NF Camping in Manitoba

[holdfast]

I got the Day off so I could go Camping somewhere in Manitoba. I would drive 1.5 hours to Saskatoon to get a flight out to Winnipeg and meet my hosts and then I would then be Bussed another two plus hours close to Brandon where I was to discuss the weekend activities with my Guide. The weather and the drive was nice and relaxing from North Battleford to Saskatoon. I would see a coyote in distance and relaxed to the tunes of Floyd and other favorites from the seventies.

 

 

After about two hours I would pass maybe five towns, and there was no question that I was finally approaching the City of Saskatoon as the traffic got a little heavier and the Advertisement signs started increasing

 

 

Ahh finally civilization and the fighter jet indicating the direction to the Saskatoon Airport. I was anticipating a Timmies that would await me at the Airport.

 

 

Finally the Airport. This would be the place that would lead me to the second most important event in my life and that would be my new life after Retirement from the Army. Its a small Airport, but very busy. What I noticed here is that security takes their jobs seriously. No so Called guards reading news Papers and having a good time speaking a language I cant understand. These guys were professional from other Airports that I have traveled through.

 

 

After a short flight and some instructions from my hosts it was off towards Brandon to an area that I have never been before. They say its a great camping area if you like Wind , Cold, and nothing that would be considered scenery.

 

Yup, as Bad as Wainwright AB but I actually got to like the Area after spending three Years there.

 

 

WHAT THE F is this? This Ain't the Camp or Camping I want? This@#!@!$$# hole was the home of the Royal Canadian Artillery and German Army till a couple of years ago. Now it is shared only with the Artillery and a Unit of our Princess Patricia Light Infantry ( PPCLI).

 

 

Well right now my priority is to get some sleep as I ain't going to get any for the next two Days as I have to be of sound mind because Ive been Tasked to Train the Reserve Infantry and Engineers how to work together to successfully complete a task as well as Afghanistan simulated Scenarios using Explosives. Its 0300hrs in the morning and I got no time to pitch a ground sheet. It'Ll be sleeping Bag, Air Mattress, and Bivy Bag. It'll dip below zero so I'm anticipating the cold shave with my razor and Canteen cup in the Morning. Ill only get 3 hours sleep before Id get up Sleep F/ked. The Shave was cold but refreshing.

 

 

Well the first scenario will be an IED ( Improvised Explosive attack) on a Canadian Patrol. Armoured Recce would lead, followed by the QRF ( Quick Reaction Force) which is Infantry and then My guys the Engineers. They will not travel as one gaggle as they need to space out to avoid multiple casualties.

 

These two are playing one of poor little Omar's friends. Actually they are part of my Engineers who are tasked to play enemy. In front of them is the Blaster hooked to wire with some C4 at the side of the road. They will blast the first vehicle which will be a casualty. The explosive will not harm the vehicle as it is just far enough. WE HOPE

 

 

Well the trigger-man did his job after an agonizing cold wait. By the way I still have a job as it worked and didnt kill anybody LOL. This will be a casualty, one dead, two injured, and the G wagon not movable and inoperatable. Time to help train these Reservists who some have volunteered to go to Afghanistan in 09. Our Kids

 

 

So the Remaining Armoured Recce Vehicles will do an inner Cordon to secure with their heavy wpns. Armoured soldiers will dismount and look to eliminate the trigger man, enemy, and watch for other IEDs. QRF( this case Infantry) will be called to do an outer cordon. Then Engineers and Medic will follow up to clear the way to the vehicle and clear any IEDS and collect forensics.

 

Armored Recce secure and now moving to cordon and secure for Infantry

 

QRF finally arrives and dismounts to secure outer cordon and eliminate any the trigger man or any enemy Omars after getting information.

 

Infantry moving to their positions being vigilant to IEDs as well as enemy

 

Now my guys the Engineers will do their job once the Infantry has secured the area. They will clear up to the casualty ensuring no more booby traps. clear the vehicle for recovery. Others will investigate the explosion and collect forensics. Others will clear likely mined and booby trapped areas.

 

We would practice this one more time. Oh yea, it was not smooth and there is a lot to learn once they are assimilated to their Regular force units once the are called upon.

 

Afterwards we will train these guys on how to do an explosive breach into a fortified structure such as a wall. This is JTF training that is now going to be a regular part of combat training. All Combat soldiers will be trained to do this now. It is new and these reserves are going to be the first Reserves to do this training in Canada. We will Stack using 3 Infantry and two Engineers. The Engineers will carry place the explosves as well as trigger it. The Infantry will fight through with the Engineers.

 

This is a six man Stack moving in. The Lead man is holding an explosive blanket protecting himself and the others. You must have your head below the blanket. That frag Blanket gets really heave after a little bit. In the stack you will have one engineer with the trigger, another with the explosive and the other with tape etc. The Blast will be the worst for the first and last guy. And it HURTS

 

Laying the explosive and tape and rolling out the wire to blast. I'm the lone guy who is the Safety Officer ensuring their heads will be down and they're laying the explosives safely before firing.

 

I get the thumbs up from the last man who is the trigger man. I give him the go ahead he counts down 3 and triggers the blast. The breach will be fast and aggressive using deadly force. I assure you we will not have to worry about what to do with prisoners. They re too much trouble anyways as we have observed with the POOR LITTLE OMAR FIASCO

 

All in All good training, but I cant wait to do some real camping as in the last four weeks Ive been busy army training with three of them and every Tuesday nite

 

Of note to any Omar Spawns that want to harm Canadians. What has been said here is simple, not SOPs, and unclassified and the vehicles would be armoured with heavy guns after the area is pounded. However, I do want to say is, you will never demoralize the Canadian Soldier as he will never give up till the job is done. And as the Serb warned, We do not want to awaken a sleeping Tiger which happened anyways in the Medak pocket with devastating results. We are good peacekeepers only because we are good fighting soldiers first. Remember that.

[Greencoachdog]

I've noticed your signature mentions no liberals west of Winnipeg... what do you call that pack of Sausage Smokers in B.C???

[Clampet]

Beat yer swords into plowshares!

You'll never get rich, diggin' a ditch!

 

Not a very nice lifestyle, eh?

I joined the army when I was seventeen.

Did 2 months of basic training in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.

Was lucky to be able to get out with an honorable discharge (medical release).

[holdfast]

I've noticed your signature mentions no liberals west of Winnipeg... what do you call that pack of Sausage Smokers in B.C???

 

Yea BC ruins the saying , Long haired hippy friends of Jesus. Yea but your very observant as usual to my posts. Lots of Draft Dodgers and immigrants there too. A Liberal Recipe. I lived in Chilliwack for seven years, right beside Surrey, Abbotsford, etc, etc.

Edited November 4, 2008 by holdfast

[Fisherman]

I've noticed your signature mentions no liberals west of Winnipeg... what do you call that pack of Sausage Smokers in B.C???

Svend Robinsons buddies maybe?

[Fisherman]

I got the Day off so I could go Camping somewhere in Manitoba. All in All good training, but I cant wait to do some real camping as in the last four weeks Ive been busy army training with three of them and every Tuesday nite

 

Of note to any Omar Spawns that want to harm Canadians. What has been said here is simple, not SOPs, and unclassified and the vehicles would be armoured with heavy guns after the area is pounded. However, I do want to say is, you will never demoralize the Canadian Soldier as he will never give up till the job is done. And as the Serb warned, We do not want to awaken a sleeping Tiger which happened anyways in the Medak pocket with devastating results. We are good peacekeepers only because we are good fighting soldiers first. Remember that.

Ha, I recognize that hill and isn't that the road out to sewell Lake(swamp), great hunting out there.

[b2kptbo]

Interesting, a good read, well done, thanks...

[holdfast]

Svend Robinsons buddies maybe?

[holdfast]

Yea, hes as normal a man gets.LOL

[HTHM]

Thanks for this, I now understand much better what you were telling me when we were fishing together. (Not bad for an old guy!)

[lew]

Good to see your still serving your country even after you've done your time Holdfast.

[bigbuck]

I just quickly read a book about the Medak pocket and the battle fought there between the Croatian National Army and the Canadian peacekeepers stationed in a village there. It was the biggest firefight Canadian troops engaged in since Korea. I just hope our government and the Canadian people remember the sacrifices made by our troops. Afganistan is a very very tough place to be, most Canadians don't even know why we are there. You keep up your good work and I hope all of our boys in uniform make it back in one piece after the successful completion of their mission.

[holdfast]

I just quickly read a book about the Medak pocket and the battle fought there between the Croatian National Army and the Canadian peacekeepers stationed in a village there. It was the biggest firefight Canadian troops engaged in since Korea. I just hope our government and the Canadian people remember the sacrifices made by our troops. Afganistan is a very very tough place to be, most Canadians don't even know why we are there. You keep up your good work and I hope all of our boys in uniform make it back in one piece after the successful completion of their mission.

Unfortunately Canada tried to hide the fact that Canadians Killed soldiers during a UN peace keeping Mission. Supposedly the Croats figured the Canadians would pickup and run from their positions like other countries have done. Not sure who the Commander on the Ground was but he was PPCLI and decided to use the rules of engagement and fire back to protect his men. When it was over, depending who you talk to, Croat or UN there was upwards of a 30 dead and none for the Canadians. At least the Serbs were smart enough to never engage the Canadians. I was in theatre when the Serbs took a few Canadians Hostage and we had a plan to free them using deadly force. It was funny when the JTF showed up and here is this Engineer with a lower rank and Cap badge that I knew very well telling me not to say anything. Secret spy stuff I guess. The most exciting part of the plan was that myself and my driver posed as a SHHiter driver to go to the hostage position and recce the road for mines and soldiers in order to form a plan of attack. We gave the information to higher and figured a plan to Neutralize any mines and enemy in order get to the hostages. As it was it never did pan out as they were released through negotiation. However if it did occur there would of been a lot of people killed and I figured that my section would of probably end up dead sooner or later due to a mine strike.

Edited November 5, 2008 by holdfast

[bigbuck]

The breakup of the former Yugoslavia was a mess. The battle at Medak was fought mostly by reservists if I'm not mistaken, they weren't even regulars. According to the book, upwards of 30 Croatian troops were killed with an unkown number of wounded. Ultimately, who knows?? It was only in the past couple of years that the unit was decorated for their bravery. They were outnumbered, outgunned but not outsmarted.

Thankfully you didn't have to go through with your hostage release plan, sometimes diplomacy actually works.

The Serbs were smart enough not to engage our boys, but there was so much stupidity and waste on both sides. They have had axes to grind for hundreds of years and they finally went back at it for the first time since the Second World War and who knows how many people actually perished.

All I can say is I'm a proud Canadian of Macedonian descent and I have proudly worn my poppy every year since I was 7 or 8 years old (about 30 years or so). I may not support all of our government's policies, but I sure as heck support our military, if it was not for the sacrifice of generations past, we might all be saluting the little Austrian corporal with the funny mustache or constantly extolling the virtues of Karl Marx and Lenin.