# New Canadian Commander in Afghanistan



## 57Chevy (4 Jun 2010)

New Canadian Commander arrives in Afghanistan:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance arrived in Kandahar on Friday morning to take over command of Canada's 2,800 troops in Afghanistan and South Asia. 


The general's return came only five and a half days after he was named by Canadian Expeditionary Force Command as an emergency replacement for Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, who was abruptly fired last Saturday for alleged sexual misconduct with a female soldier under his command. 


Vance, who commanded Task Force Kandahar last year, arrives at a critical time. Canada is to lead military operations in the Taliban heartland this summer that many foreigners and Afghans believe may be the decisive battle of the NATO's long war with the Taliban. 


Like every other new arrival, Vance spent his first few hours drawing his kit after a circuitous, hectic 14,000 kilometre marathon journey from Edmonton, where he commands a brigade, to Ottawa, where he met senior brass, to the Middle East, where he boarded a camouflaged Canadian C-130 Hercules transport for the final leg into Kandahar Airfield, which is NATO's logistical hub and Canada's headquarters. 


Vance spent much of Friday receiving the first of several days of detailed briefings from his immediate superior, Maj.-Gen. Nick Carter and others in the British officer's multi-national headquarters. Other meetings are expected with TFK's deputy commander, Col. Simon Hetherington, and his operations, intelligence, future plans and air wing colonels, police and army mentoring team leaders and officers and diplomats at the Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Kandahar City. 


Also high on the agenda are discussions with the Canadian and four American lieutenant-colonels who serve as his battalion commanders. 


Through a military spokesman Vance indicated that he would not be speaking with the media for a few days in order to become more situationally aware about Kandahar, which he left when his first command ended there 27 weeks ago. 


In a brief email sent soon after learning from senior generals in Ottawa that he was being ordered back to Afghanistan, Vance said he regretted the circumstances that triggered his sudden return, but that he looked forward to "getting down to work." 


Much has changed in the hard-charging general's battle space since his first 10-month tour ended last November and Menard's tour, which was to have lasted 10 months, began. 


Thanks to an influx of American troops ordered by President Barack Obama, Vance has a fresh cavalry squadron from the 10th Mountain Division under his command in Dand District, as well as far more American military policemen in Kandahar City and the first wave of a brigade of troops from the 101st Airborne Division to the north and west of the provincial capital. 


Over the next couple of months several more American brigades are expected, at least doubling the number of troops in Kandahar from perhaps 7,000 today. As the American forces arrive, it is expected that Canada's military focus will narrow considerably, eventually concentrating almost entirely on Panjwaii District to the west of Kandahar City. 


For the moment, however, Vance remains in charge of a powerful joint Canadian-American force responsible for much of the province, which the Taliban regard as their spiritual homeland. 


Dand District was where Vance began Canada's 'model village concept' last spring by moving troops into platoon houses alongside Afghans in the town of Deh-e-Bagh. It was a softer approach that was novel at the time, and so immediately successful, that he was personally praised for it by NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. 


With McChrystal still in charge in Kabul and Carter, with whom he worked closely, still responsible for the war in the south, Vance will not have to get to know new bosses. 


But there may be a steep learning curve for him and his closest aides, who were mostly hand-picked by Menard and were very close to him. 


One advantage that Vance will have is that the current Canadian battle group commanded by Lt.-Col. Conrad Mialkowski is made up of troops from the Royal Canadian Regiment, which is the general's old infantry outfit. 


Vance's task force cleared Dand of insurgents last year as part of a clear, hold and build strategy that has become a template for NATO forces across the country. Similar operations followed last fall and winter in eastern Panjwaii. 


Canadian troops are now mostly in a "hold" phase there while conducting shaping operations for a likely push into areas to the west where the Taliban remains a potent force. 


A particular favourite of American commanders in Afghanistan, who admired his energy, creative thinking and no-nonsense style, Vance is to remain in charge of the Canadian brigade in Kandahar until Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner and his staff arrive as part of a scheduled deployment in about four months. 


Canada has lost 146 soldiers in Afghanistan since 2002. Its combat mission is to end by parliamentary mandate next summer. However, there is a growing expectation that some Canadian troops will remain in a much different non-combat role as trainers for Afghan security forces. 


© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service


Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canadian+commander+arrives+Afghanistan/3111422/story.html#ixzz0psnTKGzq


----------



## wildman0101 (4 Jun 2010)

soldiers soldier on 
best i can sum it up
best regards to both
scoty b


----------

