Canadian Armed Forces

Capt. Richard (Steve) Leary, 32, was leading Canadian and Afghan troops in a foot patrol in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province when they were ambushed by small arms fire shortly after 9 a.m. local time.
The soldiers returned fire, then repositioned under Leary's leadership in what became a half-hour-long battle. Close air support was called in and the insurgents were pushed back.
Leary was struck at about 9:30 a.m., said Colonel Jamie Cade during a news conference.
No other soldiers were hurt in the gunfire.
"Captain Leary was what we in uniform are expected to be. Captain Leary was a soldier and Captain Leary was a leader," Cade said.
"In his memory and the memory of those that have gone before him we remain steadfast in our resolve to bring peace and stability to the people of Afghanistan. He will be greatly missed by his military family."
Leary was a platoon commander with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based out of Shilo, Man.
Originally from Brantford, Ont., he was on his first overseas mission. He leaves behind his wife Rachel, his parents Richard and Gail and his sister Brandi.
His repatriation ceremony is tentatively scheduled for June 6.
After being shot, Leary was airlifted to the medical facility at Kandahar Airfield where he was pronounced dead by a medical officer.
"Every death is deeply painful to us, but it is a risk that we as members of the Canadian Armed Forces understand and assume as we work to bring peace and stability to a country that has been torn apart by war," Cade said.
Senior army spokesman Maj. Jay Janzen said Leary's men are taking the loss with much difficulty.
"When you lose a leader as effective as Capt. Leary, as personable, it is difficult, but we're just thinking about (his) family right now,'' he said.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay, the Governor General, the prime minister and the opposition party leaders have all extended their condolences to Leary's family.
Canada's military losses in Afghanistan now total 84, Leary being the second solider in a month to die after an ambush. The last was Calgary paramedic Cpl. Michael Starker, whose patrol was attacked within close range of a major Canadian base in the Panjwaii district.
Of the 84 Canadians killed in Afghanistan, 39 were killed by buried bombs.

Earlier attacks

Taliban fighters have increasingly engaged NATO soldiers directly in recent weeks.
On Monday, four Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were injured in two separate Taliban attacks west of Kandahar.
One soldier was hit by gunfire while a roadside bomb blast wounded three others and their interpreter. The attacks occurred just minutes from each other in the volatile Zhari district, where Canadian forces have often come under Taliban fire.
The troops were doing foot patrols when they were attacked.
One of the soldiers was to be flown to a military hospital in German for treatment of serious injuries, while the other three were to be treated at the Kandahar base.
Recently, Canadian forces stepped up efforts to stop Taliban bomb-making operations in a sweep dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder.

With files from The Canadian Press

Department of National Defence
Feb 07, 2008 11:01 ET
Canadian Soldier Chosen to Accept Award for NATO OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 7, 2008)

- A Canadian soldier from The First Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (1 RCR) in Petawawa, Ontario, will accept the Peace Through Dialogue Medal on Saturday, February 9 in Munich, Germany.

The award has been presented to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by the Munich Conference on Security Policy. The medal is awarded at the Conference each year to honour outstanding contributions to international peace and security. NATO has requested that a Canadian soldier accept this medal on its behalf. Private Michael Patrick O'Rourke, M.M.V. has been selected by the Canadian Forces to accept the award.

Pte O'Rourke is pleased that he has been selected by the Canadian Forces to accept this award on behalf of all NATO soldiers. "I am a soldier doing my job and I feel humbled that of all the soldiers who have contributed to NATO operations, I would be selected to receive this honour." Pte O'Rourke also received the Military Medal of Valour in 2006 for his participation in operations in Afghanistan, where he ignored his personal safety by braving enemy fire to assist in the treatment and evacuation of his fellow soldiers trapped in a disabled vehicle.

The 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy is an annual event, which will bring together some 250 high-ranking elected and appointed government officials, defence experts and media representatives from around the world in an informal setting to discuss transatlantic security and defence issues. The conference is scheduled February 8-10.

For more information, please contact
Information: 1-866-377-0811
After hours: 613-792-2973
www.forces.gc.ca
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From Scott Kesterson

Body: AT WAR Film is the documentary project based on my filming in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. I have sent you a friends link from the film site. The first trailer is posted on the site.
Video trailer 1 is available at:
myspace.com/atwarfilm
youtube.com/AtWarFilm
atwarfilm.com

Thanks.
Scott.

AT WAR Film - Trailer 3
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Scott Kesterson is a freelance photojournalist from Portland, Oregon. For more than a year he has been an embedded journalist in Afghanistan.
"My project is one of passion. It is the realization of a life long dream to work as a combat photographer. Having served with the Oregon Army National Guard, 41st Brigade during the mid 80's, in both the enlisted ranks, and eventually as a 2nd Lt., I also have a personal interest in documenting this narrative. My focus is and will be the human part of the story; that element that too often gets passed over in the face of headlines and dramatic events. I am a strong believer that the real drama is what happens in the lives of people through the events of the day to day."

Click here to read Scott Kesterson's blog.

Scott is also the man behind the camera in these videos of Canadian Forces fighting in Afghanistan. (Please exercise parental discretion due to strong language contained in the following videos)

Copyright 2006 Scott Kesterson .. ..

Copyright 2006 Scott Kesterson .. .. We thank Mr. Kesterson for the opportunity to utilize his exceptional work on this webpage. A website showcasing his work is currently under construction at www.scottkesterson.net, or you can click on his Myspace profile located in our "Top Friends" list.
------------------------------------------ From: ?M@rylene? Date: 01/09/2007

For the Fallen Ones, Like the two Fallen Heroes Mercier & Duchesne. Respect to them and sinceres sympathy for the familly.Les funérailles des deux soldats du 22e Régiment morts la semaine dernière en Afghanistan ont eu lieu vendredi.La cérémonie en l'honneur de l'adjudant-maître Mario Mercier s'est déroulée à l'église Saint-Gérard-Majella, dans l’arrondissement Val-Bélair, à Québec.Mario Mercier, 43 ans, était au service de l'armée depuis 19 ans. Il laisse dans le deuil sa conjointe et trois enfants.Les funérailles privées du caporal-chef Christian Duchesne ont aussi eu lieu à Québec. Le soldat de 34 ans était marié et père de trois filles.Source: Tva.canoe.com ----------------- Bulletin Courriel ----------------- De : Canadian Armed Forces Date : 2007-09-01Thanks for all your support!
CAF Tribute Page

The "Van Doos"

Active : 14 October 1914
Country : Canada
Branch : Canadian Forces Land Force Command
Type : Line Infantry
Role : Mechanized Infantry (two battalions)
Light Role : Infantry/Paratroop (one battalion)
Reserve : (two battalions)
Size: Five battalions
Part of Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
Garrison/HQ Le siège social - Quebec City
1er Bataillon - Valcartier
2e Bataillon - Quebec City
3e Bataillon - Valcartier
4e Batallion - Laval
6e Batallion - Saint-Hyacinthe
Nickname: The Van Doos
Motto : Je me souviens (I Remember)
March-Quick : Vive la Canadienne
March-Slow : Marche lente du Royal 22e Régiment
Mascot : Goat named Baptiste X
Commanders :
Colonel en Chef HM The Queen
Colonel du Régiment Général Maurice Baril, CMM, MSM, CD

The Royal 22e Régiment is an infantry regiment, and the most famous francophone organization of the Canadian Forces. The regiment comprises three Regular Force battalions, two Primary Reserve battalions, and a band, making it the largest regiment in the army. The ceremonial home of the regiment is La Citadelle in Quebec City, where the regimental museum is housed. The regiment is nicknamed the Van Doos, a corruption of vingt-deux, French for "twenty-two." The regiment's RHQ is located in Quebec City, with all three of its regular battalions stationed at various bases in the province of Quebec. The regiment serves as the "local" infantry regiment for Quebec.

History

The ancestor of the regiment was formed in the early days of the First World War, when volunteers from all over Canada were being massed for training at Valcartier, Quebec, just outside of Quebec City. The first contingent of 30,000 volunteers, which became the 1st Canadian Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, were grouped into numbered battalions, regardless of origin. The existing reserve regiments were not mobilized, due to the belief of the Defence Minister, Sam Hughes, that a new "efficient" structure was required. In the process, the new structure failed to create French-speaking units, such as those that had existed in the reserves. Over 1000 French-Canadian volunteers were scattered into different English-speaking units. This was not an oversight. Ontario (Hughes's political base) was in the process of forbidding teaching in French, or of French, in the school system (Regulation 17), causing outrage in French Canada and a lack of support for the war of the "king and country" that was perceived as seeking to destroy the Francophone community in Canada.

The second contingent was based, more logically, on battalions raised and trained in the various military districts in which they had been recruited, but still on an impersonal numbered basis (with the exception of some with a Highland or Irish identity). Considerable political pressure in Quebec, along with public rallies, demanded the creation of French-speaking units to fight a war that many viewed as being right and necessary, despite the infamous Regulation 17 in Ontario. When the government relented, the first such unit was the 22nd (French Canadian) Infantry Battalion, CEF. The 22nd went to France as part of the 5th Canadian Brigade and the 2nd Canadian Division in September 1915, and fought with distinction in every major Canadian engagement until the end of the war. While other French-speaking units were also created, they were all broken up upon arrival in France to provide reinforcements for the 22nd, which suffered close to 4000 wounded and killed in the course of the war. Two members of the 22nd were awarded the Victoria Cross in that war, Lieutenant Jean Brillant and Corporal Joseph Kaeble.

After the war, the 22nd Battalion was disbanded on May 20 1919, sharing the fate of the other numbered battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. However, in the post-war reorganizations of the army, public pressure, such as resolutions by the Legislature of Quebec as well as the City Council of Quebec City, demanded that a permanent French-language unit be created in the peace-time Regular Force, and accordingly a new regiment was created, made up of veterans of the 22nd Battalion, on April 1 1921. Initially the regiment was simply the 22nd Regiment, but in June King George V approved renaming it The Royal 22nd Regiment. In 1928 the anomaly of a French-language unit with an English name was resolved, and the regiment became the Royal 22e Régiment.

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The ongoing commitment of Canada's New Government to the safety of Canadian Forces members engaged in deployed operations was front and centre on April 12 when the Honourable Gordon O'Connor, Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Michael Fortier, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, and General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, confirmed plans to renew the Canadian Forces' tank capability.
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A Canadian medic receives thanks in Kandahar Province

Corporal Tamar Freeman, a medic assisting at a Village Medical Outreach (VMO) receives thanks from a woman she has just helped. The VMO is one facet of a larger mission of the Provincial Reconstruction Team based in Kandahar City.

A long-ago Christmas present, shown in this undated photo, lost by a Canadian soldier who fought in one of the closing battles of the Second World War has turned up in a German wood nearly 62 years after the bloody struggle for the Reichswald Forest. Pat Fowler and her husband, Don, who run a website dedicated to Canadian soldiers, first heard about the bracelet late last year when they were contacted by a Dutch man who had recently visited the Reichswald Forest on the German side of the Dutch-German border. (CP)

Canada’s New Government Announces Changes to Reserve Force Personnel Pension Plan

The Honourable Gordon O’Connor, Minister of Defence, and General Rick Hillier, the Chief of Defence Staff, are pleased to announce that all Reserve Force members will now be eligible to contribute to and earn benefits from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for all periods of Reserve service.

Canadian Forces photo by Capt Dave Muralt, PRT Public Affairs Officer

Kandahar, Afghanistan; November 22, 2006 — Kids gather around military policeman Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryon Dempsey of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team at the Shaheed Abdul Ahad Khan Orphanage, where the PRT delivered treats as well as school supplies, teapots and drinking glasses, a washing machine, and outdoor clothing for winter.

Canadian Forces photo by MCpl Robert Bottrill, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

At sea in the Gulf region; November 17, 2006 — Petty Officer 2nd Class Rob Pacchiano of HMCS Ottawa boards a merchant ship to make a rapid survey and gather local information. PO2 Pacchiano, a native of Calgary, Alta., is a member of the frigate's boarding party. HMCS Ottawa left Esquimalt, B.C., for the Gulf region in early September to operate for six months with the U.S.-led coalition fleet deployed on Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.

Photo by Corporal Dany Michaud

6 November 2006, en route for Trenton, Ontario - A CC-150 Polaris aircraft from 8 Wing Trenton’s 437 Squadron is escorted by two CF-18’s from 3 Wing Bagotville’s 425 Squadron. The event was held in honour of the 130 soldiers, including Brigadier-General David Fraser, former Commander Multi National Brigade for Regional Command South, returning from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. The interception was part of a standard training flight.

Photo by Sgt Roxanne Clowe, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

06 Nov 2006, Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan – Canadian Leopard C2 Tanks conduct a road move on the camp at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. The Leopard C2 tank provides direct and precise fire power, armoured protection, mobility, and other tactical advantages such as shock effect. The Leopard C2 also has improved ability to operate effectively at night and in poor visibility conditions on the battlefield.

Photo by: Mcpl Robert Bottrill, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

5 November 2006, HMCS Ottawa, Arabian Gulf – From the left, Petty Officer Kathy Thom, from Victoria, British Columbia, Ordinary Seaman Stephanie Shannon, from Victoria, British Columbia, and Corporal Jessie Bush, from Spencerville, Ontario, show off their new hair style following a charity drive onboard HMCS Ottawa which raised over eleven thousand dollars for cancer research.

Photo by Sgt Roxanne Clowe, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

28 Oct 2006 Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan - Supplies are dropped from a Canadian Forces CC-130 Hercules aircraft over an undisclosed location in Afghanistan to re-supply coalition forces undergoing combat operations. The Hercules aircraft currently operating out of Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, is from 436 Squadron, Tactical Airlift Unit (TAU) from Camp Mirage, South West Asia.

Governor General announces the first-ever awarding of Military Valour Decorations

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, announced today the awarding of the first four Military Valour Decorations to members of the Canadian Forces who have displayed gallantry and devotion to duty in combat.
The recipients will be invited to receive their decoration from the Governor General at a presentation ceremony to be held at a later date.
Military Valour Decorations are national honours awarded to recognize acts of valour, self-sacrifice or devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. They consist of the Victoria Cross, the Star of Military Valour and the Medal of Military Valour. This marks the first time that these decorations, which were created in 1993, have been awarded.

From left to right: Sergeant Patrick Tower, Sergeant Michael Thomas Victor Denine, Master Corporal Collin Ryan Fitzgerald, and Private Jason Lamont will be the first recipients awarded Military Valour Decorations since their creation in 1993.

Left to right are: Cpl Lamont, MCpl Fitzgerald, CDS Gen Rick Hillier, Sgt Denine, Sgt Tower.

Four soldiers were recognized for heroism Friday 27 October 2006 in Calgary, Alberta. For their actions in Afghanistan, Sgt Patrick Tower was awarded the Star of Military Valour, while Sgt Michael Thomas Victor Denine, MCpl Collin Ryan Fitzgerald and Cpl Jason Lamont were awarded the Medal of Military Valour. ***