3 PPCLI Joins the Fray

[towhey]

FYI...

DND News release crossed my desk about an hour ago:

NOVEMBER 14, 2001 - 20:28 EST

National Defence: Canada Preparing to Deploy Additional
Forces on Operation Apollo

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--The Right Honourable Jean Chretien and the
Honourable Art Eggleton, Minister of National Defence, announced
today that Canada is preparing to commit additional forces in
support of Operation Apollo.

The Immediate Reaction Force (Land) (IRF(L)), comprised of members
of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia‘s Canadian Light Infantry
based out of Edmonton, is at 48 hours notice to deploy.

It includes a 1000-strong unit comprised of three infantry rifle
companies, one small engineer squadron, a headquarters, a combat
support company and an administrative company. The elements that
could be deployed on this mission are part of the IRF(L), a
standing-NATO task for Canada‘s Army to provide a high readiness
combat capable land force designed to respond quickly to overseas
missions.

"The coalition of nations participating in this campaign has
clearly stated our intent to provide a safe and secure environment
for the Afghan people as soon as possible," stated Prime Minister
Jean Chretien. "Canada stands by this commitment."

"Operations being considered would provide short-term
stabilization in certain areas, allowing for the entry of
humanitarian assistance," said Minister Eggleton. "These
operations are meant to complement future possibilities for a
longer-term international peacekeeping force that would help
provide the tools to re-establish stability and civil society."

As part of Canada‘s original commitment announced on October 8th,
an Air Force Strategic Airlift Detachment will soon be leaving 8
Wing Trenton for Germany. The detachment will comprise one CC-150
Polaris aircraft (Airbus A310) and approximately 40 Air Force
personnel made up of three flying crews and one air cargo-handling
team. They are expected to leave Canada on Friday, November 16th.


"The CC-150 Polaris mission may include aero-medical evacuation,
logistic and personnel sustainment and re-supply, rapid delivery
of operationally required items, and movement of personnel into
theatre of operations." said Minister Eggleton.

Canada is also deploying three CC-130 Hercules to this mission.
The Hercules aircraft will be operating in the current theatre of
operations. The Canadian Forces are in consultation with allies
to determine where these transport aircraft will be located.
Their mission may include airlift of humanitarian aid and support
to allied nations.

-30-

 

[enfield]

That‘s great news - good luck 3 VP. This is a real commitment, and i‘m damn proud we‘re doing it.

Does 3 VP actually have that many troops on the ground? (obviously some of the 1000 will be support trades/units)

Does is going to make things very interesting for everyone in the army, even the Mo. An expanded CRIC perhaps to pic up the slack?

I‘ve heard no other news about UN peacekeepers being orgainzed - where exactly are they going in the next 10 days and what kind of force are they joining?

 

[King]

Well I‘ll be damned... good luck to them.

 

[fortuncookie5084]

There was a big smile on my face when I read the news on cbc.ca today. Not only is this (by recent standards) uncharacteristic for us peacenik Canucks, but 3VP‘s Para Coy is my destination of choice upon university graduation and Commission.

 

[Infanteer]

"The coalition of nations participating in this campaign has clearly stated our intent to provide a safe and secure environment for the Afghan people as soon as possible," stated Prime Minister Jean Chretien. "Canada stands by this commitment."
"Operations being considered would provide short-term stabilization in certain areas, allowing for the entry of humanitarian assistance," said Minister Eggleton"

Well, you know what this means; this is going to be very dangerous as this war is still hot. Lets hope it goes off better than UNPROFOR. God speed to our fellow soldiers.
As for the Mo, there is no way we are going to be left out of this. Unlike Kosovo, this Operation is going to have to be sustained. We are needed more than ever. Keep your ears open and your weapons ready.

 

[the patriot]

This is the largest deployment of the Canadian Armed Forces in a very longtime. Good luck to them all. Just as everyone has said, the Reserves will be called upon more than ever to sustain existing commitments to national sovereignity.

-the patriot-

 

[John Nayduk]

This takes alot of troops out of the rotation to Bosnia, I wonder if they will use reserves to fill the gap. Who is due to rotate to Bosnia next?

 

[Disturbance]

3vp was suppose to going to bosnia next and the CRIC was going to be attached to it. So until I get sorted out tonight I do not know what is going to happen with the CRIC or if another bat. is going to cover for 3rd.

 

[Jungle]

A.R.G., Roto 9 is now in Bosnia, comprised of the 3 R22R Battle Group (Remember A coy 3 R22R came back from East Timor just 18 months ago) and roto 10 (Due to deploy in March 2002) will be comprised of the 2 R22R BG.

 

[Gunner]

Gents, 3VP never was slated to go to Bosnia in the near future as it has had the IRF(L) task since it arrived back in Canada in Sep 00 from Roto 6.

Roto schedule as follows

Roto 9 - 3 R22R BG
Roto 10 - 2 R22R BG
Roto 11 - 1 PPCLI BG (incl the Reserve CRIC as D Coy)
Roto 12 - 2 PPCLI BG (incl some type of CRIC possibly a amalgamated coy from LFWA/LFCA/LFAA)
Roto 13 - 1 RCR BG
Roto 13 - 1 R22R BG
Roto 15 - 3 PPCLI BG

As always this is subject to change due to unforseen operational taskings!

 

[enfield]

I thought CRIC was with 1 PPCLI. The CRIC kit list I just got was from 1st.

With this new commitmet to Afghanistan the roto scheduled is gonna be changed. I‘d look for more CRIC/reserve components in rotos.

 

[Infanteer]

The CRIC has been set to form D COY of the 1st PPCLI all along. Disturbance was just mixed up. Third was never set to go on ROTO 11.

 

[enfield]

Yeah, 3rd just came back last year from Bosnia.
National post said today that 900 troops are coming from 3rd, but 120 are also coming from 2nd, and that the commitment is for 6 months.
...which will really play havoc wih rotation schedules. But it‘s defintlye worth it.

We got a notice last night to not call 3 PPCLI directly. Apparently some reservists have called the batt. and tried arrange "backdoor deals" to go over with them.

 

[Yard Ape]

Looks like to Northrn Alliance is cooling toward Western support now that they dominate the battle field.

Northern Alliance tells British forces to leave Kabul
Saturday, 17 November, 2001, 15:54 GMT
BBC

The Ministry of Defence insists there are no plans to pull British troops out of Afghanistan after a faction of the Northern Alliance demanded the withdrawal of troops near Kabul.

A Tajik grouping of the Northern Alliance had complained they were not consulted before British special forces soldiers landed at Bagram airbase.

Jamiat-e-Islami are demanding that most of the 85 Special Boat Squadron men pull out leaving only a small party to carry out humanitarian tasks, according to Reuters news agency.

. . .


You can read the story on the BBC site, but the message is pretty clear. They are not going to be as welcoming as some have tried to suggest to us.

Good luck 3 PPCLI.

 

[towhey]

In fact, the US was trying very hard on the diplomatic front to prevent the Northern Alliance from capturing Kabul. This threatens their support in neighbouring Pakistan and is unlikely to yield even short-term stability for Afghanistan or, perhaps more importantly, a PR victory for the US.

The US must now dislodge the Northern Alliance from power and install a more "acceptable" government. Unfortunately, such a beast does not yet exist. The US has been trying to build a coalition government, but couldn‘t do it before the Northern Alliance took Kabul.

There‘s more fighting to come. Who‘s going to be doing it, and whether they wait until Spring is the big question.

 

[the patriot]

WARNING ORDER: Article to Follow

Canadian troops may not head for Afghanistan
Last Updated: Mon Nov 19 18:33:24 2001

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has indicated ground troops from Canada may not go into Afghanistan, after all.

In the House of Commons on Monday, Chrétien and Defence Minister Art Eggleton said last week‘s commitment to send 1,000 infantry troops to act as part of a stabilization force isn‘t definite.
Eggleton says the troops are ready, but no decision has been made to deploy them.

The prime minister was the first to indicate that members of the Princess Patricia‘s Canadian Light Infantry may not be sent to Afghanistan after all.

"We don‘t want to have a big fight there. We want to bring peace and happiness as much as possible," said Chrétien.

Opposition leader Stockwell Day accused Chrétien of failing to give Canadians a clear picture of what kind of ground troop involvement there will be. Day also appeared concerned that Canada not back out of any commitments made to the international coalition.

But Eggleton says Canadian troops may not be needed to secure the passage of humanitarian aid. "This is a very fluid situation, it‘s in a state of flux because of the quick retreat of the Taliban," he said.

On Tuesday, Eggleton travels to Washington to discuss the role for Canadian troops, if any, with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Written by CBC News Online staff
**************************************************************************

I‘m sensing that this is more doublespeak as usual. I hope that they can finally make up their minds. On one hand, the Defence Minister is saying that the troops "might have to fight", just to get trumped by the PM. Just old fashioned games as usual. I think the public is intelligent enough to understand that casualties would be a reality.

-the patriot-

 

[King]

It seems a big reason for this might be that the Northern Alliance doesn‘t want any western troops on the ground in any significant numbers, they don‘t want to share power. I don‘t think it‘ll matter too much in the end, the U.S. will negotiate with these fools but evetually will do whatever they want which means putting lots of soldiers on the ground. Canada will get there eventually, especially if it becomes a (U.N.) peacekeeping/humanitarian aid mission. Eggleton says the situation on the ground is in a "state of flux," which is a nice way of saying the risks are too high for the PPCLI, but appearently not for the Americans, Brits, Germans, or Italians since they have people either already on the ground, or on their way.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

Originally posted by King:
[qb] Canada will get there eventually, especially if it becomes a (U.N.) peacekeeping/humanitarian aid mission. [/qb]

This is not the time for another feel good peacekeeping mission. This is the time for Canada play a position on the field other than waterboy. If we as Canadians are not prepared to do that then we should dissolve our alliances and sit at home on our hands hoping that everyone will leave us alone because we were once good peacekeepers. It‘s time for Chretien and Eggleton to **** or get off the pot. Our boys need to get in there and get their hands dirty.

 

[enfield]

This, coupled with Eggleton‘s statement that if fighting starts the PPCLI will pull out, makes me want to cry.
Oh.. and Eggleton made up for his statement by saying that they would pull out because they didn‘t have the AFV‘s or artillery to fight. For me, that raised the question.... "why the hell don‘t we send them there with all that then?" The idea that the governmnet will happily send 1000 soldiers into AFGHANISTAN all of all places... with only enough firepower to stop a few random bandits is horrible. Somehow I don‘t think the most warlike region on Earth is the place to relearn the lessons of UNPROFOR and Rwanda.

again, the address you want are:
www.army.mod.uk
www.royal-navy.mod.uk
1-800-MARINES

 

[the patriot]

Another address you can add would be:

The French Foreign Legion

-the patriot-