Cpl. Yannick Sherrer

I regret that I am doing another blog on a Canadian soldier who lost his life in Afghanistan. Cpl. Yannick Sherrer died from the detonation of an improvised explosive device during a dismounted patrol in the Nakhony area of the Panjwaii District. He was 24 years old. Over the past 2 weeks, I have been extremely preoccupied with a visit by several Canadian Chiefs of Police to Afghanistan. I met them in Dubai and brought them into the country in order for them to meet their folks and see what we do here on a daily basis. We walked, drove and flew across Afghanistan as I showed them our various locations including Kabul, Kandahar, CNS and Panjwaii. We were down south in Kandahar when this tragedy occurred and they got to experience first hand a ramp ceremony on the runway in KAF. They felt the raw emotion as the body of a young Canadian soldier was being loaded up onto the plane for his trip home. What really resonated with me was that also being loaded up at the same time onto the massive CF Galaxy for the flight back to Ottawa, were scores of other young soldiers. These soldiers were dressed in civilian clothing having completed their Mission and were heading home. This scene at 1:30 in the morning, in the dessert heat on a runway far from home made me wonder just how much these soldiers and their families have been changed by their time in Afghanistan....one obviously in an extremely profound and tragic way.

Ok...I'm back.

Good evening all! I must apologize up front for being less than timely on my Blog updates. I had to go back to Ottawa for several days and was back and forth to our NHQ for meetings and the time has flown by. Prior to going home, I was extremely busy and there did just not seem to be enough hours in the day to keep up with all the things I wanted to accomplish. Looking ahead to the next couple of weeks I know I will really be "up to my armpits in alligators". I will do my best to make regular updates....

I have included a couple of pictures of what occurred while I was back home. As you can see, we managed to skate on the canal and just in time as it closed a couple days later.

The top picture is of the "Kabul Cup" and our Canadian Embassy Team that won it. When I heard the Kabul Cup tournament was going to occur while I was at home, I was really depressed. This is a hockey tournament between all of the various countries in Kabul. It is played inside in a gym and we (Canada) have never won the tournament before. I play hockey every Friday and I was so dissapointed that I was not there to support the team. I subsequently found out however that this was a "stacked" team and you will not see too many guys in the picture over 35, let alone 50! The good news is that our team won and the picture includes our Ambassador (holding the Cup) the Minister of National Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff (top Canadian Soldier). They all happened to be here for a visit right after the cup was won, so it is a great picture....(if I was in Afghanistan during the tournament, I'm sure I could have made the team).

When I got back to Kabul and entered my room, I was greeted by a blast of hot air. I couldn't figure out what was going on and I discovered that my room heater/air conditioner mounted on the wall was set at 33 degress! Turns out they did maintenance on it the day I left, and forgot to reset it....so, it was blowing hot air for 2 weeks until I returned. I got the heat shut off, then could not get the air conditioning to work to cool off the room. I called the "handyman" and he said he would come by.

Keep in mind I had just completed two days of flights and had not slep for more than 3 hours in 2 nights. They came by, fixed the air, I thanked them and decided to have a shower before I climbed into bed. As I stood in the shower...I discovered I had no hot water. I called the "handyman" and he came by.

He worked on the tank and said I would have to wait for the water to heat up before I could have a shower. So I went to bed and slept for a couple of hours looking forward to my hot shower. I woke up, climbed into the shower....you guessed it, no hot water. I called the "handyman" and he came by.

He replaced a part and said I would have to wait a couple a couple of hours for the hot water. I had a cold shower and went to work. I went to bed that night looking forward to my hot shower. In the morning I discovered not only did I not have hot water, I had no power as the tank blew the breaker. I called the "handyman" and he came by.

He told me that they would have to replace the tank and I would have hot water and power that afternoon. I had a cold shower in the dark and went to work. After work I came back to my room and found a brand new tank and my bathroom floor flooded as the tank was leaking. I called the "handyman" and he came by.

He told me that they would fix it and to go for supper. I went for supper and when I returned to my room, the floor was dry, I had hot water and I discovered that they had smashed my bathroom light fixture and I had no lighting in the bathroom. I called the "handyman" and he came by.

He replaced my light fixture and headed off. I went to bed and in the morning I had a hot shower with the lights on...it was heaven.

I just received a "Client Satisfaction Survey" from our property section. In an effort to continue providing excellent service, I was asked how I felt about their service....all I wrote was "the handyman came by".

Shopping in Kabul

Today is Friday which of course is the "day off" in Afghanistan and just like everywhere else in the world...folks have to shop. I thought I would post several pictures of what it is like to shop in Kabul.

It doesn't matter where you are in this city, there will always be stalls along the road full of merchandise for sale. Doesn't matter what you require, you can buy it on the side of the road. Everything from meat, vegetables, oil, fruit, wood, etc. Seriously...you can buy anything you would ever need. I just love watching the activity on the streets as we drive along. It is so interesting to see a small child of 5-6 walking with her parents on the side of the road, holding a chicken by the legs and it has blood still dripping from it. A couple of moments earlier the chicken was in a cage, then was butchered and handed over to the customer. "Fresh chicken" takes on a whole new meaning here...back home we would probably sent the kid for counselling.

There are several large "western style" grocery stores in the city, however most locals don't go there because the prices are higher and they tend to be targeted by the Taliban because of the western shoppers. We have had two attacks on stores over the last several days. The attacks are always the same...one or two suicide bombers will rush by the armed guards outside the store and if they are able to get inside, they will throw hand gernades and start shooting shoppers. Then the police or soldiers arrive and start shooting at the bad guy, who will then blow himself up killing everyone around him, which unfortunately is usually the police trying to stop him.

My shopping of course is much less dramatic (and perilous) as all my shopping is done inside one of the many Coalition compounds and once again, everything you could possibly need can be found at one of the camps. Yesterday myself and Wendall (our trusty Advisory NCO) went shopping for bedding for our in-coming crew. We had just found out that the camp they will be staying at doesn't issue bedding...so, we had to buy 11 sets and guess what color the sheets are?

Green of course.

A Real Kabul Winter...

Ok...this is a real Kabul winter. We had a couple days of heavy snowfall and cold tempratures. If it was a little bit colder, it would have been just like home! Unfortunately the sun came out today and the snow is already gone, turning the place into one big muddy mess.

The gal in the white coat is "MJ" who is in the CF and attached to the Embassy staff. The other lady is also attached to the Embassy in the developement portfolio...her name is Racima. They are both great ladies and true Canadians as they had to be outside playing in the snow as well.

The picture of the young Afghan is a lad who always hits us up to buy a bracelet from him. I have promised him that I will buy a couple before I head home...I give him credit, he is determined. Just like a postman he is always there...neither rain, nor snow, nor sickness...

Birthday Season

We are officially entering the Critchley family "Birthday Season" and I would like to wish three very special ladies of my family a very Happy Birthday!

Although I am a male, I am still smart enough to not publically announce the ages of these fine ladies, I will say that I have placed the photo's in chronicalogical order and I will let you figure out the order.

Kathy's special day is Feb 16th

Sue's special day is Feb 11th

Naomi's special day is Feb 17th

In celebration of your birthdays I had a Snickers Bar for breakfast this morning.....not sure why there was a huge beautiful tray of chocolate bars at the breakfast buffet this morning....but I have become very accustomed to life in Kabul and learned not to question everything and enjoy what you have in front of you and more importantly, to enjoy the moment....because it is fleeting and does not last.

So the above is my way of saying to please enjoy your birthdays and do something to make your day special and memorable!

Big hugs and kisses from your loving brother and uncle....

ps: I see on my previous post the Birthday Season extends all the way to Australia and Shell just celebrated her 24th birthday....funny, I think both Kathy and Sue are turning 24 as well.

Winter in Kabul

As you can see, winter has come to Kabul. Over the last couple of days we have had quite a rainfall which was really the first time that it has rained since I arrived almost 8 months ago. The rain was actually quite nice....it cleaned up all of the air pollution, was wonderful to listen to as I feel asleep at night and it covered the surrounding mountains with a layer of snow.

I just had to get up on one of the roofs and take these pcitures of the surrounding mountains as the sky was so clear and blue (normally you cannot see them due to the air pollution) and they were so striking. I had to crop the pictures so that I did not show the surrounding area to the Embassy but I think you will still get the sense of how Kabul is surrounded on all sides by soaring mountains.

In the one photo you can see the old Kabul Wall on the ridgeline. This was the wall built to defend Kabul from the invaders, much along the lines of the Great Wall in China, which both of course proved to be equally disasterous.

There is no snow on the ground down where we are and it was all just slushy rain. Turned the place into one big mud slick. I felt so bad for some of the young kids I saw as we moved around to various meetings in the city. For the most part they do not have proper winter clothes and wear sandals year round. These poor kids would be standing on the side of a incredibly busy road, soaking wet covered in mud, dressed in rags shivering and trying to sell everything from chewing gum to phone cards. Really something to see....

The "New Crew"

During my time home for Christmas, I attended the Canadian Police College and made a presentation to the new group of police officers slated for deployment to Afghanistan in mid-February. I thought it was great timing as they had just started their course and it gave me an oppourtunity to introduce myself and make a presentation about our Police Mission in Afghanistan.

The two pictures were taken by one of the guys in training....and of course I can't recall his name. I feel terrible as I promised I would give him the photo credit. No doubt I will be reminded when I see him.

Currently there are 23 folks in training and this is the first rotation where the majority are coming to Kabul and not Kandahar. We are beginning to transition all of our CivPol resources north so that come July, we will no longer be in the south. This is in response to the new Canadian Engagement Strategy for Afghanistan.

We are working hard behind the scenes here in Kabul getting ready for their arrival as there are so many issues to be worked out as everything is a challenge here. Something as simple as picking up 23 people at the airport and transporting them to their respective work locations, is a big deal. Just when we think we have it nailed down, something changes which has a ripple effect through all the plans.

That being said, we are very much looking forward to the "new crew" as I know they all bring unique skills and experience to the Mission which are in critical need as we continue to train and mentor the ANP.