The Next Rotation of Canadian Troops is Ready to Undertake their Mission in Afghanistan

Photo by: Cpl Simon Duchesne DND Taken May 15, 2007

May 18, 2007
Wainwright, Alberta — Some 2,500 soldiers, who will be the next group of Canadian troops to deploy to Afghanistan, have just completed a very important phase in their training this week at Base Wainwright, Alberta.
The soldiers, who come primarily from Base Valcartier, Quebec, participated in complex military manoeuvres during Exercise Maple Guardian, an activity focused on individual and collective training for the Joint Task Force scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan this Summer.
The soldiers will be tasked to aid Afghan authorities in restoring the security and stability within Afghanistan, a nation on the verge of recovering from decades of warfare and strife. According to Joint Task Force Commander, Brigadier-General Guy Laroche, “Our soldiers have received an excellent training. The exercise, which we just completed, represents the last step in a long road, whose aim was to provide the soldiers with the technical, cultural and intellectual skills necessary to successfully accomplish, with the least possible risk, this very important mission,” he said. “The exercise provided us with the confirmation that we are ready, and I am convinced that we will brilliantly fulfil this mandate, confided in us by the Canadian public, to help better the lives of the Afghan people,” he added.