memphiz
07-18-2004, 09:09 PM
Canadian troops in Kabul begin pullout; new contingent arriving
Sun Jul 18,12:36 PM ET
STEPHEN THORNE
KABUL (CP) - These days, green is the colour of hope and hearth and home among Canadian soldiers who have been serving in Afghanistan (news - web sites) since February.
Their army being what it is, there aren't enough tan desert combat fatigues to go around, so short-timers who are counting the remainder of their tours in days and not weeks have to turn theirs in and resort to relish greens.
And if the uniforms don't give them away, the smiles do. The mood around Camp Julien, the main Canadian NATO (news - web sites) base in Afghanistan's capital city, is positively buoyant as troops begin gearing down and pulling up stakes.
In the past week, 130 have trickled out through the Persian Gulf and home. A handful of their replacements have begun filtering in, trading in their greens for tans.
In coming weeks, the trickle will become a flood as close to 2,000 soldiers, most of them based in Valcartier, Que., end their tours, replaced by 700 Canadians and more than 1,000 Belgians, Hungarians and Norwegians.
The last administrators leave in early September, well after the Europeans and mechanized members of Edmonton-based Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) and a small contingent of infantry have begun operations.
The 350-member Canadian contingent at Camp Warehouse, home to the Canadian-led Kabul Multi-National Brigade, is pulling up stakes altogether.
The annex the Canadians rented at the site on the city's northeast edge is closing down.
But Julien, which cost about $65 million Cdn to build, will remain in Canadian hands. The Europeans, along with a growing contingent of Americans, will pay charges on the various services either by actual use, as with accommodations and laundry, or based on average consumption, as with water and food.
As with the first contingent that was here as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force beginning last August, there is no decompression period for outgoing troops.
Soldiers who fought the U.S.-led war on terrorism out of Kandahar in 2002 were given time in Guam to shake out the dust, talk out their woes and simply relax before they returned to Canada.
Those soldiers - Strathconas and members of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry - spent their six-month tours in a sparten dust bowl, living in pup tents, eating glorified rations, facing weekly rocket attacks, manning outposts and going on combat operations.
For better or worse, the NATO peacemakers face a different kind of danger - unseen, unpredictable, insidious - as they conduct daily patrols through the streets, alleys and mountain passes in and around a city of 3.5 million.
But their living and working conditions are far better. They get about 25 days of leave per tour instead of the four days the Patricias received. Most take a free flight home.
Their camp is now valued at $40 million.
It includes insulated tents, three kitchens, two large recreation messes (with alcohol), a fully equipped gymnasium, an outdoor hockey rink, even a mini-putt. A volleyball court is under construction.
There is a variety store, next-day laundry service and a water-bottling plant. Water trucks circulate constantly, spraying roadways to keep the dust down. The camp's location was specially selected after a study showed it was the least-polluted, least-dusty spot in Kabul.
Even the portable toilets are better than in Kandahar - there are plenty of them and they're cleaned at least twice a day.
Workwise, there is a rifle range right on the base and troops say they love the newest piece of Canadian kit, an enclosed, armoured jeep called the G-Wagon.
The scenery at Julien is spectacular. Mountains surround the sprawling base and the ruins of two palaces stand majestically at either end. Dozens of troops can be seen running the base perimeter in the morning and evening.
And this is the first tour to benefit from six months of tax-free living, on top of monthly combat pay. The tax measure was introduced in the last federal budget.
"There is no need for a decompression period," said Maj. Marcel Duguay of Chicoutimi, Que., the contingent's staff officer in charge of planning.
"A decompression period is normally planned when the contingent has been under a great stress, suffered many incidents, casualties."
The contingent did get off to a rocky start. During the changeover in January, a soldier from the previous tour was killed in a suicide bomb attack that wounded three others, just days away from their homecoming.
Within weeks, a soldier attached to the Vandoos attempted suicide in his tent.
But, mercifully, there have been no major incidents since. Troops have supported Afghan authorities in raids on suspected terrorist compounds, all of them reportedly coming off without incident.
Duguay said a decompression period can be imposed if troops face a crisis before leaving.
Most get about a month's leave when they return home, including eight days from their 25-day annual leave and 10-days' disembarkation leave.
I didnt know about the suicide attempt
Sun Jul 18,12:36 PM ET
STEPHEN THORNE
KABUL (CP) - These days, green is the colour of hope and hearth and home among Canadian soldiers who have been serving in Afghanistan (news - web sites) since February.
Their army being what it is, there aren't enough tan desert combat fatigues to go around, so short-timers who are counting the remainder of their tours in days and not weeks have to turn theirs in and resort to relish greens.
And if the uniforms don't give them away, the smiles do. The mood around Camp Julien, the main Canadian NATO (news - web sites) base in Afghanistan's capital city, is positively buoyant as troops begin gearing down and pulling up stakes.
In the past week, 130 have trickled out through the Persian Gulf and home. A handful of their replacements have begun filtering in, trading in their greens for tans.
In coming weeks, the trickle will become a flood as close to 2,000 soldiers, most of them based in Valcartier, Que., end their tours, replaced by 700 Canadians and more than 1,000 Belgians, Hungarians and Norwegians.
The last administrators leave in early September, well after the Europeans and mechanized members of Edmonton-based Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) and a small contingent of infantry have begun operations.
The 350-member Canadian contingent at Camp Warehouse, home to the Canadian-led Kabul Multi-National Brigade, is pulling up stakes altogether.
The annex the Canadians rented at the site on the city's northeast edge is closing down.
But Julien, which cost about $65 million Cdn to build, will remain in Canadian hands. The Europeans, along with a growing contingent of Americans, will pay charges on the various services either by actual use, as with accommodations and laundry, or based on average consumption, as with water and food.
As with the first contingent that was here as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force beginning last August, there is no decompression period for outgoing troops.
Soldiers who fought the U.S.-led war on terrorism out of Kandahar in 2002 were given time in Guam to shake out the dust, talk out their woes and simply relax before they returned to Canada.
Those soldiers - Strathconas and members of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry - spent their six-month tours in a sparten dust bowl, living in pup tents, eating glorified rations, facing weekly rocket attacks, manning outposts and going on combat operations.
For better or worse, the NATO peacemakers face a different kind of danger - unseen, unpredictable, insidious - as they conduct daily patrols through the streets, alleys and mountain passes in and around a city of 3.5 million.
But their living and working conditions are far better. They get about 25 days of leave per tour instead of the four days the Patricias received. Most take a free flight home.
Their camp is now valued at $40 million.
It includes insulated tents, three kitchens, two large recreation messes (with alcohol), a fully equipped gymnasium, an outdoor hockey rink, even a mini-putt. A volleyball court is under construction.
There is a variety store, next-day laundry service and a water-bottling plant. Water trucks circulate constantly, spraying roadways to keep the dust down. The camp's location was specially selected after a study showed it was the least-polluted, least-dusty spot in Kabul.
Even the portable toilets are better than in Kandahar - there are plenty of them and they're cleaned at least twice a day.
Workwise, there is a rifle range right on the base and troops say they love the newest piece of Canadian kit, an enclosed, armoured jeep called the G-Wagon.
The scenery at Julien is spectacular. Mountains surround the sprawling base and the ruins of two palaces stand majestically at either end. Dozens of troops can be seen running the base perimeter in the morning and evening.
And this is the first tour to benefit from six months of tax-free living, on top of monthly combat pay. The tax measure was introduced in the last federal budget.
"There is no need for a decompression period," said Maj. Marcel Duguay of Chicoutimi, Que., the contingent's staff officer in charge of planning.
"A decompression period is normally planned when the contingent has been under a great stress, suffered many incidents, casualties."
The contingent did get off to a rocky start. During the changeover in January, a soldier from the previous tour was killed in a suicide bomb attack that wounded three others, just days away from their homecoming.
Within weeks, a soldier attached to the Vandoos attempted suicide in his tent.
But, mercifully, there have been no major incidents since. Troops have supported Afghan authorities in raids on suspected terrorist compounds, all of them reportedly coming off without incident.
Duguay said a decompression period can be imposed if troops face a crisis before leaving.
Most get about a month's leave when they return home, including eight days from their 25-day annual leave and 10-days' disembarkation leave.
I didnt know about the suicide attempt