Exercise Southern Bear Ends Successfully

February 28, 2008
Camp Dona Ana, Fort Bliss, Texas

Today, after almost a month in desert-like training at Fort Bliss, Texas, Exercise Southern Bear has officially ended. The approximately 3,000 soldiers who took part in the exercise will soon be heading back to Canada.
During this month long exercise soldiers conducted Combat Team attacks, convoy training, IED training and specific training pertaining to their tasks in Afghanistan.
“I am very pleased with everything that we accomplished during our short time here,” said Colonel Dean Milner, Commander of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2 CMBG). “The exceptional facilities at Fort Bliss allowed us to train in an environment that is similar to Afghanistan.”
The completion of the exercise marks another major milestone on the road to Afghanistan that began last August for many of the soldiers from Petawawa’s 2 CMBG. Aside from the Joint Task Force Afghanistan Headquarters that is scheduled to depart at the end of April, most of the soldiers training for the deployment will leave for Afghanistan during September.
“This exercise allowed us to bring together all of the Task Force elements that will deploy to Afghanistan. It helped us prepare them for the next major training event in Wainwright, Alberta during May called Exercise Maple Guardian.” added Colonel Milner. “We have done everything to make sure that the soldiers are prepared for success at Wainwright and later on in Afghanistan.”

The training at Fort Bliss was necessary to replicate the terrain in and around Kandahar Province, where these soldiers will be operating once they deploy to Afghanistan. The Task Force 3-08 Battle Group, the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, the Observer Mentor Liaison Team, the National Support Element and Joint Task Force Afghanistan Headquarters all took part in the exercise.

Congratulations to our troops! HUA! Look out.. here we come!

What Progress is Being Made in Afghanistan?

Progress in Afghanistan: PRT

Thanks to Lisa, this information and further information can be found at: http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/kprt-eprk/progress_e.asp.
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Afghanistan is making progress – unthinkable only a few years ago – which is a testament to the will and fortitude of the Afghan people, as well as the commitment and engagement of the international community. Because of our efforts, the Afghan people now vote, women and girls have rights, and children are going to school.

This progress has come at a price to Canada and the international community. Taliban and foreign insurgents have sought to undermine Afghan progress by indiscriminately attacking civilians, Afghan authorities and international forces.

Is Afghanistan Making Progress?

Afghanistan was a country whose infrastructure was almost completely destroyed by three decades of war and control by a repressive regime which denied women and young girls such basic rights as medical care and schooling. Five years after the fall of the Taliban, the progress in Afghanistan is remarkable by any standards.

The Afghan government has laid out a comprehensive plan for the country’s future called the Afghanistan National Development Strategy. The international community is supporting this initiative through the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year agreement between the Government of Afghanistan, the United Nations and the international community on three main pillars of Afghan need and focus: security, governance and rule of law/human rights. On November 29, 2006, the 192-member United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution pledging to implement the Afghanistan Compact – described by some as an international Marshall Plan for Afghanistan. Some sixty nations are supporting the development fund with $10 billion in contributions so far.

Progress since 2001

• 4.6 million Refugees have returned to Afghanistan
• 14,000 community district councils have been elected
• Per capita income has doubled.
• The Afghan economy has tripled
• Two national elections have been held (Parliamentary and Presidential)
• More than 10 million Afghans voted
• 200,000 Afghans (90 percent women) have received Micro-finance business loans
• 7.2 million Children vaccinated against polio; 4.3 million vaccinated against childhood diseases
• 4 million women vaccinated against Tetanus
• 77 percent of Afghans have access to medical facilities – compared to less than 10 percent in 2001.
• 4,000 new medical facilities opened
• Six million children (one third girls) now go to school compared to 700,000 (no girls) in 2001.
• 363,000 teachers provided with teaching material
• 8,000 km of new and refurbished roads have been completed
• 2,500 villages have electricity for the first time
• 8,000 construction projects have been completed; 14,000 more are underway.
• 4,000 houses and shelters constructed for the needy
• 130 Agriculture projects (benefiting 300,000 farmers) actioned
• 60,000 soldiers disarmed and demobilized
• 190,000 mines defused and removed
• 8,100 new water points, 8,000 latrine blocks (benefiting 3 million people)
• 1,700 water reservoirs built
• Hygiene education to 3.4 million people
• 13 million days of community employment

A BIG HUA to ALL soldiers assisting with better living conditions in Afghanistan. Your efforts and accomplishments are endless.
THANK YOU!