By: Kim Richard Nossal, The Ottawa Citizen
We shouldn’t be surprised that Canada is going to buy an interim fleet of 18 Boeing Super Hornets.
The Liberal government has been desperately looking for a way out of the mess Justin Trudeau created when he decided it would be a good idea to play politics by promising in the middle of the election campaign that a Liberal government would not purchase the Lockheed Martin F-35 to replace the CF-18 Hornets that Canada has been flying since the early 1980s.
Trudeau promised that this decision would save billions of dollars that could be poured into naval procurement. This was always a rash promise, on so many levels.
If Canada doesn’t buy F-35s, then the Royal Canadian Air Force will not be as fully interoperable with the U.S. Air Force in the North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command as it would be with them.
For the U.S. will be flying only one new fighter in NORAD in the 2020s and 2030s: the F-35, the result a congressional decision in 1994. (USAF F-22 Raptors also fly NORAD patrols, but the Americans won’t let even their closest allies buy these aircraft.) The RCAF’s Super Hornets can be networked with F-35s, but they are simply not as capable, and much more vulnerable.
If Canada doesn’t buy F-35s, Canadian aerospace firms will be cut out of Lockheed Martin’s global value chains. The F-35, with its long production run that extends well into the 2030s, offers considerable benefits to those who remain as global partners. Boeing, which lost the Joint Strike Fighter competition to Lockheed Martin in the early 2000s, cannot offer the Canadian aerospace industry the kind of benefits Lockheed Martin can.
Finally, Canada is part of a nine-nation multinational consortium that is producing the Joint Strike Fighter. In all, 11 of Canada’s close allies and friends will be buying, and flying, the F-35 in the next two decades: Australia, Britain, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and the United States. If Canada does not purchase the F-35, it will be out of step with all these allies in the decades ahead.
Given the rashness of the Trudeau promise, his minister of national defence, Harjit Sajjan, has been hunting for a way out. In the summer, Sajjan took a trip to Australia, and liked the so-called “Aussie option.” Australia, unlike Canada, is firmly committed to buying the F-35, but needed an interim fleet of fighters to fill in for their old F-111s while waiting for their F-35s to be delivered. They bought a fleet of 24 Super Hornets.
Embracing the Aussie option is a perfect solution for the Liberal government: it gets to keep Trudeau’s rash promise not to buy the F-35, at least for now; it gets to remain in the nine-nation Joint Strike Fighter partnership with benefits from being in Lockheed Martin’s global value chains if a future government buys the F-35; and it gets three “six-packs” of fighters that can work with USAF F-35s in NORAD or be deployed elsewhere.
Most importantly, it gets to kick a real decision about the CF-18 replacement down the road, well beyond the next election.
Now this may be a good way out of the mess that Trudeau stumbled into in 2015 playing political games with defence procurement, but it is going to be a huge and costly decision for Canadian taxpayers. The aircraft that Canada will be flying for the next decade may both have “Hornet” in their name, but running two fleets of jet fighters is likely going to be exceedingly costly.
And buying an almost embarrassingly tiny fleet of Super Hornets now just postpones the day when a government in the future will have to pony up for a replacement for the aging CF-18s. A future government will have to buy a fleet of at least 65 fighters.
The substantial tab for Trudeau’s gamesmanship – both now and into the 2020s – will be felt not only by the taxpayers, but also by the other services of the Canadian Armed Forces, particularly the Royal Canadian Navy. So much for saving on fighters to pour more into ships for the RCN.
Unfortunately, we have been here before. The Liberal government of Jean Chrétien played exactly the same kind of political game during the 1993 election, promising to cancel a helicopter contract signed by his predecessor, Brian Mulroney. The new Liberal government did so on its very first day in office, throwing away nearly $500 million. And we will not see all the replacements for the old Sea Kings arrive until the early 2020s.
The Conservative government of Stephen Harper played politics with the CF-18 replacement and completely botched it, not only adding significant costs to the replacement but also laying the groundwork for the games that Trudeau played in 2015.
It is too bad for the long-suffering taxpayers and the equally long-suffering members of the Canadian Armed Forces that the present prime minister didn’t look back to see how his father handled replacing fighter jets.
For Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his Liberal party, and those across the aisle in the Progressive Conservative party, didn’t play politics with defence procurement in the late 1970s – unlike some of their successors.
---
Kim Richard Nossal is a professor with the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University. His latest book, Charlie Foxtrot: Fixing Defence Procurement in Canada, is available from Dundurn Press.
Friday, November 25, 2016
Russia suggests it wants thawed relations with Canada in Arctic
By: MIKE BLANCHFIELD, The Globe and Mail
A Russian politician who laments the decline of his country’s relations with Canada suggested Thursday that his homeland might be willing to play nice in its long-standing dispute over who controls the North Pole.
Igor Chernyshenko, a senator from the northern city of Murmansk, said Russia would respect any United Nations decision on who should control a swath of the Arctic seabed known as the Lomonosov Ridge, which extends across the North Pole.
Chernyshenko, who was at Carleton University in Ottawa for a conference on Canada-Russia relations, delivered the overture as an example of positive co-operation between two countries that have been at odds for nearly a decade.
The Russian embassy and Canada’s foreign ministry, Global Affairs Canada, organized the conference as an example of the Liberal government’s new foreign policy decision to re-engage with Russia because of its shared interest in the Arctic.
The previous Conservative government downgraded ties with Russia because of its unilateral annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014. In opposition, the Conservatives have vocally opposed the rapprochement, saying it represents “cosying up” to the “regime” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Conservatives saw Russia’s Arctic ambitions as provocative, especially after the Russians planted a flag on the North Pole seabed in 2007.
The Liberals say it is time to move beyond that, citing the need to work with countries that have a shared interest in a frozen wasteland that’s rapidly thawing, leading to increased ship traffic, potential oil and gas exploration, as well as potential threats on the environment and security fronts.
Russia, Canada and Denmark have all filed competing territorial claims and it could take as long as 15 years for the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea to decide.
But the UN won’t have the final say because it will be up to the countries themselves to negotiate a settlement based on the assessment.
The visiting senator told that his country would negotiate the division of the territory, which researchers believe contains significant oil and gas deposits.
“We recognize international law and after the UN Commission makes its decision, Canada and Russia will positively decide on how to divide that up,” Chernyshenko said through an interpreter.
He lamented the decline in trade between the two countries, which has shrunk since ties were downgraded and Canada joined its allies in imposing sanctions.
“This is very sad.”
Russia’s envoy to Canada says the renewed Arctic co-operation could be the spark that reignites relations on a broader level, including possible co-operation on fighting terrorism, and deeper business ties.
“It’s very good our bilateral dialogue has been re-launched. Canada’s self-imposed isolation from Russia is over,” Alexander Darchiev, the Russian ambassador, said in an interview.
Not so fast, said Joseph Pickerill, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion.
“Russian and Canadian companies are free to pursue commercial opportunities in one another’s markets so long as their undertakings are in compliance with Canada’s sanctions regime,” Pickerill said in an email.
“However, our diplomatic re-engagement does not mean it is ’business as usual’ with Russia.”
Indeed, Canadian co-operation with Russia will have to be confined to the Arctic because of major differences on Ukraine and Russia’s backing of the Assad regime in Syria, said Whitney Lackenbauer, a St. Jerome’s University historian.
Military co-operation between the two countries is also a long way off, which means no Russian observation of Canadian military operations in the North or renewed meetings between their defence chiefs.
Any characterization of the two countries “as great partners, great friends, is not going to be appropriate,” he said.
University of British Columbia international law professor Michael Byers said Russia and Canada are capable of settling territorial disputes and working together on shared interests in the North, including dealing with challenges that will come with more shipping traffic.
The Russians are anxious to find partners in the Arctic because their economy has been “pummelled” by sanctions and the decline in world oil prices, Byers said.
“The Russians are desperate to see sanctions lifted. In that context, they’re very eager to improve relations in any domain.”
A Russian politician who laments the decline of his country’s relations with Canada suggested Thursday that his homeland might be willing to play nice in its long-standing dispute over who controls the North Pole.
Igor Chernyshenko, a senator from the northern city of Murmansk, said Russia would respect any United Nations decision on who should control a swath of the Arctic seabed known as the Lomonosov Ridge, which extends across the North Pole.
Chernyshenko, who was at Carleton University in Ottawa for a conference on Canada-Russia relations, delivered the overture as an example of positive co-operation between two countries that have been at odds for nearly a decade.
The Russian embassy and Canada’s foreign ministry, Global Affairs Canada, organized the conference as an example of the Liberal government’s new foreign policy decision to re-engage with Russia because of its shared interest in the Arctic.
The previous Conservative government downgraded ties with Russia because of its unilateral annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014. In opposition, the Conservatives have vocally opposed the rapprochement, saying it represents “cosying up” to the “regime” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Conservatives saw Russia’s Arctic ambitions as provocative, especially after the Russians planted a flag on the North Pole seabed in 2007.
The Liberals say it is time to move beyond that, citing the need to work with countries that have a shared interest in a frozen wasteland that’s rapidly thawing, leading to increased ship traffic, potential oil and gas exploration, as well as potential threats on the environment and security fronts.
Russia, Canada and Denmark have all filed competing territorial claims and it could take as long as 15 years for the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea to decide.
But the UN won’t have the final say because it will be up to the countries themselves to negotiate a settlement based on the assessment.
The visiting senator told that his country would negotiate the division of the territory, which researchers believe contains significant oil and gas deposits.
“We recognize international law and after the UN Commission makes its decision, Canada and Russia will positively decide on how to divide that up,” Chernyshenko said through an interpreter.
He lamented the decline in trade between the two countries, which has shrunk since ties were downgraded and Canada joined its allies in imposing sanctions.
“This is very sad.”
Russia’s envoy to Canada says the renewed Arctic co-operation could be the spark that reignites relations on a broader level, including possible co-operation on fighting terrorism, and deeper business ties.
“It’s very good our bilateral dialogue has been re-launched. Canada’s self-imposed isolation from Russia is over,” Alexander Darchiev, the Russian ambassador, said in an interview.
Not so fast, said Joseph Pickerill, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion.
“Russian and Canadian companies are free to pursue commercial opportunities in one another’s markets so long as their undertakings are in compliance with Canada’s sanctions regime,” Pickerill said in an email.
“However, our diplomatic re-engagement does not mean it is ’business as usual’ with Russia.”
Indeed, Canadian co-operation with Russia will have to be confined to the Arctic because of major differences on Ukraine and Russia’s backing of the Assad regime in Syria, said Whitney Lackenbauer, a St. Jerome’s University historian.
Military co-operation between the two countries is also a long way off, which means no Russian observation of Canadian military operations in the North or renewed meetings between their defence chiefs.
Any characterization of the two countries “as great partners, great friends, is not going to be appropriate,” he said.
University of British Columbia international law professor Michael Byers said Russia and Canada are capable of settling territorial disputes and working together on shared interests in the North, including dealing with challenges that will come with more shipping traffic.
The Russians are anxious to find partners in the Arctic because their economy has been “pummelled” by sanctions and the decline in world oil prices, Byers said.
“The Russians are desperate to see sanctions lifted. In that context, they’re very eager to improve relations in any domain.”
National Defence Officials Sign Lifetime Gag Order Over Fighter Jets
By: David Pugliese, National Post
With Files from The Canadian Press
The Liberal government has brought in an unprecedented gag order that prevents 235 Canadian military personnel and federal workers from ever talking about the program, now underway, to replace the country’s fighter jets.
The non-disclosure agreement for the equipment project puts the fighter jet replacement on the same level as top secret counter-terrorism missions undertaken by the Joint Task Force 2 commando unit as well as clandestine operations by the country’s spies, military sources say.
The permanent non-disclosure agreements were uncovered by Conservative defence critic James Bezan after he requested information through Commons “inquiry of ministry” process.
The information provided to Bezan noted that 121 individuals at the Department of National Defence were required to sign the non- disclosure agreement, 39 at Public Services and Procurement Canada; and 18 at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. The rest of the 235 were employed by the Department of Finance, Treasury Board, Department of Justice and Privy Council Office.
Five other individuals working on the fighter jet replacement project who are under contract to DND were also required to sign the non-disclosure agreement or NDA.
National Defence says 235 officials were required to sign agreements as a reminder to employees of their obligations to keep secrets.
But two former military procurement chiefs, including one who oversaw the F-35 stealth fighter project for seven years, say they have never seen such a move and that existing security measures are already stringent.
Conservative defence critic James Bezan, who asked the question, alleges the Liberals want to keep officials from revealing that their plan to buy 18 Super Hornet jets is entirely politically motivated.
“The NDA is a life-time agreement,” the response to Bezan noted. Persons signing the NDA are considered “persons permanently bound to secrecy” on the future fighter jet capability project, it added.
Defence industry executives and retired public servants say they have never seen such secrecy surrounding an equipment program.
The NDAs were first implemented in January 2016, said DND spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier. As individuals became involved in the fighter jet work, the agreements were signed, he added.
“It was done to remind employees of their obligations to the Crown under the Security of Information Act,” Le Bouthillier explained. “Given the subject-matter and commercial sensitivities associated with the work, it was deemed to be an appropriate and necessary procedure.”
He said that such agreements have been used with procurement staff before on occasion.
But Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister for materiel at the DND, said he has never heard of such agreements. Over the years Williams oversaw hundreds of equipment projects at both DND and Public Works, worth billions of dollars.
“I’ve never heard of this type of thing before,” said Williams. “I never required it of my staff. I think if I had, I would have been laughed out of the building.”
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced Tuesday the Liberal government was entering in negotiations with Boeing to buy 18 Super Hornets as stop-gap measure before embarking on a competition to replace Canada’s existing fleet of CF-18s.
That competition, yet to start, will take at least five years.
Bezan has alleged that the Liberals are pushing off a decision to replace the fighter jets until after the next election. The move heads off what could have been an embarrassing decision for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Lockheed Martin F-35 had the potential to win any competition but Trudeau has stated his government will never buy that plane.
With Files from The Canadian Press
The Liberal government has brought in an unprecedented gag order that prevents 235 Canadian military personnel and federal workers from ever talking about the program, now underway, to replace the country’s fighter jets.
The non-disclosure agreement for the equipment project puts the fighter jet replacement on the same level as top secret counter-terrorism missions undertaken by the Joint Task Force 2 commando unit as well as clandestine operations by the country’s spies, military sources say.
The permanent non-disclosure agreements were uncovered by Conservative defence critic James Bezan after he requested information through Commons “inquiry of ministry” process.
The information provided to Bezan noted that 121 individuals at the Department of National Defence were required to sign the non- disclosure agreement, 39 at Public Services and Procurement Canada; and 18 at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. The rest of the 235 were employed by the Department of Finance, Treasury Board, Department of Justice and Privy Council Office.
Five other individuals working on the fighter jet replacement project who are under contract to DND were also required to sign the non-disclosure agreement or NDA.
National Defence says 235 officials were required to sign agreements as a reminder to employees of their obligations to keep secrets.
But two former military procurement chiefs, including one who oversaw the F-35 stealth fighter project for seven years, say they have never seen such a move and that existing security measures are already stringent.
Conservative defence critic James Bezan, who asked the question, alleges the Liberals want to keep officials from revealing that their plan to buy 18 Super Hornet jets is entirely politically motivated.
“The NDA is a life-time agreement,” the response to Bezan noted. Persons signing the NDA are considered “persons permanently bound to secrecy” on the future fighter jet capability project, it added.
Defence industry executives and retired public servants say they have never seen such secrecy surrounding an equipment program.
The NDAs were first implemented in January 2016, said DND spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier. As individuals became involved in the fighter jet work, the agreements were signed, he added.
“It was done to remind employees of their obligations to the Crown under the Security of Information Act,” Le Bouthillier explained. “Given the subject-matter and commercial sensitivities associated with the work, it was deemed to be an appropriate and necessary procedure.”
He said that such agreements have been used with procurement staff before on occasion.
But Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister for materiel at the DND, said he has never heard of such agreements. Over the years Williams oversaw hundreds of equipment projects at both DND and Public Works, worth billions of dollars.
“I’ve never heard of this type of thing before,” said Williams. “I never required it of my staff. I think if I had, I would have been laughed out of the building.”
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced Tuesday the Liberal government was entering in negotiations with Boeing to buy 18 Super Hornets as stop-gap measure before embarking on a competition to replace Canada’s existing fleet of CF-18s.
That competition, yet to start, will take at least five years.
Bezan has alleged that the Liberals are pushing off a decision to replace the fighter jets until after the next election. The move heads off what could have been an embarrassing decision for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Lockheed Martin F-35 had the potential to win any competition but Trudeau has stated his government will never buy that plane.
Sajjan blamed the previous Conservative government for mismanaging the fighter jet replacement and creating what he calls a capability gap that now requires the purchase of the Super Hornets.
But a number of defence sources say there is no capability gap.
Earlier this year, Royal Canadian Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Mike Hood said the CF-18s could fly until 2025 and potentially beyond.
In his appearance before the Commons defence committee, Hood didn’t mention anything about a capability gap.
“I know that some aircraft will end their useful life before that date (2025), starting perhaps in 2023,” Hood told the committee. “Others could last longer.”
But Hood added that he was confident that an open and fair competition would provide an aircraft in time for replacing the aging CF-18s. “I’m confident that if a decision were taken, certainly in the next five years, we’ll be in a comfortable position changing that aircraft,” Hood said.
Capability gap or no?
The government says it needs the Hornets to address an urgent shortage of warplanes until a competition to replace all 77 of Canada's CF-18s can be finished — a process it says could take up to five years.
Critics say the air force has enough planes at the moment and the decision to buy Hornets now and punt a competition to later is part of a larger Liberal plan to avoid buying the controversial F-35 stealth fighter.
But a number of defence sources say there is no capability gap.
Earlier this year, Royal Canadian Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Mike Hood said the CF-18s could fly until 2025 and potentially beyond.
In his appearance before the Commons defence committee, Hood didn’t mention anything about a capability gap.
“I know that some aircraft will end their useful life before that date (2025), starting perhaps in 2023,” Hood told the committee. “Others could last longer.”
But Hood added that he was confident that an open and fair competition would provide an aircraft in time for replacing the aging CF-18s. “I’m confident that if a decision were taken, certainly in the next five years, we’ll be in a comfortable position changing that aircraft,” Hood said.
Capability gap or no?
The government says it needs the Hornets to address an urgent shortage of warplanes until a competition to replace all 77 of Canada's CF-18s can be finished — a process it says could take up to five years.
Critics say the air force has enough planes at the moment and the decision to buy Hornets now and punt a competition to later is part of a larger Liberal plan to avoid buying the controversial F-35 stealth fighter.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
18 Canadian Forces members took their own lives in 2015
By: Tom Perry, CBC News
A new report by the Canadian Forces shows that soldiers who have been deployed overseas are at a higher risk of taking their own lives.
The Canadian Forces annual report on suicide reveals that 18 military members committed suicide in 2015. While the report says the overall suicide rate within the military is not statistically higher than for the rest of the population, the risk for those serving in the army is much greater than it is for those serving in the navy or air force.
"The suicide rate amongst army personnel is about two to three times higher than it is compared to members who serve in other elements of the Canadian Forces and about 1½-times higher than males in the civilian population," said Col. Andrew Downes, director of mental health for the Canadian Forces.
Downes said the military's research also shows that the risk of suicide is higher for personnel who have been deployed overseas into places like Afghanistan.
"It's really not the deployment itself that's the risk for suicide. It's what happens on deployment," Downes said. "People, when they deploy, are exposed to more dangerous environments where they are at risk of physical injury and mental injury as well."
Despite the increased risk that goes along with overseas deployments, Downes said suicide is a complex matter. The military's report shows almost half of those who committed suicide in 2015 suffered from a documented depressive disorder. Nearly all were under stress in their personal lives, facing failed romantic relationships, legal problems or debt.
"All these people are human and they all have stressors," Downes said.
Time to do more
The government and the military have pledged to take action on suicide in the ranks. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he is working with the chief of the defence staff on the issue as part of the government's defence policy review.
Sajjan said the goal is to find new strategies that can be put in place for future overseas deployments by the Canadian Forces.
"For example, building greater resilience in pre-deployment training, early on, so that we can help with some of the challenges that are faced and also other things, post-deployment," Sajjan said.
Randall Garrison, defence critic for the NDP, questions the government's resolve, saying it has already taken far too long to come up with any answers about a continuing crisis.
"You know, in 2013 we had a rash of suicides that first brought this to the public attention and to the minister's attention. Now, here we are, three years later, and no one has done a thing," Garrison said.
One family's hope
The family of one Canadian soldier who took his own life says that if the military wants to improve suicide prevention, it needs to listen to Canadian Forces personnel and their families.
Sheila Fynes's son, Cpl. Stuart Langridge, committed suicide at CFB Edmonton in 2008.
"I think they need to go back to the grassroots to do it. They need to talk more to the men, all the men," Fynes said.
"They need to talk to the families. I really wish somebody would say to me, 'You were with Stu, you talked to Stu, is there anything that we could have done differently that might have had a different outcome for him?'"
A new report by the Canadian Forces shows that soldiers who have been deployed overseas are at a higher risk of taking their own lives.
The Canadian Forces annual report on suicide reveals that 18 military members committed suicide in 2015. While the report says the overall suicide rate within the military is not statistically higher than for the rest of the population, the risk for those serving in the army is much greater than it is for those serving in the navy or air force.
"The suicide rate amongst army personnel is about two to three times higher than it is compared to members who serve in other elements of the Canadian Forces and about 1½-times higher than males in the civilian population," said Col. Andrew Downes, director of mental health for the Canadian Forces.
Downes said the military's research also shows that the risk of suicide is higher for personnel who have been deployed overseas into places like Afghanistan.
"It's really not the deployment itself that's the risk for suicide. It's what happens on deployment," Downes said. "People, when they deploy, are exposed to more dangerous environments where they are at risk of physical injury and mental injury as well."
Despite the increased risk that goes along with overseas deployments, Downes said suicide is a complex matter. The military's report shows almost half of those who committed suicide in 2015 suffered from a documented depressive disorder. Nearly all were under stress in their personal lives, facing failed romantic relationships, legal problems or debt.
"All these people are human and they all have stressors," Downes said.
Time to do more
The government and the military have pledged to take action on suicide in the ranks. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he is working with the chief of the defence staff on the issue as part of the government's defence policy review.
Sajjan said the goal is to find new strategies that can be put in place for future overseas deployments by the Canadian Forces.
"For example, building greater resilience in pre-deployment training, early on, so that we can help with some of the challenges that are faced and also other things, post-deployment," Sajjan said.
Randall Garrison, defence critic for the NDP, questions the government's resolve, saying it has already taken far too long to come up with any answers about a continuing crisis.
"You know, in 2013 we had a rash of suicides that first brought this to the public attention and to the minister's attention. Now, here we are, three years later, and no one has done a thing," Garrison said.
One family's hope
The family of one Canadian soldier who took his own life says that if the military wants to improve suicide prevention, it needs to listen to Canadian Forces personnel and their families.
Sheila Fynes's son, Cpl. Stuart Langridge, committed suicide at CFB Edmonton in 2008.
"I think they need to go back to the grassroots to do it. They need to talk more to the men, all the men," Fynes said.
"They need to talk to the families. I really wish somebody would say to me, 'You were with Stu, you talked to Stu, is there anything that we could have done differently that might have had a different outcome for him?'"
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
New Photos From OP IMPACT
Very little news is generated out of OP IMPACT these days. So here are some photos of our Canadian Armed Forces members serving in Iraq and are on the frontlines in the battle against ISIL.
It is evident that the RCAF CH-146 Griffon's are being well used on their most recent deployment to the Middle East.
It is evident that the RCAF CH-146 Griffon's are being well used on their most recent deployment to the Middle East.
 |
| An RCAF CH-146 Griffon on the tarmac in Erbil, Iraq. |
 |
| Photo has been digitally altered to protect operational security. Medical personnel from the Canadian Armed Forces and the Norwegian Army transfer a simulated patient to the operating table during an exercise scenario at the Role 2 medical facility in Northern Iraq. |
 |
| A CH-146 Griffon helicopter flies over Northern Iraq for a tactical flying mission during Operation IMPACT on November 8, 2016. |
 |
| A Canadian Armed Forces member secures the area while CH-146 Griffon helicopter crew members kit up before a tactical flying mission in Northern Iraq during Operation IMPACT on November 9, 2016. |
 |
| Deployed Canadian Armed Forces Health Services personnel unpack and set up equipment at the Role 2 medical facility in Erbil, Iraq |
 |
A Canadian Armed Forces soldier guards his arcs of fire on board a CH-146 Griffon helicopter during an air mobility mission in Northern Iraq during Operation IMPACT on November 4, 2016. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)