.