Cpl. Steve Martin

Last night I attended a Ramp Ceremony for Cpl. Steve Martin who was killed by an IED while on foot patrol in the district of Kandahar. Cpl. Martin was part of a larger patrol that was in the area to protect a major road construction project.

Cpl. Martin's death is tragic in so many ways. Tragic in that he died 2 days before his 25 birthday. Tragic as he had been deployed three times, once to Haiti right after the earthquake and twice to Afghanistan. And finally, tragic as we are entering the season where we celebrate the birth of a child who came to earth to spread Peace.

I will be heading home today to be with my family and friends...Cpl. Martin has also left Afghanistan for home where he will be met by his family and friends...may he rest in Peace.

Our hearts and prayers go out to Cpl. Martin's family and friends during this difficult time and may the rest of us embrace the season of Peace and truly appreciate and be thankful for all that we have and hold dear.

Kandahar University

Good morning everyone.....today is Friday and a "Low Ops Day" so I managed to sleep in a little bit and have a slow joe (coffee). I had a busy week as I was back down south in Kandahar with our Ambassador for a couple of events. This series of pictures is taken at the Kandahar University where the Ambassador, the RoCK (Representative of Canada in Kandahar) and Governor Wesa had a ground breaking ceremony for a new building Canada is funding.

The University provides programs such as Medicine, Agriculture and Education. The new building Canada is providing support for is a Agricultural lab. The University has quite extensive grounds and in the one picture, you can see how many buildings the University has. All of the white three story buildings belong to the University and are the classrooms as well as the dormitories for the students...which of course are all men.

I just had to take the picture of the one ANP with his white leather gloves, complete with chrome studs! It is such a challenge to try and get the ANP not to "Jingle up" their uniform and kit. You can't quite pick it out in the picture but he has a small flower sticking out of the end of the barrel. These poor guys have absolutely nothing, so when they do get something of value, they want to dress it up. If you think of young men back home, they all have clothes, cars, their own rooms, etc. , to express their own personality...these guys have nothing.

I am always struck by how harsh the environment is. You can see how dusty and dirty everything is. Add to this incredible heat, pollution, poverty and violence. It is truly speaks to the determination and tenacity of the Afghan people. Perhaps some of the students rioting in London should come to Kanadahar and apply to Kandahar University.

Kandahar Officer Course

This past week I spent a couple of days down south at our Training Centre located at Camp Nathan Smith. The photo straight above is of the "Three Amigo's" who run the place for us. Supt Vic Park from RCMP Ottawa is on the right, Insp. Pierre Landry from Montreal Police Service is in the middle and Insp. Gary Stafford from the Toronto Police Service is on the left. Three absolutely outstanding guys who are doing an amazing job.

The main reason I headed south was to congratulate the guys on starting up a new course at the Training centre. We have just recently started a six month ANP Officer Course which is usually held only in Kabul and this marks the first time that it is being held in Kandahar. There has always been a challenge in getting recruits from Kandahar to go to Kabul for a six month course. The recruits do not want to leave their family for such a long period of time and of course travelling from Kandahar to Kabul is very difficult. We are hoping that by holding a course in Kandahar we can attract higher quality students who will stick with it and make a career out of policing.

I have included a couple of pictures of the Centre to try and give a sense of what it is like. For security reasons I really can't post any great shots, however you can see a classroom, a small courtyard and a small area outside where exercises are held.

In the top photo I am standing with Col. Shaw of the ANP. Col Shaw has been in the ANP for 37 years and is currently assigned to the Regional Headquarters in Criminal Investigations. He is an instructor on the Investigators Course. He explained to me that the reason he was not in uniform was because he had just arrived from his home and could not wear his uniform as it is much too dangerous for him to travel through the city alone in a police uniform.

You will also see that I am wearing a jacket...it really cools down at night this time of year. It actually dips below freezing at night but still gets fairly warm during the day. Quite pleasant actually, except for all the dust of course.

Kabul "Think Tank on Policing"

This week I attended a three day "Think Tank" sponsored by the Canadian Embassy. The meeting took place at the Serena Hotel located in downtown Kabul. The event took place over three days and included international policing experts and of course our Afghan partners.

The conference was held at the Serena Hotel which is part of an international chain and is very modern and where most westerners stay when they come to Kabul. I wanted to take some photo's of the inside, however they are extremely sensitive to photo's being taken as they suffered an attack several months ago. Insurgents breached the exterior and started shooting people inside before they were killed by security guards. I did manage to grab a couple of pictures of the street right outside the hotel (after I had cleared it with the security manager). The street was extremely quite as the police had basically shut it down for the conference.

The intent of the conference was to discuss the challenges of building a police force in a conflict situation. Trying to address the challenges of fighting an insurgency while at the same time building a police force that responds to the communities requirements for policing...policing with the community. Additional challenges include "quality versus quantity" of the Afghan National Police. Do you spend more time training the ANP recruits, or do you shorten the training to allow for more recruits? There is an incredible demand for police officers, however the current ones are poorly trained and require leaders....

The picture of the folks sitting at the table includes Dr. Markus Ritter who is wearing the tan uniform. Markus is the Commander of the German Police Project team (GPPT) and also heads up our Senior Police Advisory Board (SPAG). He is a great guy and has provided us with the occasional meal of Schnitzel.

In two of the pictures you can see Supt Konrad Shourie who is part of our contingent and is the Senior Police Advisor to MGen Beare. MGen Beare is responsible for all the police training in Afghanistan and Konrad has an extremely demanding job trying to keep up to the pace of the military and the General's advisors. The military plans, then plans again and then does another plan.

It was a very interesting three days with a lot more questions being posed than answered. It always intrigues me that there are many, many more folks who can tell you what not to do, but far fewer who will actually roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty doing the actual work.

Kyber Rifles - Part 2

Hello everyone! I have to sincerely apologize for the lack of blogs. We have had lots on the go and I have not been as diligent as I should have been....

Here are some additional photo's from the Kyber Rifles. The grounds were quite lavish with all types of exotic birds wandering around or in an enclosure. The picture of the large tree with the cage around it was full of parakeets, budgies, etc. You can also see the tree has chains and locks on it. The explanation is written on a sign which states:

"I am under arrest. One fine evening British officer after drinking heavily thought that I was moving from my original place. Then ordered Mess Sergeant to arrest me. Since then I am under arrest."

As I reflect back on this particular trip, I realize how fortunate I am to have had such an experience. When I mention this trip to the various folks I work with, they are all very envious. The opportunity just does not present itself that often. In fact, my predecessor had tried numerous times to make the same trip, however was not successful...truly an incredible experience in a very historic part of the world.

Stay tuned for more blogs...

Rememberance Day

Of all the Remembrance Days I have attended, this had to be one of the most special. You can see from the pictures that we had a large crowd of people who paid tribute to the fallen. It was very touching to have so many people from the international community as well as the head of the Afghan Army in attendance.

The Afghan General spoke about how Canada's history is a mere blink of an eye by Afghan standards. Canada is such a young country and has never experienced the horrors of a war on it's soil. The General went on to say that all Afghans really want...is to grow old. Decades of armed conflict have robbed his country of wisdom and experience. Peace and prosperity is something that Canada enjoys, and although we have not experienced armed conflict at home, we are prepared to send our young men and women to a foreign land, to help others achieve what we have.

I was extremely moved when the names of the fallen Canadian soldiers were read out....it really struck me as I listened to the names being read out one by one. Young men and woman who were so far away from home and gave the ultimate sacrifice so others can have what we have...

Kyber Rifles

Here are some pictures of the Kyber Rifles Officer's Mess. It was awkward to take pictures because I was working and meeting with the various folks. I wanted so much to play "tourist" and wander around exploring and taking piles of pictures....so, I snapped pictures when I could and hopefully it gives you a sense of what I experienced.

The Kyber Rifles base is in a walled compound surrounded by very heavy security. Once inside the compound, you are immediately struck by the difference from the surrounding area. The grounds are well maintained and very lush. There are tropical birds roaming the grounds and flowers everywhere. You can see the British influence on the buildings and the way the grounds are layed out.

When we walked into the Officer's Mess, there was a group of performers playing traditional music welcoming us. We were then escorted into the main lounge, which unfortunately I only was able to get one quick picture of. The picture is of the area above the fireplace mantle with several portraits and a silver stag. I was literally being guided by the arm with two servants escorting me everywhere...

In the lounge we had a formal meeting, followed by the same routine of the servants grabbing me by the arms (they focused on me because I was in uniform and my rank) and escorting me to the dining room, which was simply splendid. Once again I wanted so much to take a picture of the table settings with silver everywhere, not too mention all the incredible food set out....but, the Pakistani officers were being so gracious I thought it would be rude to pull out a camera.

After the lunch we were escorted to the museum area of the mess. There were several hallways and rooms lined with photo's, plaques, awards and memrobilia from various visitors. Each country has been provided an area of wall space and the one picture shows Canada's wall. I had to chuckle because one of the pictures on the Canada wall is of RCMP Commissioner Simmmonds who must have visited at one time and left a signed picture of himself. Commissioner Simmonds was the one who presented me my badge during my graduation ceremony in 1982 at Regina.

I will do an additional blog on the Kyber Rifles as I have some great pictures of outside the Mess and the grounds.

Torkham Gate

I had an incredible oppourtunity the other day to travel out to the Afghanistan - Pakistan border. The crossing is called "Torkham Gate" and is located at the famous Kyber Pass. I was very fortunate to be part of a group from the Embassy that travelled to the border to take part in meetings with the Afghan and Pakistani border officials. The whole idea is to start dialouge and improve infrastructure at the border.

This is really the only legal border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan and over 1000 trucks a day cross at this particular point. There is one dirt road over one bridge. It takes about 3 days for a truck to actually cross the border, once you arrive, wait in line and do the various paperwork . Adding to the challenges is that this is all part of the "Durand Line" which of course is still contested by both sides.

We flew from Kabul by helicopter and then had a road move to get to the border. Once at the border, the security was very heavy as both sides wanted to ensure nothing happened and then added on top of it all was the force protection from the coalition...lots of guns and rockets everywhere.

Unknown to us, they had shut the border completely down for our visit. The trucks and people were backed up forever. You are not allowed to take a personal vehicle across the border and everything has to be carried across. In the pictures you can see young boys pushing hand carts full of goods. These boys work at the border and ferry people and goods back and forth. They even move people who cannot walk the kilometre between the border points.

Hospitality in this part of the world is a taken very seriously and we were treated to some incredible food throughout the day. I will do a couple additional posts on the trip as I have some more great photo's to share as well as the best part of the trip....having lunch in Pakistan at the Kyber Rifle's Officer's Mess. I couldn't believe it, driving through the kyber Pass to have lunch at the Officer's Mess....crazy.

Happy 50th Birthday Debra!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife....as you can see in this recent picture taken last year when we were in Italy, I am the luckiest guy in the world!

I wish I was there to help celebrate such a significant birthday, but I will make up for it when we go to Jamaica in February. We are going to one of those fancy resorts with dining on the beach, private cottage (the honeymoon cottage of course) and pool. I know we will have a great time.

I also shipped Debra a present from Afghanistan which arrived in a big metal box and has been sitting in our den for the last couple of days. I guess one of the good things about being in Afghanistan is that after being together for so many years, and buying so many birthday presents, I had the opportunity to get something unique for such a special birthday.

Enjoy your gift and have a wonderful birthday Debra!

Love you with all my heart....

The Halloween Spirit

Halloween is quickly approaching and I thought these pictures might help get everyone into the Halloween "spirit". This is our little dog Abbey and I can only imagine what she is thinking as she stands there with her costumes on.

Sarah loves Halloween and throughout the years, she has made Abbey all of the costumes except the reindeer. It was quite funny when the little kids would come to the door trick or treating and they would see Abbey. They would be more interested in the dog than the candy.

I couldn't resist posting them as I think they are so darn funny!

The other point I should mention, is that there is only one person in our family that Abbey growls at....

Happy Halloween!

Life in Kabul

Good morning all!

I held a farewell party for my "little buddies" the other night...I enjoyed it very much but not so sure they did! I started my meds and felt like making a little sign to wear around my neck..."No Free Room and Board!".

I am feeling way better and have my appetite back again. Spoke to the Chef as I can only eat food that has been boiled or cooked, nothing raw for two weeks. I had eggs cooked to order this morning...a great omelette, kinda nice. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to everything getting back to normal.

You may recall several weeks ago I attended Barbur Gardens for a art exhibit. The exhibit included photographs taken by local students. Here are some of the pictures they took throughout the streets of Kabul. I really like them because they show what daily life in the city is like, not all doom and gloom. For the most part, folks just trying to live their lives. Of course these students can wander the streets and find some great shots...