THE CANADIAN AIRBORNE REGIMENT

[theGHOST]

I think the government should bring back this regiment........what do ya'll think?

[Knave]

.... it'll be a lightning rod for anti-military criticism. No argument that we need a rapid-reaction force, deployable anywhere in the world.... but I'm not sure reinstating the CAR would gain support for that unit from the Canadian people, already brainwashed into thinking that the old CAR was full of "racists and white supremicists" by a sensationalist Canadian media.

[kutter]

Right now there is an effort to bring back the Airborne Regiment (mind you there always been one to bring them back) but if you check this site out:
http://www.commando.org/
and scroll down it looks like Alliance defence critic Leon Benoit is starting a campaign to bring them back. Theres also an petition you can print out:
http://www.commando.org/uploads/petition.doc
the more signatures the better! Lets just cross our fingers on this.

[Maverick77]

Im not going to get into why the unit should come back and how ****in stupid the government was for disbanding it I think we all know that.


There is no doubt the Regiment should come back.


No doubt

[RealUltimatePower]

What a moron that Chretein is. Of course we need the CAR. Buncha pot smoking liberal bastards shouldn't be allowed to mess up our country's defences like that.

[usa320]

Chretein and his gang have really, really, really hurt the Canadian armed forces.

His group of fools are probably the politicians i cant stand the most...hes up there with chiraq...

i mean this guy has his soldiers using old equipment, getting payed crud, and their whole army i recall was said to be able to "fit into madison square garden arena".

[theGHOST]

well dude, Canada's population is 30 million, the size u cant say n e thing about it. But equipment n everything YEs

[Knave]

Chretein and his gang have really, really, really hurt the Canadian armed forces.

That's just "Canadian Forces" now. Being "Armed" isn't PC, I guess. :roll:


i mean this guy has his soldiers using old equipment, getting payed crud, and their whole army i recall was said to be able to "fit into madison square garden arena".

Yeah, I recall Major-General Lewis MacKenzie stating that at a luncheon I attended in Calgary less than a month ago -- that the entire Army (or "Land Force") would be able to fit into Madison Square Garden, with 4000 seats left over.

Some of the equipment is up-to-date - our LAVIIIIs and Coyotes are amongst the best fighting vehicles in their class. You're right on with the pay being poor; the selection process also has some shortcomings because of the lack of quality recruits.

Maybe it'll change. Throwing money at the military isn't the answer - it has to be rebuilt, nearly from the ground up; for example, during the Seocnd World War, there were a million Canadians in uniform... and about 75-77 command staff; Generals, Admirals. Today's Canadian Forces has 77 command staff, with a severe reduction in manpower.

[usa320]

"That's just "Canadian Forces" now. Being "Armed" isn't PC, I guess"

I noticed that the Chreitein clan seems to be big on PC...

[Seraphim]

Chretein and his gang have really, really, really hurt the Canadian armed forces.

That's just "Canadian Forces" now. Being "Armed" isn't PC, I guess. :roll:


i mean this guy has his soldiers using old equipment, getting payed crud, and their whole army i recall was said to be able to "fit into madison square garden arena".

Yeah, I recall Major-General Lewis MacKenzie stating that at a luncheon I attended in Calgary less than a month ago -- that the entire Army (or "Land Force") would be able to fit into Madison Square Garden, with 4000 seats left over.

Some of the equipment is up-to-date - our LAVIIIIs and Coyotes are amongst the best fighting vehicles in their class. You're right on with the pay being poor; the selection process also has some shortcomings because of the lack of quality recruits.

Maybe it'll change. Throwing money at the military isn't the answer - it has to be rebuilt, nearly from the ground up; for example, during the Seocnd World War, there were a million Canadians in uniform... and about 75-77 command staff; Generals, Admirals. Today's Canadian Forces has 77 command staff, with a severe reduction in manpower.

Definitly the pay has to go up. Can you clarify for me what you mean by "the selection process also has some shortcomings because of the lack of quality recruits."

[Knave]

That's just "Canadian Forces" now. Being "Armed" isn't PC, I guess

I noticed that the Chreitein clan seems to be big on PC...

The change was rather subtle; enough that even some members can't recall when the "Armed" was dropped. I think it was early '90s, after the Liberal Party came to power. Could be wrong.

Alas, this is the same crew who wanted to change our national anthem's lyrics because "True patriot love, in all thy son's command" was discriminatory towards women. :bash:

[Knave]

Definitly the pay has to go up. Can you clarify for me what you mean by "the selection process also has some shortcomings because of the lack of quality recruits."

I didn't phrase that correctly, sorry; recruiting is facing some major shortcomings because of the lack of quality recruits being inducted or being attracted to the Forces. Going into the military seems to not be considered a worthy career choice for prospective High School graduates to consider, and the Forces are oft excluded from "career fairs" and so on, in some schools. Career councillors in some high schools also do not carry information on the Forces or military colleges.... I remember that quite clearly, and I was there not that many years ago ;)

Some buddies in the CF have said to me - so this is completely subjective - that they've noticed quite a few of the new "kids" coming through are definately "wannabes" and are ****e to overconfidence after only a small amount of training.... or, they're convinced they know it all already and don't need to pay close attention to their instructors. Of course, my friends in the CF are nearly all "old farts," so it's entirely possible that it's misperception on their part.... and their generation gap is showing :P

[Seraphim]

Hey thanks for the quick response there Knave.

When I was in high school, they had some recruiters come by with a whole setup with C7's and 1911's...I think there was about 10 or less people who signed up though. I know of 2 personally but 1 dropped out. Also they had a US Army recruiter come by, I dunno why he was there...seemed like a waste of resources to me because he was there only to recruit Canadians with US citizenship. Sends out a kind of false hope to the guys wanting to join the US Army. I talked to him at the college, seemed like he was having a blast here...he says "Oh ya I was just sitting outside "enjoying the scenery". lol, we had a good chuckle about that.

[Knave]

When I was in high school, they had some recruiters come by with a whole setup with C7's and 1911's...I think there was about 10 or less people who signed up though. I know of 2 personally but 1 dropped out. Also they had a US Army recruiter come by, I dunno why he was there...seemed like a waste of resources to me because he was there only to recruit Canadians with US citizenship. Sends out a kind of false hope to the guys wanting to join the US Army. I talked to him at the college, seemed like he was having a blast here...he says "Oh ya I was just sitting outside "enjoying the scenery". lol, we had a good chuckle about that.

*shrug* My father once told me that he had a US Army recruiter come through when he was in University - that'd be in the 60s. I think the rules for recruiting non-Americans were a little more lax then, and they could accept Canadians outright. Quite a few did serve during the Vietnam War.

And you can apply to join the US Army with lawful admission to the US for permanent residency - an I-551, or Green Card.

[Seraphim]

Is the I-551 a temporary residence visa?

[Knave]

Is the I-551 a temporary residence visa?

As I was told by a US Army recruiter, it's the document required to join the US Army as an enlisted man - you need to be a US citizen in order to train as an officer.



You must be an American citizen or lawfully admitted to the US for permanent residency. The Immigration and Naturalization Service can provide information; go to http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/index.htm. Army regulations prohibit us from assisting or sponsoring you in to the United States. Once you have an I-551 (green card) or a document reflecting "processing for an I-551", you can pursue enlistment.

[martinexsquaddie]

There was a truly Bizarre article in combat and survival a few years ago suggesting that one way you could Join the Seals if you were British.
Was apply to be an au pair and then apply to join the US Navy.

[James]

Where can I find info about why the Canadian Airborne was disbanded?

[Knave]

Where can I find info about why the Canadian Airborne was disbanded?

http://www.commando.org/

I don't think the information you're looking for is there, but there is some insight there into the last days of the Airborne.

In a nutshell, the Airborne was disbanded after a media-sensationalized inquiry about how some Airborne troopers caught a Somali youth trying to sneak into their camp, then proceeded to hold, interrogate, torture and finally murder him. Airborne troopers were generalized as a bunch of white-supremicist types and villified in the press.

At least, that was how it was publicized. How did it really go down? I couldn't say, as I know no-one who was there. Aside from asking the guys themselves, commando.org does offer some info on what it was like in Somalia before the CAR was disengaged there.

[James]

One Somali kid was killed? That is a tragedy, but I thought this was something like My Lai, when Lt. Calley butchered hundreds of people. A whole regiment disbanded. One poor kid. Unbelievable.

I think you Canucks are good to go.

[Knave]

There were some "hazing"-type incidents that came out about the same time as the inquiry into the Somali youth's death; troopers being forced to eat dirt, excretment, and so on - it only managed to further villify the Regiment in the eyes of the public, through the media.... who ate it up.

Alas, in perspective, the one Somali youth being killed was the catalyst.... you could look at it that way. But, several other contingents in Somalia - I believe the Belgians and Pakistanis are named on Commando.org - killed dozens of Somalis in brief firefights when the Somalis tried to infiltrate the camps to steal food, weapons and ammunition.

I recall one entry on that journal about how the Canadians (and other soldiers) had to be very cautious - grenades which were stolen out of their camp one night would be used against them the next.