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http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060225/grenade_attack_060225
Another Soldier Wounded
- Thread starter military granny
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Quote,
The fact the insurgents have been able to attack and successfully slip into the city suggests that Canadian forces do not have the advantage they believe they had at first."
No, this suggests that you are a plonker who knows nothing about the tactical advantage of an ambush.....
The fact the insurgents have been able to attack and successfully slip into the city suggests that Canadian forces do not have the advantage they believe they had at first."
No, this suggests that you are a plonker who knows nothing about the tactical advantage of an ambush.....
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It good to hear that there wasn't any bad injuries this time. I worry about the guys over there right now and not just because one is my son but because its a crazy time for all military members that are serving there.
George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
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This is news to me. As far as I know, Osama bin Laden didn't rule over any part of Afghanistan, ever.
I know........he meant that the Taliban did...........or did he?
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I think this reporting is getting out of hand and becoming counter productive. It definately does not help the morale of those who have loved ones overseas.
If this keeps up, soon one day when there is not much else going on, we will have news stories like this:
Edited to include George W's humour. Excellent suggestion BTW.
If this keeps up, soon one day when there is not much else going on, we will have news stories like this:
Edited to include George W's humour. Excellent suggestion BTW.
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I don't know armymedic, if my family is the norm then we want to hear what is going on over there good or bad.
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military granny said:
Sure, that is the norm. But there is all sorts of info, from the CF mission info lines, to personal calls and emails. CTV news needs not report every incident and injury, following the "if it bleeds, it leads" journalistic impulsion.
Or is the news of this story that somebody shot at them...again?
George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Armymedic
Are you sure that wasn't Camp Wayne Gretszky?
Are you sure that wasn't Camp Wayne Gretszky?
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Yes that i can understand. Military families have a lot of other means to get info and when the news reporters get on the band wagon and report every little thing it can turn a country against its government and military in a hurry. The news should take a different approach to their reporting when it involves military members in other countries, sometimes less is more.
Haggis
Army.ca Fixture
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George Wallace said:
George, I'll "bet" you're right! ;D
If the SOP of a comms lockdown until the NOK is notified is followed then this CTV report (grammatical errors and ambiguity aside) is no big deal. It serves to remind the Canadian public that what we do is dangerous.
On the other hand, if this report was made "outside the envelope" then that reporter and his agency should be reminded that irresponsible journalism most always has unintended consequences.
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armymedic & granny...
In a perfect world, the media would be showing a representative picture of what's happening anywhere the reporters are. In reality, the reporters will focus on what is out of the ordinary - if a blast happens once every week or two, that's what the focus in on. In that respect, it's always going to be an "if it bleeds, it leads" business.
Another thing driving them is the fact that it costs big money for the news organizations to have them there and feed stuff back to their respective mother ships. Therefore, there will be pressure to report ANYTHING that happens that particular day, even if it's minor, even if it's an anomaly, in order to feed the network goat. Also, there's no incentive, in this environment, to sit down, chill, and take stuff in as part of a larger, longer picture. This becomes worse if the reporters haven't had any kind of orientation to military stuff before they deploy.
On the plus side, though, I notice a LOT of Canadian media organizations have reporters in K'Har these days. I'd love to hear the reality from anyone green on the ground because in theory, that COULD (not necessarily will) increase the chances of a more balance message getting out. The theory is if everyone focuses on describing a different part of the elephant, the chances increase that you'll get a better idea of what the elephant looks like. In this respect, I'm wondering if the reporters are falling prey to the herd instinct, reporting over each other's shouldere because their bosses at home only see what's coming out of other outlets in Canada. This drives the front-line media bosses to tell the reporter checking in, "so, I heard this - what's up with that?" with the reporter ends up chasing the tail of someone else.
Bottom line: take whatever you read/see/hear in the media with a BIG grain of salt, consider it only one tile of the mosaic that is reality, and try to get as many other tiles from other information sources as possible (realizing that each of these tiles may not be perfect, either).
In a perfect world, the media would be showing a representative picture of what's happening anywhere the reporters are. In reality, the reporters will focus on what is out of the ordinary - if a blast happens once every week or two, that's what the focus in on. In that respect, it's always going to be an "if it bleeds, it leads" business.
Another thing driving them is the fact that it costs big money for the news organizations to have them there and feed stuff back to their respective mother ships. Therefore, there will be pressure to report ANYTHING that happens that particular day, even if it's minor, even if it's an anomaly, in order to feed the network goat. Also, there's no incentive, in this environment, to sit down, chill, and take stuff in as part of a larger, longer picture. This becomes worse if the reporters haven't had any kind of orientation to military stuff before they deploy.
On the plus side, though, I notice a LOT of Canadian media organizations have reporters in K'Har these days. I'd love to hear the reality from anyone green on the ground because in theory, that COULD (not necessarily will) increase the chances of a more balance message getting out. The theory is if everyone focuses on describing a different part of the elephant, the chances increase that you'll get a better idea of what the elephant looks like. In this respect, I'm wondering if the reporters are falling prey to the herd instinct, reporting over each other's shouldere because their bosses at home only see what's coming out of other outlets in Canada. This drives the front-line media bosses to tell the reporter checking in, "so, I heard this - what's up with that?" with the reporter ends up chasing the tail of someone else.
Bottom line: take whatever you read/see/hear in the media with a BIG grain of salt, consider it only one tile of the mosaic that is reality, and try to get as many other tiles from other information sources as possible (realizing that each of these tiles may not be perfect, either).
- Reaction score
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http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060226/afghan_bomb_060226
Canadian soldier recalls Afghan grenade attack
CTV.ca News Staff
A Canadian soldier says he wasn't "nearly as scared as I thought I would be" after his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan.
"It happened and training kicked in: 'OK, his is what I need to do'," 2nd Lt. Kelly Catton of Dundurn, Sask. told CTV News on Sunday.
Catton, 22, was in the back seat of a G-wagon lightly armoured vehicle out on a routine patrol near Kandahar on Saturday night when they came under attack by insurgents.
"We were driving along and basically there was a bright flash and that's about all I remember," he said.
"I was conscious the whole time but there was a bright flash I originally thought I'd been hit by an IED (improvised explosive device)."
Insurgents targeted Catton and Company B with two rocket-propelled grenades.
The first missed. The second blew a door off the G-wagon.
"I think it was confusing for the initial shock of the noise and the flash and we carried on but only confusing for five or 10 seconds," said Capt. Jay Adair.
The attackers escaped through a rabbit's warren of houses while the convoy rushed back to base.
The attack occurred along a road called Highway 4, considered the most dangerous in Kandahar. A low wall shelters insurgents. Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry lost his life along that road in January after a bombing. Three Canadian soldiers are seriously wounded.
While Catton received some superficial shrapnel wounds and burns, he could walk after the attack.
Things could have been much worse.
Just five metres away and hours after the grenade attack, Canadian combat engineers found and diffused an IED -- an old Russian artillery shell packed with explosives.
"Any people within 200 metres would have been fragged pretty good and it would definitely take out a jeep," said one engineer, his identity protected for security reasons.
The moon
Canadian commanders say moonless nights marking the start of a new lunar cycle increase the risk of attacks from insurgents.
"The darkness without the moon allows them to get much closer to the road than might otherwise be the case," Maj. Erik Liebert, second-in-command of Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar, told The Canadian Press.
He was in the convoy that came under fire.
Liebert pointed out that might be a matter of perception by the insurgents, saying that Canadian soldiers have night vision equipment that allows them to see quite well in the dark.
Canada has 2,200 troops in the Kandahar area. Most are based at the Kandahar airfield, which is a huge encampment.
The higher-risk base is the smaller Camp Nathan Smith, home to a few hundred soldiers.
"We are outside the wire here," Liebert said.
However, Liebert said people shouldn't exaggerate the risk of serious casualties.
"There's a lot of talk in Canada right now about body bags and such," Liebert said.
"You are not going to see the large-scale battles some people seem to be predicting. The attack of Saturday and others we've seen recently are what we can expect."
With a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme and files from The Canadian Pre
Canadian soldier recalls Afghan grenade attack
CTV.ca News Staff
A Canadian soldier says he wasn't "nearly as scared as I thought I would be" after his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan.
"It happened and training kicked in: 'OK, his is what I need to do'," 2nd Lt. Kelly Catton of Dundurn, Sask. told CTV News on Sunday.
Catton, 22, was in the back seat of a G-wagon lightly armoured vehicle out on a routine patrol near Kandahar on Saturday night when they came under attack by insurgents.
"We were driving along and basically there was a bright flash and that's about all I remember," he said.
"I was conscious the whole time but there was a bright flash I originally thought I'd been hit by an IED (improvised explosive device)."
Insurgents targeted Catton and Company B with two rocket-propelled grenades.
The first missed. The second blew a door off the G-wagon.
"I think it was confusing for the initial shock of the noise and the flash and we carried on but only confusing for five or 10 seconds," said Capt. Jay Adair.
The attackers escaped through a rabbit's warren of houses while the convoy rushed back to base.
The attack occurred along a road called Highway 4, considered the most dangerous in Kandahar. A low wall shelters insurgents. Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry lost his life along that road in January after a bombing. Three Canadian soldiers are seriously wounded.
While Catton received some superficial shrapnel wounds and burns, he could walk after the attack.
Things could have been much worse.
Just five metres away and hours after the grenade attack, Canadian combat engineers found and diffused an IED -- an old Russian artillery shell packed with explosives.
"Any people within 200 metres would have been fragged pretty good and it would definitely take out a jeep," said one engineer, his identity protected for security reasons.
The moon
Canadian commanders say moonless nights marking the start of a new lunar cycle increase the risk of attacks from insurgents.
"The darkness without the moon allows them to get much closer to the road than might otherwise be the case," Maj. Erik Liebert, second-in-command of Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar, told The Canadian Press.
He was in the convoy that came under fire.
Liebert pointed out that might be a matter of perception by the insurgents, saying that Canadian soldiers have night vision equipment that allows them to see quite well in the dark.
Canada has 2,200 troops in the Kandahar area. Most are based at the Kandahar airfield, which is a huge encampment.
The higher-risk base is the smaller Camp Nathan Smith, home to a few hundred soldiers.
"We are outside the wire here," Liebert said.
However, Liebert said people shouldn't exaggerate the risk of serious casualties.
"There's a lot of talk in Canada right now about body bags and such," Liebert said.
"You are not going to see the large-scale battles some people seem to be predicting. The attack of Saturday and others we've seen recently are what we can expect."
With a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme and files from The Canadian Pre
- Reaction score
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The guy was lucky....period.
The round was NS.
If it functioned properly the boys in Kandahar that just hit the ground would have been performing their first ramp ceremony.
Now the bigger question is why didn't anyone return fire?
Regards
The round was NS.
If it functioned properly the boys in Kandahar that just hit the ground would have been performing their first ramp ceremony.
Now the bigger question is why didn't anyone return fire?
Regards
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Did anyone see the actual news broadcast? When they were interviewing that captain, the tag beside his name was "Air Sentry".
I just about blew a gasket laughing...
I just about blew a gasket laughing...
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It was reported that they fled into a housing complex right after engagement. They're lucky the IED didn't go off either.
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ArmyRick said:
RPG rounds arm as soon as they leave the tube and detonate on contact with a solid surface ala pezio-electric fuse on the front of the grenade....
Causing it to explode and shoot a jet into the target (layman's terms)
The rounds are old...probably left overs from the Soviet occupation.
I won't get into the Almighty issue....
Regards
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