R22eR Taking over Niger Training Mission From Special Forces

By: Murray Brewster, CBC News 

As many as 25 Canadian soldiers, based out of Valcartier, Que., will soon take part in a revamped mission to train security forces in the troubled western African country of Niger.

Last summer, CBC News reported that regular army troops would take over an ongoing deployment, known as Operation Naberius, from Canada's elite special forces.

A handful of the highly-trained soldiers have since 2013 helped train the Niger Armed Forces in marksmanship, reconnaissance and other basic military skills.

National Defence confirms troops from the French-speaking 1st Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, will assume that responsibility and carry out "periodic" instruction of local forces from now on.

There will be two deployments per year and each will last between two and three months. The military will not say precisely when the first team will be in the field.
Mission flies below the radar

The intent, according to spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier, is to buttress "regional efforts to counter the influence of violent extremist organizations in the Sahel region of Africa."

Members of the Royal 22nd Regiment, better known as the Van Doos, parade at the Citadel in Quebec City last September. Members of the Van Doos' 1st battalion will head to Niger to train military personnel there. (Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)

Unlike other high profile training missions in Iraq and Ukraine, there has been virtually no attention paid to the latest mission.

There has been no formal announcement by National Defence and the news comes after requests for comment by CBC News and the online military publication 45eNord.ca.

The mission is separate, but could be complementary to the Liberal government's long-promised return to United Nations peacekeeping, which has been in a holding pattern.

Walter Dorn, a professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, says there is anticipation and some impatience among planners at the UN.

"Countries are eagerly awaiting the government's decision," said Dorn. "They're surprised it has taken this long."
Dithering causes distress

Last summer, the Liberals committed to deploying 600 soldiers and 150 police officers into a series of UN missions, with details expected by the end of last year.

That didn't happen as the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president forced politicians and decision-makers in Canada to take stock of how each policy would be perceived in by the new administration in Washington.

Walter Dorn, professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College, says Canada's decision on a peacekeeping mission is eagerly awaited. (Mike Blanchfield/Canadian Press)

The UN had held open command of the peacekeeping mission in Mali for a Canadian, but that appointment has now gone elsewhere and allies in New York are drumming their fingers.

"The dithering has caused problems with UN planning," said Dorn.

The training of local forces in Niger does not fall within the mandate of the world body because the UN does not conduct counter-terrorism operations.

Le Bouthillier would not say why the switch is being made, other the notion that the military "continually examines and reviews all operations."

Last summer, defence sources told CBC News that officials now believe the basic-level training is best delivered by regular army soldiers.
Precarious security

A small reconnaissance team visited Niger in the fall of last year and the Quebec-based troops have been preparing for the handover ever since, Le Bouthillier said.

The operation flew almost entirely under the radar since it was first ordered by the former Conservative government, which faced repeated calls from the international community to help beat back Islamic militants, who in 2014 had overrun a large swath of territory in neighbouring Mali.


Le Bouthillier said the government of the day determined that special forces, which usually operate in secret, were "best-suited for this type of capacity-building operation."

The mission has also been precarious.

Canadian trainers briefly pulled out of a town in Niger that had been the scene of heavy fighting between government troops and Boko Haram militants in 2015.

No Canadians were involved in combat at Diffa, which sits on the border with Nigeria, but the incident served to underscore the instability in the country.

The deployment is being funded by Global Affairs Canada, which has counter-terrorism capacity building program.

R22eR Soldiers pass on life-saving tips to Ukrainian troops

By: Mathew Fisher, National Post 

YAVORIV, Ukraine — Seven thousand kilometres from Quebec, but only 10 hours by road from the bloody battlefields of eastern Ukraine, about 200 soldiers mostly from Canada’s storied Royal 22nd Regiment, the Vandoos, are helping to prepare Ukrainian infantry, medics and combat engineers to defend their country against Russian-backed separatists.

More than anything, the Canadian training mission, which began last summer near the Slovak and Polish borders, tries to instil NATO fighting principles and western ethics.

“They are very highly motivated,” said Maj. Bruno Turmel, deputy commander of the Vandoo company which has been here since January. “What they are learning is to be inter-operable with us and the Americans and all the other partners that are here and to build their war fighting capacity and capability.

Turmel, who served twice as a military trainer to Afghan security forces, said he had learned “a lot from the Ukrainian officers and soldiers. They are patriotic and many of them have combat experience.”

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The Vandoos replaced mentors from the Ontario-based Royal Canadian Regiment, who started the mission last August, and will be succeeded next month by the western-based Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

The training mission was set up by the Harper government in reply to a request for help from Kyiv, which does not have enough resources to defend itself from its much larger and wealthier neighbour, Russia.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will be in Warsaw this weekend for the NATO leaders’ summit, will discuss whether to continue the training program when he meets Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv afterward.

The Canadians have seven different “lines of effort” taking place simultaneously at several locations around the country. But most of the troops work in a sprawling Ukrainian army base outside Yavoriv, where the training ground is nestled in green hills reminiscent of Quebec’s Eastern Townships.

The longest course offered by the Canadians lasts 55 days. It teaches basic and small unit fighting skills to infantry. There are also leadership courses for senior non-commissioned officers, courses for military police and anti-mining training.

One of the key areas is teaching Ukrainian medics battlefield emergency treatment practises. Such skills are urgently needed as the brutal war in the east grinds on.

Sgt. Yann Gauthier, who did three combat tours as a medic in Afghanistan, was amazed at how quickly some of his students applied the lessons he taught.

“Within a week after graduation, they can go directly to war,” he said.

About 70 per cent of the Canadian trainers — including three of the five medics teaching combat first aid and more specialized course — served in Afghanistan.

That experience “helps me a lot here,” Gauthier said. “It gives me credibility with the Ukrainians. Whether it is on the battlefield in Afghanistan or Ukraine, the body needs the same thing if it is bleeding to death. The techniques are almost the same so we can apply what we learned in Afghanistan.”

Instructor/soldier Arthur Woichenko describes the course offered by the Canadians as “priceless.”

“You can tell when a person already has some experience on the battlefield and has experienced that with his own blood. Looking him in the ey,e you feel it and understand why such methodologies and so important,” he said.

“I have participated in other courses before and we only got basic knowledge. Here, we get practical tasks. I have crossed out what I knew beforehand and absorbed all the information like a sponge because it was so important.”

Graduates are also given a combat first aid kid worth $350.

One of the goals of the 13 NATO nations training Ukrainian forces is to wean them from their top-down Soviet-style leadership and delegate more decisions to junior officers and sergeants.

“The culture is definitely different than what we are used to working with. The decision-making is more highly concentrated in the higher echelons,” said Maj. Jean-François Lamarche, a combat veteran in Kandahar who mostly works in the field with Ukrainian platoons during the 55-day courses.

Although the program had been “quite successful … of course there has been some resistance. It is a new way of thinking for them. But we are not teaching them this as ‘100 per cent the way to go.’ What we do is present them with a way to do things.”

Lt. Alexei Chebutav, who fought Russian-backed forces around the rebel-held city of Donetsk, said there was much to recommend the Canadian approach.

“In the Canadian Armed Forces the accent is on non-commissioned officers,” he said. “In the Ukrainian army a lot of instructors still act according to the rules of the Soviet time.”

“I always tell my soldiers that the experience we get with you can help to save our lives,” Chebutav told his mentor, Lamarche, as their course wound down Monday.

“You leave your souls here and our guys appreciate it very much.”

Canadians to hold key positions in RIMPAC; while U.S. politicians want to ban China from military exercise

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch 

RIMPAC 16 gets underway June 30 and runs until August 4 in the Hawaiian and Southern California area. The Canadian Forces says it is sending the following:

• A maritime component comprised of four ships (HMCS Calgary, HMCS Vancouver, HMCS Saskatoon and HMCS Yellowknife), a RCN team of clearance divers, and a forward logistics team;
• A Land Component comprised of a Company Group based on a Rifle Company from the Third Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment, based out of Valcartier, Quebec;
• An Air Task Force comprised of several aircraft (six CF-188 Hornets, one CC-130 Hercules, one CC-150 Polaris and one CP-140 Aurora), a Maritime Helicopter Detachment, and a Tactical Aviation Detachment consisting of four CH-146 Griffons and two CH-147 Chinooks;
• More than 1,500 sailors, soldiers, airmen and airwomen; and Several command, staff and support personnel.

The Canadian Forces noted that some of its personnel will once again hold key leadership positions during RIMPAC 2016. They include Rear-Admiral Scott Bishop, who will serve as the Deputy Commander of the Combined Task Force; and Brigadier-General Blaise Frawley, will serve as the Air Component Commander.

RIMPAC is held every two years. This year it will include 45 ships, five submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel from the armed forces of 27 nations.

Training is varied and will include everything from counter-piracy to amphibious operations.

Besides the U.S., the participating nations include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Italy and China.

China first joined RIMPAC in 2014. It sent four ships but in addition one of its spy vessels also shadowed the exercise off Hawaii.

Some U.S. lawmakers have called for China to be banned from RIMPAC.

They are upset with what they see as China’s aggressive stance in the South China Sea. As part of its strategy in the region, China has been building artificial islands to act as military bases.

U.S. congressman Mark Takai, of Hawaii, has asked U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter to ban China from RIMPAC. “I guess my question is why then should we reward China for this aggressive behavior by including them in an event meant for allies and partners?” Takai asked Carter during a meeting in March.

Canadian Army Begins Ex. CASTOR ANGLE

About 120 members of the Canadian Army will take part in exercise CASTOR ANGLE from May 9 to 13, 2016 in the training areas of 2 Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier, the Canadian Army says.

Exercise CASTOR ANGLE aims to prepare the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment (2 R22eR) to act as the Land Force Component of any task force, assigned to evacuate Canadian nationals and other non-combatants from at-risk areas around the world, the army added in a news release. This command post exercise will lead the military to develop procedures and skills for the high-readiness confirmation exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 16, which will take place from May 23 to June 6 in Wainwright, Alberta.

R22eR Van Doos Perform in Brazilian jungle heat at UNITAS 2015

DND Press Release: Article / January 22, 2016 / Project number: 15-0186

By Lynn Capuano and Steven Fouchard, Army Public Affairs

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Canadian soldiers from 2nd Canadian Division proved they can perform not only in the hot and cold extremes of Canada but also excel in steaming Brazilian jungle conditions during an annual U.S.-led allied sea exercise in South America.

The Canadian Army doesn’t have a specialized amphibious force and comes from a country more closely associated with extreme cold than heat. Nonetheless, 47 members of Compagnie B, 2e Bataillon, Royal 22e Régiment (2 R22eR) more than held their own during exercise UNITAS-AMPHIBIOUS, which took place in Brazil from November 14 to 25, 2015.

Members of the R22eR Van Doos board a VH-22 Osprey next to their U.S. Marines counterparts during the South American exercise UNITAS-AMPHIBIOUS in Brazil (November 2015) ©2015 DND-MDN Canada.

“We were able to demonstrate that we, while small, are a force to be reckoned with. We are very well trained, very well experienced. Canada doesn’t have a Marine Corps, so anytime there’s an amphibious operation that requires Canadians, we send in the Army to do the job. We have the versatility,” said Captain Ken Wang of 2 R22eR, who commanded a Canadian infantry platoon. “So we demonstrated that, even though we’re not Marines, as Army infantry soldiers we have the ability to operate at their level.”

“We were able to demonstrate that we, while small, are a force to be reckoned with. We are very well trained, very well experienced. Canada doesn’t have a Marine Corps, so anytime there’s an amphibious operation that requires Canadians, we send in the Army to do the job.”

Captain Ken Wang, 2 R22eR

UNITAS-AMPHIBIOUS 2015 involved U.S. Marines and armed forces representatives from Canada and six Latin American countries: Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Paraguay, Columbia and Peru.

“UNITAS-AMPHIBIOUS is a multi-national exercise designed to increase interoperability in amphibious operations between participating countries,” said Canadian Contingent Commander Major Rodrigo DeCastro. “This year, the Canadian participation allowed for a professional development opportunity at the tactical level and in the various headquarters.”

Lieutenant-General Marquis Hainse, Commander of the Canadian Army, said multinational exercises like UNITAS are about more than just preparing for combat. He noted that by helping to build the capacity of regional institutions, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) contributes to the security of the Americas, advancing freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

“Joint military exercises offer valuable opportunities for the CAF to practice working together with our partners in the Americas in areas such as counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and efforts to counter illicit trafficking,” noted LGen Hainse.

The exercise scenario revolved around an amphibious landing using the Americans’ remarkable V-22 Osprey, which is half-helicopter, half-airplane. With its tilting front rotors up, the hybrid combat aircraft takes off, hovers and lands like a helicopter. With the rotors tilted down, it has the speed and range of a fixed-wing airplane.

“Overall for Canada, it’s a chance to participate in an exercise with foreign nations from the Americas and exchange best practices when it comes to amphibious operations,” Capt Wang explained. “We’re talking about leaving the ship and landing so that doesn’t necessarily always mean boats, but also aircraft such as, in the case of this particular exercise, the Osprey.”

Before moving out to the field, Capt Wang said, the participants spent three days in an “academic phase” indoors to share their different practices and get familiar with the Osprey and other vehicles involved.

Once in the field, he added, his troops upheld Canada’s reputation for punching above its weight.

The Canadians, along with a group of U.S. Marines, were transported by Osprey to a small island southwest of Rio de Janeiro and tasked with securing and defending an airstrip from a fictional enemy force. While the temperature contrast, which at times exceeded 40°C, between 2 R22eR’s home base of Quebec City in November and the humid Brazilian jungle was stark, Capt Wang said his troops, many with combat experience from the Afghanistan mission, acquitted themselves well.

“There was a day where it was really hot,” he said. “We were holding a defensive position under the sun, the humidity – and that’s where some guys collapsed from the heat. The Canadians, we held on and we worked pretty well. It all comes down to training and grit, I guess and it’s one of those things Canada can pride itself on. We have very well-trained soldiers, well-seasoned.”

Maj DeCastro added that this year’s UNITAS exercise was unique in his experience in that it was the first with four languages in play: English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. Canada’s participation was also a success in terms of communications, he said. Maj DeCastro is himself tri-lingual, fluent in English, French and Portuguese.

“I think we clearly demonstrated the strength of our multilingual army and our ability to operate in a multinational context. In terms of performance on the ground, the soldiers of the R22eR held their own, serving as willing mentors and mentees.”

CAF to Conduct Arctic Warfare Training

DND Press Release

Soldiers from the 3rd Canadian Division will take part in Exercise ARCTIC RAM 2016, in Resolute Bay, Nunavut next month. Troops from 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry will parachute into Resolute Bay on Feb. 11. Soldiers from 38 Canadian Brigade Group will also take place in the exercise.

A CAF member from Charlie Company of 1 PPCLI keeps watch during a platoon attack during ARTIC RAM 2012: Photo: DND - Combat Camera: RE2012-0007-026

Meanwhile, Exercise RAFALE BLANCHE 2016 is also underway. It will end on February 19 and is being held in the Valcartier training areas and in the municipalities of Nicolet and Bécancour, Que. 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (5 CMBG) units based in Valcartier are taking part. The exercise will enable 5 CMBG members to conduct military manoeuvres in winter conditions, the Canadian Forces noted in a news release.

More details from the news release:

Foreign troops and numerous reservists will also contribute to the training. About 20 Polish soldiers will take part in the exercise with their counterparts from 3 Battalion Royal 22e Régiment (3 R22eR).

A portion of Exercise RAFALE BLANCHE 2016 will take place in the municipalities of Nicolet and Bécancour from February 4 to 7, where the members of 12e Régiment blindé du Canada (12 RBC) will perform manoeuvres in civilian areas in partnership with Primary Reserve units, 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron and 5 Field Ambulance.

Many Reserve units will participate in Exercise RAFALE BLANCHE. To name a few, units from Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Montreal and Gatineau will support 12 RBC in Nicolet from February 5 to 7.