The Gurkha Regiment in the British Army dates back to the fighting between 1814–1816 when the Nepalese Gurkha army fought against the British East India Company army.  Fighting them to a stalemate, the British made a deal with the Nepalese to recruit from them and it all carried on from there.

As is evident by three Gurkha’s receiving the Military Cross from the Queen, and numerous times throughout history – these foreign soldiers who still are not regarded highly enough by the British Army are a valuable asset.

The French Foreign Legion are the tough nuts of the French military.  Granted they were used rather ruthlessly in Algeria, but now anytime France needs to flex its military might or get its citizens out of harms way they don’t send Pierre or Olivier from the Parisien suburbs.  It’s the dudes who wear the white hats.

Check the Related Links for an interesting news article about two identical twin brothers.  One joined the British Army; the other was refused and joined the French Foreign Legion where his acts of bravery and gallantry earned him France’s highest award for valour – the ‘Legion D’honneur’.

I am a perfect example of the point I am making.  I am a foreigner in the Canadian military and would at any point not hesitate to bear arms and defend Canada and its interests with my life, but yet there are huge amounts of Canadians who would not and are not bearing arms for Canada.

Foreigners searching for a meaningful and useful way to give back are an extremely valuable and untapped resource.  It would be nice seeing other nations across the globe taking advantage of that.

I am required to be very careful about the things I write, especially to do with the Canadian Forces and so I will not be expressing a personal opinion, but I would like to point out that it is very easy to judge a battlefield decision which was made under extreme stress and danger, whilst you are far from the battlefield and sitting down perfectly safe at a desk.

Also I would like to point out that if I had been in a firefight and then came across a mortally wounded Taliban fighter who had one leg torn off, the other held on by skin only with a huge gaping stomach wound I am sure my urge to make a humanitarian decision would be very strong.  It would be especially strong if the wounded enemy would not have survived until the medevac helicopter arrived, and if calling in a helicopter would have put countless more lives at risk.

Scott Taylor wrote an article for the CF Magazine ‘Esprit  De Corps’ and in it he said:

While the gesture may have indeed been a sincere act of humanity, there is nothing in Canada’s criminal code or military justice system which allows military personnel to play God in any given life or death circumstance.

However, I can’t voice an opinion regarding Capt Semrau’s alleged actions which really sucks.

I am glad that a brilliant and decorated Canadian soldier was found not guilty of the charges.  I would have like to see him exonerated of all charges though.

Fire Discipline is the language of Fire Control.  It consists of words, phrases, rules and conventions which have specific meaning and which result in some definite action at the guns.

Then there’s things like the GPO Sequence of Orders, Must Orders, Types of Engagement, Types of Rounds and even more good stuff.

I’m a little bit nervous about going on course again, but I’m also pumped because I bought myself a pair of SWAT boots which are going to make things a whole lot more comfortable, as well as our annual 13km rucksack march.  I also bought some boot bands, a boonie hat, a waterproof pen and paper pad and a water bladder with my last name and last three digits sewn onto it.  The water bladder and holder are going to awesome for on and off duty.

Just found out my children’s mother is now engaged.  I’ve got a few opinions on how I think that will go but I’ll keep that to myself.  Time will tell I guess.  Her happiness is all I care about.  If she is happy then my babies are happy.

I’ve been hanging out with someone lately quite a lot that quite a few people have a negative opinion about.  It bothers me the way some people won’t even be around this mate of mine.  Far too many people are judgmental.  What right does any mere imperfect mortal have to cast moral judgments upon any other human being who isn’t hurting anybody?  I’m very particular and picky about who I hang out with.  The first and foremost criteria I look for is whether or not they get along with my children.  I’ve faltered on that thing one time and that person hasn’t been a friend for a long time.  Then I look to see whether they are open minded.  If they’re not then I usually can’t be friends with them.  Lastly I look to see if they’re truthful.  If they lie then they’re gone!

There was an incident that made me realise again the joys of having children. I had a cup of coffee which I was drinking at home and had nearly finished.  There was a bit left in the mug when my daughter Alex asked for a sip so I gave her the rest.  After the cup was empty I pretended to cry that she had drunk it all.

So in perfect innocence Alex spat the coffee back into the mug and offered it to me with a beautiful smile and said “Here you go, daddy!”

It was heart warming.  It is situations like that which make me realise that no matter how much they stress me out, and no matter how much sometimes I wish I was back in London as a 21 year old – having children is a gift and parenthood is the greatest privilege a person can have.

Obviously that is followed by being a member of the Canadian Forces hahaha.

So this last weekend I was driving four other dudes up to Portage La Prairie in the crewcab civvy pattern truck.  We were jamming out to Macgill’s girlfriend’s iPod.  Bunch of dudes without any higher ups kinda allows the atmosphere to be more relaxed.

Bad Touch came on in the army vehicle… everybody was jamming out doing the upper half of the funky chicken dance move.  Then the dudes in the back were singing along to Taylor Swift.  With the good feeling in the air, good music, and awesome dudes… it was truly the best time I’ve had so far in the army.  The first time I felt truly relaxed and having fun.  That’s a good memory that will stay with me forever.

So in light of that trip up there… I put this video up:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I think that he was a man pushed over the edge by being forced into something he objected to. The death penalty is the only just punishment for that murdering bastard, but it’s clear a lot of people won’t even understand or care why he did what he did.

According to this story on CNN, Major Nidal Hasan wanted the military to allow Muslims to refrain from participation in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq on the grounds of conscientious objection. This is by far the best suggestion I’ve ever heard and I simply cannot believe that someone with the rank of Major wasn’t listened to.

All of this could have been prevented if Major Hasan had been in the Army Reserve… because as I understand it Major Hasan then could have simply refused to go and nothing would have happened. As is demonstrated by the book ‘Fifteen Days’ by Christie Blatchford, at least in the Canadian Forces, it’s usually Reservists who are eager and willing to be deployed and so the Reservists who wanted to do a tour wouldn’t be deprived of the opportunity.

In this recent news story about Lt Colonel Rupert Thorneloe – the most senior British officer to die in Afghanistan – it says Lt Col Thorneloe wasn’t happy about the amount of trips British troops are taking on the ground in Afghanistan.  Some memos by him were published in the Daily Mail in which he warned about the increasing danger to British troops and the shortage of helicopters fit for ferrying troops around.

The Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Jock Stirrup also suggested the deployment of more helicopters to Afghanistan would save troops lives.

The Prime Minister said back in July  “More helicopters in general, yes. That is why we are putting them, of course, into Afghanistan. More helicopters are being ordered for Afghanistan.  But in the operations we are having at the moment it is completely wrong to say that the loss of lives has been caused by the absence of helicopters. For the operation we are doing at the moment we have the helicopters we need.”

This is a blatant contradiction to what the Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Jock Stirrup said, and in blatant contradiction to Lt Col Thorneloe’s assertions.  The Ministry of Defence is quite clearly making the lives of its soldiers a priority and so they’re not about to lie on needing more troop movement by air.

The gutless bitch of a Prime Minister has to answer to the voters on where their tax money is going and so of course the Treasury blocked more helicopters for Afghanistan.  Gordon Brown is quite clearly a f**king twat who would think twice about choppers if he was in a ditch in Helmand province needing an airlift for life saving surgery.

It’s for these types of situations where I truly think the Ministry of Defence should get whatever they ask for, regardless of the cost.  No amount of money can replace a human life – so who gives a fuck if it costs £300million to buy five Chinooks.

I never thought he should replaced Tony Blair, and now I am absolutely convinced he’s not fit to be Prime Minister.  I hope we all vote that fucker out of office at the next election.  Bring back Maggie – the British Armed Forces would be kicking arse  again.

In this latest attack in Baghdad somewhere around 132 people have been killed by two seperate car bombs.  All that Barack Obama can do is ‘pledge his support’.  These attacks prompted the world’s lamest response from the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.  He said ‘such acts of terrorism can have no justification, and must be condemned without reservation’.

How f**king lame is that?  He didn’t say we’re going to send 20,000 troops into Iraq.  He didn’t say ‘we’re  going to round up every able bodied male between 15 and 50 in Baghdad, swab them for explosives, and then one by one do a thorough search of their homes’.  Nope… just some lame dumbass statement that does NOTHING in practical terms.

Forgetting the United Nations, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization… if all of America’s allies contributed even 10% of their countries troop numbers… this whole bullshit in Iraq would be over in a  couple of months.  I once read an article about the Vietnam War which stated that in order to have won that conflict… America would have needed 500,000 troops to successfully quell the violence.

It’s at times like this when I really hate the left side of politics.  All those morons that whine about conspiracy theories claiming that the army is used to keep people rich, the army are ones creating situations of suffering, blah blah.  CRY ME A RIVER YOU BITCHES!

What this world needs is more weapons (non-nuclear), more bullets, more soldiers and definitely more dead bad guys.  There are very few problems in the world that cannot be solved with a few pounds of high explosives.  I just wish there was a politician out there who has the courage to be upfront and state ‘we need more troops so we can kill more bad people’.

No names obviously because that’s not professional but he weird thing is by the end of the course I ended up greatly respecting those instructors I had problems with.

For instance… during a classroom lesson I volunteered to go down and fill up the huge water can for everyone. I had to go to a different than normal water source because a Corporal told me the one we’d been using wasn’t drinkable water. So off I went. Once I got back to the classroom, everyone was waiting outside on a break saying I was in trouble. Turns out I’d left my C7 rifle beside my chair during the lesson and didn’t take it with me. I naturally assumed that buddy next to me would look out for me because I was doing something for everyone else. So when the class went on a break and buddy didn’t pick up my rifle the instructor took it. The remedial training I received was that at every single break, lunch, lesson change I had to run down to the office with my Section Senior to verify my rifle serial number and get a sheet of paper signed. That got to be a pain in the ass. Then one time we forgot to do that… and so the next stage of remedial training was for the Section Senior to also carry 450 dummy rounds in a metal case. I offered to carry it but the instructor said the Section Senior had to. You can bet I never forgot my rifle again. To be honest I resented having to do it and for a few very brief fleeting moments resented the instructor… but it did teach me a valuable lesson – a soldier never leaves his weapon behind or unattended. I learnt the lesson which means the instructor did their job well. You have to love what you do to do a job well.

I have to say that the instructors were superb – you could tell when someone knew what they were talking about, and it was awesome to receive instruction from somebody who you could plainly see loved what they do.

At the end of the SQ course when we were in the bar I actually approached an instructor from the course and said that I admired his dedication to the job, and shook his hand. I meant it too – I did admire his dedication to the job. Another thing I respected about this particular instructor is that I would often see him after hours when he could be at home, instead outside with his section constantly running them through drills whenever there was a test the next day. Once or twice other instructors offered… but this particular instructor was there consistently – I respected that. For anyone reading in case you’re wondering – I’m straight with two children.

Now I’m in… I can plainly see and have no doubt about the quality of the Canadian Forces and our competence.  We ARE the baddest mofo’s in the military world!  I’m damned proud to be a member.  To quote one of those instructors…

“We’re Canadian soldiers.  We win!”

She went into a rant in greater detail and explained that she hates the way young people often are victims in armed conflict and that war is profitable to major corporations.

I tried to be neutral and explain that whenever there’s an armed conflict and soldiers are sent into battle – they don’t go into a battle for profit; at least a Canadian soldier’s primary motivation into going into battle isn’t to get rich. I told her that Canadian soldiers serve and stand on the front line or stand on a wall to protect her and the rest of Canada’s population while they sleep, and that there’s a need for us to do that.

I also told her about the bumper sticker I saw that reads ‘If you don’t support our troops, feel free to stand in front of them’. Interesting caption huh?

Whilst on BMQ (L)… I experienced the awesomeness of IMP (individual meal packs) which are issued to the Canadian Forces.  Call me ridiculous but I loved them.  That may be that I was deprived of home comforts whilst in the field… nevertheless I now fully believe all my instructors when they say that out of all the western military powers in Afghanistan, we have by far the best meals.  Apparently the Yanks and British soldiers will always try to trade meal parts.  The bread in a packet rocks!  If you’re interested… you can actually buy IMPs from a surplus store.

I’m also glad that I did not join the British Army.  Not because of any perceived lack of dashing bravery, ruthlessness or competence… but because of the mere factor that our (Brits) squaddies bomb around Afghanistan in rag top Land Rovers, and their armour plates only cover their heart and not other vital organs.

Being a Canadian soldier I now have a lot of restrictions on what I can or cannot post on my website regarding the Canadian Forces particularly… so you might see the tone of my blog posts change somewhat.

One of our boys has passed away… Pte Kyle Whitehead from 3PPCLI passed away when his vehicle rolled on the Big River First Nation. What’s really uncanny is that his best friend ‘Sgt. Darby Morin’ from the same First Nation in Saskatchewan – passed away on the same day in Afghanistan whilst serving with the U.S Army.

According to this news story… the upcoming Olympics is pushing the Canadian Forces to the edge.  This article says that 4000 Canadian soldiers will be guarding the Olympics to protect all the heads of state.  That along with the Afghanistan mission and the upcoming G8 summit in Huntsville is testing the limits of our endurance according to this story.  My answer to that would be to quote one of my instructors on basic training… ‘We’re Canadian soldiers – we win!’.  I know one thing that would solve problems like this…  boosting Canada’s defence budget from $18billion to about $36billion to increase the size of our armed forces.