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quote "Canadian troops will soon swap one barren desert for another, as many Afghan veterans deploy to Canada’s Far North late this winter for the first major Arctic exercise after almost 10 years of fighting insurgents in South Asia, according to the new commander of the Canadian army.
About 600 infantrymen based in Quebec and Alberta will be the first to trade Afghan temperatures that can run as high as 60 C for the -40 C that are common during the winter in Canada’s North. It is part of a strategy to keep young soldiers in the army by giving them fresh challenges, said Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin.
The move also dovetails nicely with the Conservative government’s frequently stated priority to protect the country’s northern frontiers.
“The Arctic may not seem very exciting to older guys because they have done it before, but to the vast majority of the army it will be new,” Lt-Gen. Devlin said after talking up the North in a town hall with frontline troops at a particularly austere forward base in Panjwaii.
“They will have to learn how to wear our winter gear, move in the snow, be in the harness of a toboggan, light a stove outside their tent without burning it down and to do surveillance and sovereignty operations in the Arctic. To a young guy who has not done it before, it is different and with that difference will come a level of excitement.” .... "
I just wanted to add that Afghanistan is in Central Asia, not South Asia.
About 600 infantrymen based in Quebec and Alberta will be the first to trade Afghan temperatures that can run as high as 60 C for the -40 C that are common during the winter in Canada’s North. It is part of a strategy to keep young soldiers in the army by giving them fresh challenges, said Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin.
The move also dovetails nicely with the Conservative government’s frequently stated priority to protect the country’s northern frontiers.
“The Arctic may not seem very exciting to older guys because they have done it before, but to the vast majority of the army it will be new,” Lt-Gen. Devlin said after talking up the North in a town hall with frontline troops at a particularly austere forward base in Panjwaii.
“They will have to learn how to wear our winter gear, move in the snow, be in the harness of a toboggan, light a stove outside their tent without burning it down and to do surveillance and sovereignty operations in the Arctic. To a young guy who has not done it before, it is different and with that difference will come a level of excitement.” .... "
I just wanted to add that Afghanistan is in Central Asia, not South Asia.