OC C Sqn Update March/April 2009

Major J.L. Cochrane
24 Apr 09

 

Greetings from Afghanistan. Well there is a statement that I have been looking forward to stating for nearly a year. Finally after some well deserved leave and farewells to our families, we are down to the task at hand and the jobs that we have been training intensely for over the past 11 months. The Squadron complete is now on the ground in Afghanistan and has been for some time now. The guys, and girls, are getting settled in to the environment and heat, it was 34 degrees today! The weather has actually only just started to come around for the longest while we had nothing but rain storm, after rain storm. It then proceeded to wind and dust storm to wind and dust storm, we have ony just got to the hot and sunny stage – let’s see if it sticks around. It certainly could be worse, I actually heard that there was snow in Edmonton yesterday; hopefully it doesn’t stick around too long.

 

The days here are long and there is never any shortage of things to do. Between Camp Security, Maintenance, Quick Reaction Force tasks, and the running of the Command Post – we manage to keep our selves busy! The other units and soldiers that we are working together with from across the country have come together as a solid team and are looking after one another as would be expected. The relationships that are being formed are surprisingly strong for such a short period of time and I expect these bonds will grow tighter as the tour progresses.

 

Our thanks go out to A Squadron for a solid and affective handover that provided the squadron with all the tools and info that it requires to conduct its operations. We were welcomed with open arms (hard to believe eh) and quickly integrated into our new tasks and responsibilities. A Squadron complete is now back in Canada and my congratulations go out to all members for a safe and very productive tour. Well done and enjoy your time with your families it is well deserved.

I ask you to continue your support, we are now actually into the final leg of our journey and in only a short time, much shorter than it seems, and we will all be back in Canada with all of you.

 

The Squadron will continue to put articles on the webpage and each Monday in the Edmonton Journal.

 

Perseverance.