February 23, 2009 - Tridentnews.ca

SPECIAL REPORT: AFGHANISTAN
TRIDENT, FEBRUARY 23, 2009 21
The connection between this
tragedy in Afghanistan and a small
community in Nova Scotia was simply
that Sweeney had purchased the
family residence from Pte Nathan
Smith’s father.
Around 11 o’clock the evening of
Pte Smith’s death, Sweeney’s 14-
year-old son came down stairs and
said to his father that he was having
trouble sleeping “I said, Why was
that Because he was sleeping in
Nathan’s room, and he was just
killed over there.” So Sweeney told
his son “Sean, you just go back to
bed and just think that you’re sleeping
in a hero’s room, and you’ll be
all right.”
So he was fine with that. “So
that’s when I made up my mind
that I had to do something,” said
Sweeney. “So I came in here [work
shop] and I thought that there was a
tool box here that we used a lot of
the tools to fix a lot of the different
apparatus for the Navy and Army.
So I thought it would be fitting if I
painted it black and put a flag
[Canadian] on it at half-mast and put
their names on it.”
“It’s just grown since then,” stated
Sweeney. “We have some pictures
that the Army has donated to
us and there are newspaper clippings
of the highlights where we
lost multiple causalities.”
There is also a picture of one of the
first memorial sites in Afghanistan
mounted to the side of the tool
box memorial.
The memorial “is something to let
the troops know that we are thinking
about them and what they are doing
over there is not going unnoticed and
if there is anything that we can do to
help them out, we would certainly
do that,” said Sweeney.
Oran Gordon, a worker at the
plate and boiler shop worked on the
Bison and LAV project that saw
additional armour plates added to
help deflect explosions, which
today helps keep our troops safe
while on patrol, stated that he is
reminded everyday when he walks
into the shop that there are young
people out there risking there lives
day in and day out, something for
which he is very grateful.
“The workers have a long history
with the forces here,” stated Lorne
Brown, President of the Dockyard
Trades and Labour Council. “We
don’t distinguish between civilians
and the military side of the house.
We’re all team members of National
Defence.
“Every day when they go in
through the shop it’s there, and it’s a
reminder of one of the key goals that
they have here and that’s to support
the Forces and the people of the
Forces to make sure they get their
jobs done and return home. That’s
the important part; I think that by
seeing it there everyday it’s a constant
reminder of what one of the
main goals for us here at FMF Cape
Scott is,” said Brown.
Supporting basic services:
The Khalishak Retaining Wall
By Government of Canada
Khalishak village is located
along the northern bank of the
Arghandab River about 8 km from
Kandahar City. Because the region is
prone to flash floods and river erosion,
each year, Khalishak loses
valuable land to water damage.
The primary source of income for
150 village families is agriculture.
Both crop and livestock production
have been practised for hundreds of
years in this community. The local
people have worked hard to protect
their 2,000 km 2 of land, but without
much success. Each rain and flash
flood erodes more land, and more
people moved away because of the
economic loss.
To prevent further water damage,
Khalishak village needed a retaining
wall. At a cost of approximately
$70,000, the community could not
build it alone. With support from
Morale and welfare critical to mission success
By Virginia Beaton
Trident staff
During Christmas 2008 at Camp
Mirage, deployed CF members
received 5,000 Christmas cards sent
by Canadians through the Write to
the Troops project.
“So many people took the time to
write a card and a note. Everyone in
the camp had a handful of Christmas
cards,” observed CWO Barry Yhard,
adding that during his 28 years in the
CF, “I’ve never experienced this
amount of public support before.”
Having moved from his previous
post as squadron chief at 406
Squadron at 12 Wing Shearwater,
CWO Yhard currently is Camp CWO
for the Theatre Support Element,
which provides aviation, technical
and logistical support to the CF mission
in Afghanistan.
“We facilitate the movement of
personnel and equipment in and out
of the country,” CWO Yhard stated.
“If there’s a person who needs to
travel to or from Afghanistan, that’s
one of the things we take care of.”
Since arriving at the camp in early
December 2008, CWO Yhard has
become accustomed to its high
operational tempo. While he has
deployed to other theatres during his
military career, this is his first roto in
this region. According to CWO
The Khalishak Retaining Wall demonstrates the commitment for Canada,
its partners and the Government of Afghanistan.
CIDA and the Afghanistan Ministry
of Rural Reconstruction and Development,
the Central Asia Development
Group gave the green light for
the construction of a retaining wall.
On December 23, 2008, the 550 m
LCol Choiniere, Camp Mirage Commander, Santa Claus, Jessica
Witoslawski of DGPFSS and CWO Yhard, Theatre Support Element CWO.
Yhard, “It’s hard to be away from
home, but I wouldn’t miss this experience
for anything in the world.”
CWO Yhard’s duties are comparable
to those of a base chief and
among other tasks, he is responsible
for morale and welfare, discipline,
and coordination of parades. Morale
and welfare are critical to the success
of the overall operation, according
to CWO Yhard. “If people feel
happy, they do better on the job. A
happy workplace is a productive and
a safe workplace.”
Spending Christmas holidays
away from home was tough for camp
personnel, but CWO Yhard stated
that they sustained CF traditions such
as the Junior Ranks Christmas dinner.
As is customary, the camp’s two
youngest personnel briefly swapped
places with the commander and with
CWO Yhard. Despite the absence of
long, 0.5 m wide, and 3 m high Khalishak
Retaining Wall was completed.
It took 68 days to build, and the project
employed 40 local Afghans.
The retaining wall signifies a new
beginning for Khalishak villagers,
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
and much more on a broader scale. It
demonstrates a commitment from
Canada, its partners, and the Government
of Afghanistan to do what it
takes to restore core services, create
new economic opportunities, and
build confidence in the Government
of Afghanistan's ability to deliver on
its promises from village to village.
For Khalishak villagers, the wall
protects farmland from further
erosion and flood damage. Local
farmers can return to cultivating
their land, and even build for the
future without having to wonder
whether all their hard work would
be destroyed. One Khalishak
farmer shows his sense of relief
when he says,” Now we can properly
cultivate our lands and produce
enough crops, which will ultimately
bring our prosperity and economic
emancipation.”
Reproduced with permission from
the Government of Canada.
snow and winter weather, “The boss
and I dressed up in Santa suits,”
CWO Yhard stated.
Maintaining personal fitness is
another vital component of CF members’
wellbeing during the deployment,
he stated. “We have a phenomenal
recreation facility here.
We share it with the other coalition
forces, including Australia and
New Zealand.”
The facility is open 24 hours a day
and CWO Yhard noted the Director
General Personnel and Family Support
Services staff at the site offer a
wide variety of fitness and sports.
“We have spinning classes, we have
weights, we have lots of options. We
play a lot of floor hockey. “The Australian
military members have invited
the Canadians to play their version
of football, he added.
Other amenities include an internet
café and an outdoor cinema. The
padres coordinate the cinema and
CWO Yhard commented it’s a popular
gathering place in the evenings,
as the mess is nearby and personnel
can relax and eat a snack while
watching a movie.
CF base newspapers, such as the
Trident, are available for people who
want to keep up with the news from
home, CWO Yhard commented. City
newspapers such as the Chronicle
Herald are also available, though it
can take several weeks for these
papers to arrive, he noted. Further
contact with home is available
through the morale and welfare telephone
cards that allow each CF
member up to 30 minutes a week to
call Canada.
In addition to the Christmas cards,
the Canadian public regularly sends
letters and packages, CWO Yhard
noted. “We get things from people
saying, Thanks a lot for what you do.
Schools send posters the kids have
made and we put those posters up in
the mess hall. It makes you feel closer
to home.”
CWO Yhard expects to return
home “in time for Canada Day.”
Adjusting to the cooler temperatures
in the Maritimes after the heat at
Camp Mirage could be a problem at
first, he joked, saying “I may need to
wear a skidoo suit for a while.”