# Veterans in Canadian Forces revelling in chance of serving in Afghanistan



## old medic (27 Oct 2007)

Veterans in Canadian Forces revelling in chance of serving in Afghanistan
Published: Friday, October 26, 2007 
Canadian Press: Bill Graveland, THE CANADIAN PRESS


> FORWARD OPERATING BASE WILSON, Afghanistan - War may be hell but for some Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan, getting a chance to do some actual soldiering in a war zone is a dream come true.
> 
> This is especially so for longtime career soldiers who felt they missed out on combat experience during the decades when the Canadian Forces were more involved in peacekeeping around the world.
> 
> ...


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## HItorMiss (27 Oct 2007)

Who here hasn't used the adage " It's like the Football player who always practices but never gets a shot at the big game"

It may be hard for others to understand this is "OUR" big game. It validates all those practice games we had and to be honest it's a little personal test too, I have yet to meet a combat soldier who didn't wonder what he would do when the bullets start flying.

This really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone on here but maybe to the public it might be a bit of an eye opener about the soldiers that serve them and our desire to do this job. We are not some dumb uneducated fool tricked into service and then tricked into going to war we are in fact well educated (usually more educated then the masses on world politics and conflict) And we volunteer happily for missions like this. I doubt though that a certain segment of our society will ever get that.


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## The Bread Guy (27 Oct 2007)

HitorMiss said:
			
		

> Who here hasn't used the adage " It's like the Football player who always practices but never gets a shot at the big game"



I've heard this sentiment expressed by a LOT of people serving, but I don't think that gets through to the "general public" enough.

When I read the piece, I thought:  it's a surprise that people who've been in the military a long time want to get 'er done?  

Unless someone (erroneously) thinks of members of the military like people in the civil service, where (in the few cases that cause the whole group to be painted with the broad brush), who can't wait to GTF out when they have a ton of time in.


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## IN HOC SIGNO (27 Oct 2007)

I read this piece this morning and didn't see anything there that surprised me either. It's true that most civilians don't understand that soldiers want to use their skills and validate their training. I think the years of reducing us to peacekeeping and cuting back our equimpment fostered a view that we were just civil servants in uniform and now people are having to readjust their thinking.


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## Greymatters (27 Oct 2007)

Some civilians confuse 'wanting to play in the big game' with 'wanting to kill'.   When they translate it in these terms it becomes abhorent to them.  They fail to understand that for most of us it doesnt mean 'we get to shoot something', it means we get to do something useful, or daring, or commendable.  

In a sense it is no different than a police officer with a pistol.  Just because a police officer has a pistol doesnt mean he's planning to shoot someone, but he's going to use it to protect life, especially his and the lives of other officers, and teh civilian population.    The same with us.  We carry a rifle, but it doesnt mean we plan to shoot someone.  It does mean we will shoot to protect ourselves, our fellow soldiers, and the civilians whose lives we are safeguarding.


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