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Royal Canadian Air Force headed to mission in Africa ‘very soon’: top general

daftandbarmy said:
One page is a good length maximum.
- the point that's critical must be in the first paragraph -- preferably the first sentence;
- No paragraph will exceed seven lines;
- Use caution when including words of more than three syllables;
......

PCO had all sorts of useful advice for drafting documents for Parliamentarians....    :nod:
 
Yesterday I was informed that the proposed operation in Mali had been named, and I passed the info on during our management meeting.  Everybody started laughing.  Are we juvenile or is "Op Magnum" the most hilarious name for an op ever? 

Of course, somebody could be playing an enormous joke on us and we fell for it...
 
ModlrMike said:
I've met the man, and he comes across as a genuinely  nice guy. I also sense that he actually cares about his portfolio. Maybe several of us should have a chat with him.

I'm off this week - maybe he'll have office hours...

MM
 
Hamish Seggie said:
Thank you. Maybe a letter to my MP would be in order.

I’m not sure about the reputable part!

And above all, you and your wife sadly know the full, true cost that can come from missions that may be folly.
 
ModlrMike said:
I've met the man, and he comes across as a genuinely  nice guy. I also sense that he actually cares about his portfolio. Maybe several of us should have a chat with him.

That’s a good idea. I’d be happy to investigate this.
 
Meanwhile Estonia has different priorities in Mali from our gov't:

Estonia plans to contribute to a French military operation

Stenbock House, 22 March 2018 – at today’s meeting, the government decided to support the proposal to apply for a mandate from the parliament to increase Estonia’s military contribution in Mali to participate in Barkhane, an operation led by France.

The government will apply for a mandate from the Riigikogu to send up to 50 active servicemen [on per capita basis equivalent to some 1,300 Canadians] to the Republic of Mali for a one-year mission.

During the Barkhane operation, led by France, the Estonian contingent will be tasked with ensuring the security of the base and its surroundings. An infantry unit on armoured personnel carriers and a support element will participate in Barkhane. The unit will be based in the Gao military camp in Mali [emphasis added].

Prime Minister Jüri Ratas said that Estonia’s decision to contribute to an anti-terrorist operation is another example of the excellent cooperation between Estonia and France. “France sent their unit to Estonia last spring to accompany the unit of the UK in the NATO battlegroup located here. The French unit will return to the battlegroup next year. Countries do not send their units abroad without careful consideration. The fact that Estonia and France have found numerous opportunities over the past few years for defence cooperation with practical added value undoubtedly signifies the close relations of the two countries,” said Prime Minister Ratas...

Currently, Estonia contributes to two operations carried out in Mali: the EU training mission EUTM-Mali (four training instructors and staff officers) and the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA (three staff officers [emphasis added)...
https://www.valitsus.ee/en/news/estonia-plans-contribute-french-military-operation

On the other hand the Harper government's 2013 airlift help to the French in Mali seemed quite reluctant and was quite short-term:
https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/mark-collins-the-canadian-forces-and-mali-no-glasnost/

And the French have been requesting serious help from us for MINUSMA since 2016:
https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/mark-collins-canadian-governments-peacekeeping-heart-with-france-in-africa-it-seems/

Estonia was also very stout the ISAF combat mission in Afghanistan--and don't seem to have become as terrible casualty averse as we now are (just listen to the Conservatives in the Commons!):

Burden Sharing
By Steve Coll

I was taken aback recently when a senior U.S. military officer I happened to be talking with launched into ardent praise of Estonia, for the performance of its soldiers in Afghanistan. This led to a conversation about per-capita burdens in the Afghan war. All the grousing and lobbying by U.S. public officials about NATO’s contributions might lead a casual newspaper reader to believe that the American population has borne a heavily disproportionate share of the hard fighting against the Taliban. That is not the case. While traveling to Canada to speak about Afghanistan from time to time, for example, I’ve been struck by how heavily Afghan casualties have fallen on that country, which has essentially not been called upon to take casualties in a foreign war since Korea...
https://www.newyorker.com/news/steve-coll/burden-sharing

And any gov't now will do all it can to avoid those casualties.

Mark
Ottawa


 
AK said:
Are we juvenile or is "Op Magnum" the most hilarious name for an op ever?

Apparently, it is now, temporarily, a no-name op.
 
I don't think Op Magnum can take the juvenile Op name cake...let's not forget that Afghanistan included Operation Mountain Thrust.  Teehee.
 
OP Magnum?


Maybe Tom Selleck could fly over on a morale visit.....with Tiger Williams.

Too soon?
 
At least this one got caught before it became a public joke.

There really needs to be a vetting committee for all Op names and unit name changes (like CAAWC and CFLTC) etcetera. Five Corporals: two Anglo, two Franco, and one Newfoundlander.
 
Hamish Seggie said:
OP Magnum?


Maybe Tom Selleck could fly over on a morale visit.....with Tiger Williams.

Too soon?

Funny, I was thinking more about the Champagne variety as in: 'Let's pop a Magnum of the good stuff because Man Child Trudeau has finally make a big boy decision!' :)

 
I know I posted this yesterday in another forum, but it is more relevant here and centers on how secure our troops will be while deployed in Mali:

Militants in UN disguise explode car bombs, rockets at Mali Bases
Reuters
World News
April 14, 2018 / 6:09 PM / Updated 3 hours ago

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Militants disguised as U.N. peacekeepers exploded two suicide car bombs and fired dozens of rockets at the French and United Nations bases in Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu on Saturday, killing one and wounding many, Malian authorities said.

The U.N. mission confirmed that the complex attack had killed a U.N. peacekeeper. The Malian government said in addition that 10 French soldiers had been wounded, but the French mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Terrorists wearing blue helmets aboard two cars laden with explosives, including one in the colours of the Malian army and another with a ‘UN’ written in it, attempted to infiltrate these camps,” the Malian government statement said.

“The situation is now under control.”


U.N. peacekeeping and French military forces stationed in northern Mali have been under near-constant attack over the past year by determined and well-armed jihadist groups seen as the gravest threat to security across Africa’s Sahel region.

But even by the standards of Mali’s increasingly emboldened Islamist fighters, Saturday’s attempted breach of two foreign bases at once was ambitious.

“MINUSMA confirms a significant complex attack on its camp in Timbuktu mortars, exchange of fire, vehicle suicide bomb attack,” the mission tweeted. “One blue helmet was killed in the exchange of fire.”


The United Nations last month said 162 people deployed in Mali have been killed since 2013, making it the world’s deadliest peacekeeping operation to date.

A 2015 peace deal signed by Mali’s government and separatist groups has failed to end violence in northern Mali by Islamists, who have also staged assaults on high-profile targets in the capital, Bamako, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

French forces intervened in 2013 to drive back Islamist fighters who had hijacked a Tuareg uprising a year earlier, and some 4,000 French troops remain. The U.N. Security Council then deployed peacekeepers to the country, but they have been targets of a concerted guerrilla campaign.



Reporting by Souleymane Ag Anara; writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Jonathan Oatis



https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mali-security/militants-in-u-n-disguise-explode-car-bombs-rockets-at-mali-bases-idUSKBN1HL1BX?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29


Incidents like this begs the question as to what kind of security our troops will have, and how much security we will have to provide to guarantee some semblance of safety.  This 'Mission' many not have been the right thing for this Government to have decided.  More likely a very naïve move and I suspect one made against all well founded intelligence on the situation in Mali.
 
Justin Trudeau's gov't sure is bursting with enthusiasm to be back helping UN peacekeeping (no Canadian MSM coverage; they have Kinder Morgan and Trump occupying them)--AFP story, note combat boots on ground request from UN:

Canada rejects UN request to hasten Mali deployment

Canada is still "several months" away from deploying peacekeepers to Mali in support of a UN mission, an official said on Thursday, rejecting a UN envoy's call to accelerate its plans.

"Details regarding the final structure and chain of command of the Canadian mission in Mali are still to be determined," Byrne Furlong, spokesperson for Canada's defense minister, told AFP.

Questions over who will command or oversee the Canadian troops and military equipment and other mission details "will be addressed during upcoming reconnaissance and negotiations with the United Nations," she said.

"It is important to keep in mind that preparing for a mission can take several months," she added.

Ottawa said in March that it would send an infantry unit, military trainers and six tactical and transport helicopters to Mali in August.

But UN envoy to Mali Mahamat Saleh Annadif said this week the helicopters are needed in June, when Germany pulls out of the mission.

He urged that Canada speed things up or that Germany delay its departure in order to avoid a vacuum.

The UN envoy also asked Canada to reconsider its objections to having Canadian soldiers join a rapid response force in the region, where conflict has claimed the lives of seven UN peacekeepers this year alone.

However, he said he has not received a reply
[emphasis added].

The number of troops and the skill sets to be brought to the mission "will be determined as a result of the planning process and engagement with the UN, partners and the host nation [and reducing casualties as close to zero as possible]," said Furlong.
https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/canada-rejects-un-request-to-hasten-mali-deployment-20180413

Sigh.

Mark
Ottawa
 
George Wallace said:
August is fast approaching.    :whistle:

It’s too late now. With all the work up training etc I think November is more realistic. Just my opinion.
 
Hamish Seggie said:
It’s too late now. With all the work up training etc I think November is more realistic. Just my opinion.


I believe this is part of a carefully planned rotation of aviation support involving, at least, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and, now, Canada ... I think the dates are fixed and have been committed to by Ottawa at the highest levels.

There are three months left and there are a lot of things that need doing ...  :nod: ... backing away or saying, "sorry, not quite ready," is not, it seems to me, an option. "Ready, Aye Ready" is what's required, again.
 
Well this doesn’t seem like Afghanistan... we are sending 6 helicopters, not a battle group.

And I’m wondering if workups would have started long before the Mali mission was announced.


Edited to add: I’ve heard of units deploying with very short workup periods as well. 
 
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