The original intent was to have all three FOBs on the west side of Hwy 17 so that the guns could fire live from within the FOBs to add to the feeling of "being there". Unfortunately, it came down to lack of suitable terrain for all three plus lack of sufficent transport and escort capability to guarantee being able to sustain them all. We were hoping to get Chinooks (I've been at that for the three SGs as well) as they would have been great for that but they're always busy somewhere else. We keep finding Guard units who're interested, and I'm sure that if we can get one up here they'll be hooked, but somebody else on their side of our border keeps finding other things for them to do.
Ex Vigilant Guardian
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Unless you are some sort of SF guy all concentration exercises are a great opportunity to shake the rust off and get some (simulated) trigger time. If the Iron Talon series that 32 CBG put on are any indication of how well VG06 is going to be...I wouldn't want to miss it. Train to fight, fight to win and all that. We are finally training the way we deploy. And for those of you hoping for 100% adrenaline all the time...on Operations you have to fight boredom and complacency a lot more than any enemy.
Oh and I agree that Rotary Wing is the coolest of all Air Force elements.
Oh and I agree that Rotary Wing is the coolest of all Air Force elements.
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civvy3840 said:Good luck with your transfer, and of course afghanistan.
Loachman, I didn't think Canada even had chinooks. Do you mean borrow them from the US?
Yes. We frequently have US National Guard, army and Marine units come up for some Area concentrations. At Stalwart Guardian last year there was an American Chemical Defence Team, and I believe some German soldiers as well.
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I had no idea that soldiers from other countries were also involved in these exercises. Makes me want to be apart of it even more.
When we borrow the chinooks from the states, do they charge us for things like gas, getting them up here, maintenance, etc? Or do we have some type of deal like, they let us use theirs chinooks and in return they get to train with us?
When we borrow the chinooks from the states, do they charge us for things like gas, getting them up here, maintenance, etc? Or do we have some type of deal like, they let us use theirs chinooks and in return they get to train with us?
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Not sure if any of the other planners read this, but if possible lets try to make the end ex return of vehicles a little less complicated or at least disseminate what is needed at each checkpoint down to the junior leaders.
As a private last year I was stuck in an LS between the mechanic checkpoint who wanted to open my pod to ensure there was no radios before he cleared it and a MP that couldn't let a vehicle that had cleared an outgoing checkpoint back into the training area, all because a mcpl was unaware that they'd need to open the pod.
It was a good go as a sig though, felt like i had a chance to apply my ql3 course and felt pretty real being located under a griphon flightpath at dawn ;D .
As a private last year I was stuck in an LS between the mechanic checkpoint who wanted to open my pod to ensure there was no radios before he cleared it and a MP that couldn't let a vehicle that had cleared an outgoing checkpoint back into the training area, all because a mcpl was unaware that they'd need to open the pod.
It was a good go as a sig though, felt like i had a chance to apply my ql3 course and felt pretty real being located under a griphon flightpath at dawn ;D .
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Civvy3840:
Usually in such exercises everyone pays thier own way. The US units appreciate having real missions with real troops vice merely flying proficiency checks,; and our guys like fitting more than 6 people into a helicopter (apologies to all the Griffon pilots out there...)
Usually in such exercises everyone pays thier own way. The US units appreciate having real missions with real troops vice merely flying proficiency checks,; and our guys like fitting more than 6 people into a helicopter (apologies to all the Griffon pilots out there...)
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My first CAC(2003). There was a German airbone unit attached to the QOR. They did the recce on the FIBUA site for our attack.
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We've met and talked before Des, I was 0502. I remember distinctly running into you and another sig and one of you was wearing a ridiculous cowboy hat on princess st.
I remember ya being on advanced party as well, i was with the svc bn (MMM flying kitchen).
edit: What am I thinking we were also EN force together on another ex, much more recent.
I remember ya being on advanced party as well, i was with the svc bn (MMM flying kitchen).
edit: What am I thinking we were also EN force together on another ex, much more recent.
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No 5's for me, I have a co-op in the Mississauga area so I'm having a civilian summer. Trying to get at least a week off to do vigiliant guardian, but thats at the mercy of my co-op employer!
I'm hoping my unit will give me a full summer of employment next summer with the first plq serial and the last ql5 serial.
I'm hoping my unit will give me a full summer of employment next summer with the first plq serial and the last ql5 serial.
Support, financial or otherwise, to participating foreign (usually US) troops varies. They have a completely different political and military structure and their budgets for such things are subject to a bunch of factors. Their system, especially the National Guard, still confuses me thoroughly and seems to confuse many of them.
We want them to come and play, so some enticements are necessary. Quality of training is one. Guard units have one weekend per month and two weeks of summer training and that's it, aside from pre-deployment work-ups and taskings. That's very little for an aviation unit, in particular, to maintain currency and competency. They therefore have to squeeze every drop of value that they can from every opportunity. Variety is another - they haven't even seen Pet let alone memorized it like the training area that they go to year after year ("the same old Camp Swampy" as one put it). They get to work and socialize with new people with different backgrounds and that always adds interest. We also have geography on our side: US military helicopters can only fly tactically within the boundaries of military training areas, whereas we have authorized Tactical Low Fly Areas that extend well beyond. The North Tac Low Fly at Pet is all across the Ottawa River, about 5500 sq km of nothing but hills, trees, streams, swamps, and the odd logging trail. No inhabitants to scare or annoy, and excellent contours for nav training. They have nothing like that. The intent is to make it mutually beneficial, however other arrangements may be negotiable.
And the only people who have to apologize to Griffon crews are the ones that bought it.
We want them to come and play, so some enticements are necessary. Quality of training is one. Guard units have one weekend per month and two weeks of summer training and that's it, aside from pre-deployment work-ups and taskings. That's very little for an aviation unit, in particular, to maintain currency and competency. They therefore have to squeeze every drop of value that they can from every opportunity. Variety is another - they haven't even seen Pet let alone memorized it like the training area that they go to year after year ("the same old Camp Swampy" as one put it). They get to work and socialize with new people with different backgrounds and that always adds interest. We also have geography on our side: US military helicopters can only fly tactically within the boundaries of military training areas, whereas we have authorized Tactical Low Fly Areas that extend well beyond. The North Tac Low Fly at Pet is all across the Ottawa River, about 5500 sq km of nothing but hills, trees, streams, swamps, and the odd logging trail. No inhabitants to scare or annoy, and excellent contours for nav training. They have nothing like that. The intent is to make it mutually beneficial, however other arrangements may be negotiable.
And the only people who have to apologize to Griffon crews are the ones that bought it.
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;DLoachman said:
The National Guard suffers from a variety of ills, some legislated, others self-inflicted. For units near the Canadian border it can be very frustrating, as (believe it or not) their processes for cross-border training are worse than ours - and those vary depending on whether they are training for a weekend or for their two weeks in the summer.
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Hey all, was just in Pet. this weekend setting up the FOB's for the ex. Looks like Vigilant Guardian is going to be a good go this summer.
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Just came back from "Maple Storm", 31 Brigade year end ex.
It was suppose to sort of be a "runner-up" to VG06 and give us a good idea what it would be like/some of the ops this summer... Was a very good ex but no sleep, very busy rotating through VCP's, Vital Points and Presence patrols etc...
One thing I liked is more realism from our enemy force guys this time around, it wasn't just them breaking into sudden section attacks from nowhere when they're suppose to be "half-assed militia from a failed state...". I was even able to practice some emergency first-aid which we hardly EVER IF EVER get to do as a soldier. Good stuff, good all round ex. Much better than some of the weekend ex's I've been on so far.
If it's any indication of what VG06 will be like I hope I do get my time off approved from work!!!
PS> To the planners, please make sure we get WATER, last time we had to ration water like crazy and that was one bitch-ass hot summer!!! All I ask for is water, forget the rations even, just bring lots of water!!!
It was suppose to sort of be a "runner-up" to VG06 and give us a good idea what it would be like/some of the ops this summer... Was a very good ex but no sleep, very busy rotating through VCP's, Vital Points and Presence patrols etc...
One thing I liked is more realism from our enemy force guys this time around, it wasn't just them breaking into sudden section attacks from nowhere when they're suppose to be "half-assed militia from a failed state...". I was even able to practice some emergency first-aid which we hardly EVER IF EVER get to do as a soldier. Good stuff, good all round ex. Much better than some of the weekend ex's I've been on so far.
If it's any indication of what VG06 will be like I hope I do get my time off approved from work!!!
PS> To the planners, please make sure we get WATER, last time we had to ration water like crazy and that was one bitch-ass hot summer!!! All I ask for is water, forget the rations even, just bring lots of water!!!
There was a known and anticipated problem last year with one of the LIBs being on the wrong side of a bridge that was frequently occupied by the enemy, making replenishment difficult. I laid on two missions to sling water out to that LIB (realtime requirement, good training for our crews and the loggies, and a novelty for the thirsty recipients). Both got cancelled by persons, and for reasons, unknown to me, and we were not notified prior. I went out in the backseat of the first hel with Excon G4 (as I'd known her since Phase 2 in 79 and she'd been bugging me for a flight for years and this one was at least relevant to her) to find no jerrycans, full or otherwise. The Svc Bn guys did scramble to find and fill a couple of dozen and we took them out, and then found out about the cancellation afterwards.
This year all of the FOBs are close together, and close to good supply routes, so this problem should not appear.
It will no doubt be replaced by something equally annoying that escaped the planners despite the massive effort and brainpower going into preventing such.
Seriously, there is an amazing amount of talent, experience, and enthusiasm going into the planning (and not just me) - but nobody can foretell every problem.
I await the post-ex comments here...
This year all of the FOBs are close together, and close to good supply routes, so this problem should not appear.
It will no doubt be replaced by something equally annoying that escaped the planners despite the massive effort and brainpower going into preventing such.
Seriously, there is an amazing amount of talent, experience, and enthusiasm going into the planning (and not just me) - but nobody can foretell every problem.
I await the post-ex comments here...
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