Op IMPACT: CAF in the Iraq & Syria crisis

[Journeyman]

One of the four faces in that photo appears to have been "softened".....

No, she's a woman; they moisturize.  ;D

 

[The Bread Guy]

No, she's a woman; they moisturize.  ;D

That's some moisturizing cream, then, given that the sunglasses have been softened as well - anybody remember the old "bug juice" of the 1970's/80's and what IT did to plastic?  ;D

 

[Good2Golf]

That's some moisturizing cream, then, given that the sunglasses have been softened as well - anybody remember the old "bug juice" of the 1970's/80's and what IT did to plastic?  ;D

99.9% pure DEET....great for spreading those friction' hard cam sticks. :nod:

 

[The Bread Guy]

99.9% pure DEET....great for spreading those friction' hard cam sticks. :nod:

Zackly!

 

[jollyjacktar]

That's some moisturizing cream, then, given that the sunglasses have been softened as well - anybody remember the old "bug juice" of the 1970's/80's and what IT did to plastic?  ;D

I remember it eating the paint off of my pencil over the time it took to do a fire mission in the CP.  And yeah, it was good for making it easier to put on the cam paint, now that I think about it.

 

[jollyjacktar]

"Canada to take part in Iraqi city of Mosul's liberation from ISIS with field hospital."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/field-hospital-mosul-iraq-liberation-isis-1.3687740

Mission creep?

 

[YZT580]

Sounds like it but it is a good one.  It is an asset that will definitely be needed. 

 

[Eye In The Sky]

And reminiscent of Gulf War 1 as well...

1 Canadian Field Hospital

On January 16, 1991, Canada announced that it would send a field hospital to the Gulf. As a result, 1 Canadian Field Hospital from Petawawa, Ontario, joined the British land forces and was deployed in the Saudi Arabian desert behind 1 (UK) Armoured Division. The hospital became fully operational on February 25, 1991, only a few days before the hostilities ceased; it stopped operating on March 4, 1991.


http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/news/article.page?doc=the-canadian-forces-in-the-gulf-war-1990-1991/hnmx17y3

My personal prediction;  JTF-I will go on for the next few years, but minus the LRP Det around next spring/after Mosul is 'secured'.

ATF-I will become ATF-*insert Africa mission here*. 

Just a WAG but...

 

[PPCLI Guy]

Mission creep?

Responsible amendment to commitments based on an evolving theatre and a looming need?

 

[Good2Golf]

Responsible amendment to commitments based on an evolving theatre and a looming need?

:nod:

Imagine that, where one poses the question in reviewing their Estimate, "has the situation changed?" then adjusts accordingly.  It's as though someone is actually using continuous mission analysis to assess how the mission is unfolding.

I'd rather have that, than the Government rigidly sticking with the mission as initiated.  :nod:

Regards
G2G

 

[The Bread Guy]

Responsible amendment to commitments based on an evolving theatre and a looming need?

Imagine that, where one poses the question in reviewing their Estimate, "has the situation changed?" then adjusts accordingly.  It's as though someone is actually using continuous mission analysis to assess how the mission is unfolding.

I'd rather have that, than the Government rigidly sticking with the mission as initiated.  :nod:

There you guys go, making sense again - how'll the haters keep on hating if THAT keeps happening?

In other news ...

Latest in the "Kurdish flag as PID device" saga, via Kurdish media ...

The latest, from the CDS:  keep 'em on ...

Canada's top soldier has decided special forces troops in Iraq will continue to wear the Kurdish flag on their uniforms in addition to the Maple Leaf, despite questions about the practice.

National Defence says Gen. Jonathan Vance recently approved the flag patches in part to show solidarity with "a region facing existential threats," but that they should not be construed as support for an independent Iraqi Kurdistan.

That may be wishful thinking, say experts, one of whom compared it to a foreign military force wearing the Quebec flag in Canada.

(...)

The military initially defended the flag patches, which are on one shoulder with the Canadian flag on the other. Officials said they were used for cohesion with Kurdish and allied forces, and to ensure Canadian forces could be easily identified by friends on the battlefield.

Nonetheless, a review was ordered after experts warned that sporting the Kurdish flag, rather than the Iraqi flag, could be interpreted by both Iraqis and Kurds as support for an independent Kurdistan.

National Defence spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier said Friday the review was recently completed and Vance had decided to keep the Kurdish flag patches.

The flag "acts as an identification patch with our partner force, demonstrates solidarity with a region facing existential threats for which we are there to help, and is in keeping with previous methods used by Canada and allies when working with partner forces," Le Bouthillier said in an email.

"The flag is in no way a symbol of Canadian support for political disunity in Iraq," he added ...

 

[PuckChaser]

Common sense prevails.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Common sense prevails.

Don't type that so loud - you might jinx it ...

So...SOF wearing full-colour patches in theatre, while Canadian aircrew can't wear full-colour patches even when all other forces do so and take them off before going on deployments. 

:

And yes, it's a :deadhorse: but "common sense" should prevail there as well.

Ah, another starry-eyed dreamer seeking consistency and uniformity.

Man, am I every bitchy-cynical-ornery tonight - probably some recent nights of sub-par sleep ...

 

[PuckChaser]

I would say that's 2 completely different things. RCAF Unit patches = bling. CANSOF Kurd Flag = IFF/Relationship building with partner nations.

 

[dimsum]

I would say that's 2 completely different things. RCAF Unit patches = bling. CANSOF Kurd Flag = IFF/Relationship building with partner nations.

I totally agree that it's "bling", but it's something that each member has to pay for when they join the unit so it's not a burden $-wise on the RCAF.  Of course, no one really "forces" you to wear the sqn and airframe patch, and the other two (name and wings) will be pretty much half-white anyway, so the idea of not making them full-colour because of camouflage reasons is faulty at best.  Besides, they're velcro-backed.

Going with this tangent, there really shouldn't be much staffing required since we sell full-colour Sqn patches in the Kit Shop already (to whom, I don't know).  The "other" patch can be easily made into full colour and it shouldn't cost any more than what we get charged for the current green patch.

*And yes, I still haven't got all of the starry-eyed-ness beaten out of me by the RCN and RCAF.  :nod:

Back to the original thread....

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Sqn heraldic crests aren't bling anymore than a unit slip-on is.  But I have no issue with the guys up north wearing the flag they are.  However, maybe aircrew  should have this flag the SOF are wearing then, if we are using it for IFF and the like, when they over the Badlands.  Planes don't always make it back to where they came from...

Flush Brush Flush !  ;D

 

[PuckChaser]

Aircrew will probably get the Kurdish flag to wear once one of the crew is killed in a Green on Blue incident crossing the front lines. Highly likely the flag is a result of Sgt Doiron's death by the Kurds.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Having a really good understanding of the op area, the point would be so no one is killed if they are trying to make it to an eastern location; they would have the same flag as the SOF guys for the same reason.

Can't say much more, but it would make sense.

 

[The Bread Guy]

A longer piece to show a bit of detail about how the U.S. is working with the Peshmerga, shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...

On July 12, the United States signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) regarding US-Kurdish military cooperation in the next stage of the war against the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

On the Kurdish side, the agreement was signed by acting Minister of Peshmerga Affairs Karim Sinjari, and the US side was represented by Elissa Slotkin, the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

After the agreement the Kurdish leadership met on July 14 with US Central Command commander General Joseph Votel.

Battle on the horizon

The meetings are a further indication that the battle of Mosul is fast approaching, and that the Iraqi Kurds are expected to play a critical role in the encirclement, liberation and subsequent stabilisation of the city.

On the symbolic front, the US leaders have recently expressed gratitude for the sacrifices of the Peshmerga, who have suffered 1,466 killed, 8,610 wounded and 62 missing in their war against ISIL, according to a June 14 press release by the KRG.

This was important because Kurdish leaders have often complained that the US has shown a preference for arming and equipping the federal government's Iraqi army rather than the Peshmerga.

According to officials that I talked to on both sides of the deal, the agreement will also release new US aid to the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.

Though the KRG asked for $197m per month to cover incremental war costs, the Pentagon rationalised this figure down to around $60m.

This is not an open-ended arrangement: It will only cover the operating expenses of the Peshmerga forces involved in the Mosul operation for the duration of their involvement, totalling around $415m.

Military equipment also continues to flow into Kurdistan, including planeloads of German, US, French, British and Hungarian munitions, weapons and non-lethal supplies.

But these imports are not "direct arming" of the Peshmerga of the kind called for by US legislators, but blocked by the Obama administration in June 2015.

Though aid is now being flown direct into the KRG, the manifests of aircraft are approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defence.

Intensive training

If anything is changing, it is the scale and effectiveness of the anti-ISIL coalition effort to train and equip the Peshmerga.

Since January 2015 the coalition has run the Kurdistan Training Coordination Centre (KTCC), a 300-person training mission manned by German, Italian, British, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, Hungarian and American troops.

From January 2015 to April 2016 the KTCC trained nine sets of Peshmerga troops at five KRG bases, graduating roughly 500 troops each time. Though useful, this training was only four weeks long and mainly focused on squad and platoon-level tactics involving fewer than 40 soldiers.

The new Modern Brigade Course (MBC) training offered since April 2016 is a big step forward.

The training is 10 weeks long, allowing units to build greater skills and cohesion, and giving time for advanced training in battlefield life-saving, anti-tank operations and defence against chemical weapons.

The MBC training also allows larger company-sized units - of around 100 soldiers - to practise coordinated operations in realistic urban warfare environments resembling Mosul.

The two 600-men MBC courses that were completed so far have also seen the fielding of US brigade equipment sets, as opposed to the mishmash of equipment used by previous sets of trainees.

Kurdistan is now receiving the equipment allocated under the KRG's $353.8m share of the $1.6bn Iraq Train and Equip Fund (ITEF) approved by the US Congress in November 2014 (PDF).

Each MBC course sees the Peshmerga receive 36 mortars and around 160 tactical and engineering vehicles. Training is also being provided to maintain the new equipment.
What's after?

Yet, while these steps are positive for the Kurds, it is harder to know whether the train-and-equip effort will be sustained after Mosul.
In one scenario the coalition packs up and goes home, leaving the Peshmerga once again isolated from international military assistance.

This might be the preference of Baghdad and of regional players such as Iran.

Indeed, Peshmerga spokesman Jabar Yawar was quick to refute the idea of permanent US military bases in the KRG when he spoke to Rudaw on July 20, possibly mindful of sensitivities in Tehran and Baghdad.

In another scenario - for instance triggered by the election of a Kurd-friendly Donald Trump - the US security cooperation effort in Kurdistan could become even larger and more permanent.

For the Kurds, the only near-term option is to maximise the goodwill of international players by treading a fine line, supporting the Mosul battle while simultaneously reassuring regional actors in Tehran and Baghdad.

Michael Knights is the Lafer Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He specialises in the politics and security of Iraq. He has worked in every Iraqi province and most of the country's hundred districts, including periods embedded with Iraq's security forces.

 

[The Bread Guy]

"Canada to take part in Iraqi city of Mosul's liberation from ISIS with field hospital."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/field-hospital-mosul-iraq-liberation-isis-1.3687740

The latest via The Canadian Press ...

Canadian-trained Kurdish forces in Iraq are expected to watch the upcoming fight for the city of Mosul from the sidelines, underlying the ethnic and religious divisions that persist within the country.

Preparations to liberate Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been underway for months, with the Kurdish peshmerga, Iraqi military and Shia militia groups closing on the city. A humanitarian response is also being prepared to help the city’s 1 million people once the fighting starts.

Victory in Mosul will mark a key moment in the fight against ISIL, as the city is the last major urban centre still controlled by the militant group in Iraq.

But Brig.-Gen. David Anderson, who is in charge of an international team of military advisers posted within Iraq’s ministry of defence, indicated the approximately 2,000 peshmerga that Canada has trained in Iraq since September 2014 will not be directly involved in rooting ISIL from the city.

“The role of peshmerga, as I understand it, will be to in essence secure the northern flank of Mosul, and to some degree the eastern flank, to allow the Iraqi security forces to move forward and clear through Mosul,” Anderson told reporters in a call from Baghdad on Wednesday.

International leaders have previously warned about the need to control which groups are involved in clearing Mosul. The focus has largely been on the Shia militia groups, which are accused of indiscriminately killing Sunni Muslims in areas freed from ISIL’s grip. The groups say those killed were ISIL sympathizers.

But the Kurds, who have a semi-autonomous government in northern Iraq, have made no secret of their hopes for full independence after ISIL is defeated. They have also clashed several times with the Shia groups, and warned they will not return territory liberated by the peshmerga but claimed by Baghdad ...