Kandahar Supplies

The Edmonton Journal has an article about the effort involved in managing all the supplies needed by the CF's troops in Kandahar.

At a brisk pace through a massive warehouse on the Kandahar Airfield, Ward points at different crates and boxes stacked to the high steel roof.

"It's everything under the sun, from foot powder to everything I'm wearing, to weapons, Head and Shoulders shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes," he says, barely scratching the long list.

"The National Support Element is not the sexy part of the fight, but it's highly important. We're all about the beans and the bullets."

Oldest NATO soldier in combat

The Edmonton Journal has a story about Cpl. Eric Hjalmarson. He joined the Canadian Forces at the age of 49 and is now, at 58, serving as an armoured vehicle gunner in Afghanistan.

Army.ca also has a post about him, this one with a picture.

New UK Counter-insurgency Manual

The Times has an article about the UK's new Counter-insurgency Manual. The article seems to focus on on the tactic of paying Afghans more than the Taliban does.

CF take out Taliban mortar team

The Stars and Stripes has an article about Canadian soldiers attacking a Taliban mortar team in Afghanistan. The article is a perfect example of the sort of thing one never sees in Canadian news.

US helicopter medics in Afghanistan

Danger Room has an article about US Air Force airborne medics in Afghanistan.

Each of these pararescue jumpers, or PJs, was not only trained as a kind of airborne emergency medical technician, stabilizing patients and offering basic trauma care. They could also perform battlefield surgery — inserting chest tubes, removing fluid from around the heart, even performing amputations, if need be. And they could do all that after parachuting into hostile territory to rescue a downed pilot, or scuba diving into murky waters, or squeezing underneath a wrecked vehicle, or rappelling from the helicopter into a free-fire zone. That’s what the sliding bar along the ceiling of the Black Hawk’s cabin was for.

CF drops donkey experiment in Afghanistan

The Halifax Chronicle Herald reports that the Canadian Forces have called off an experiment to use donkeys as, well, beasts of burden in Afghanistan.

The hope was the donkey,, which can survive with little water and carry nearly 160 kilograms of gear, would be able to help.

But the animal didn’t live up to the billing that has made it popular with United States and British soldiers, who use pack animals to support special operations in the mountains.

The Americans studied the use of camels, dogs and mules — but the donkey came out tops in the ratings.

New German Rules of Engagement

The Times has an article about changes to the German Army's rules of engagement in Afghanistan. The changes reduce the amount of red tape that prevents German soldiers from taking action.

The seven-page pocket guide to combat tucked into the breast pocket of every German soldier offers such instructions as: “Before opening fire you are expected to declare loudly, in English, ‘United Nations — stop, or I will fire,” followed by a version in Pashtu — Melgaero Mellatuna- Dreesch, ka ne se dasee kawum!”

The alert must also be issued in Dari, and the booklet, devised by a committee in some faraway ministerial office, adds: “If the situation allows, the warning should be repeated.” The joke going round Nato mess tents poses the question: “How can you identify a German soldier? He is the corpse clutching a pocket guide.”

CF info war in Afghanistan

The Toronto Star has an article about a planned Canadian Forces effort this summer to disseminate information to Afghan mobile phones.

Canada plans to boost its propaganda reach by tapping into mobile phones in Afghanistan to send text messages, run contests and drive listeners to its military-run, Pashto-language radio station.

Aussie soldiers asked to buy own life insurance

David Pugliese's Defence Watch reports that Australian soldiers being sent to Afghanistan are being advised by their government to buy their own life insurance.

Obit: SBS commander

The Telegraph has the obituary of Colonel Richard Pickup who commanded the British Special Boat Service in Afghanistan.

The British government's response to 9/11 was to launch Operation Veritas, an attempt to deny al-Qaeda its Afghan base. Two months later Pickup was in the leading aircraft which landed unannounced at the former Soviet airbase in Bagram, which was being strongly contested by thousands of government fighters and the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, led by Uzbek warlords.

Although vastly outnumbered, Pickup and his 100 men held on for a day and a night. This infuriated both contending armies, who were insulted by a fourth British invasion in two centuries; it also exasperated the American army's large Delta Force, which had planned to arrive first.

CF air operations in Afghanistan

The Torch has a post summarising Canadian air operations in Kandahar.

Most of the way to Afghanistan

The Whig Standard has an article about Camp Mirage, a Canadian base in a well known secret location near Afghanistan.

Staffed by about 300 people - 200 of whom are military -and with an annual budget of $19 million, the camp has dispatched nearly 5,000 missions since being established in 2001, carrying 150,000 passengers and 23 million kilograms of cargo.

Video of patrolling Canadian Forces

The Atlantic has a page with some interesting videos of Canadian troops patrolling in Afghanistan. This is the sort of thing that I am often surprised not to see on the evening news.

CF hunt IEDS from the air

The Canadian Press has an article on new Canadian Forces operations that use helicopters at night to locate IEDs planted on the roads in Afghanistan.

Austalia awards first Victoria Cross

The Herald Sun reports that Australian SAS trooper Mark Donaldson has been awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for actions in Afghanistan. He is the first person to receive the award since it was split off from the British Victoria Cross in 1975.

Dinner in Afghanistan

The Calgary Herald has an article about food preparation at Canadian bases in Afghanistan over the Christmas period.

CF Deploys Anthropologists

Danger Room reports that the Canadian Forces have deployed anthropologists in Afghanistan. This is a similar idea to the American Human Terrain Project.

Life at Kandahar Air Field

The CBC has an article about the amenities on the base in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The Telegraph-Journal has an article about working at the Tim Horton's in Kandahar.

Kajaki Overview

A blog post from famed blogger and foreign correspondent Michael Yon describes, with some nice pictures, the operation to move the new generator turbines to Kajaki dam.

New turbine delivered to Afghan dam

The Times has a story about a success in Afghanistan that has been under reported here in Canada (even though Canadian troops were involved). A mostly British convoy has delivered a massive turbine to the Kajaki dam. The operation involved thousands of NATO troops and included a number of historic firsts.

Follow up: The CBC do have an article about the operation.