Looking forward in a mirror

Published On Thu Nov 10 2011

By Sub-Lieutenant David Lewis

A Canadian soldier holds MCpl Byron Greff's beret and patches during the ramp ceremony in which his coffin is transferred to the aircraft that will carry it home. MCpl Greff died on 29 October 2011 with 16 other people, all victims of a suicide bomber who attacked a NATO armoured bus.

A Canadian soldier holds MCpl Byron Greff's beret and patches during the ramp ceremony in which his coffin is transferred to the aircraft that will carry it home. MCpl Greff died on 29 October 2011 with 16 other people, all victims of a suicide bomber who attacked a NATO armoured bus.

Kabul, Afghanistan; 5 November 2011 — The red maple leaf flutters casually in the crisp, cold morning breeze. Surrounded by dramatic snow-capped mountains, the scene could easily be Banff or Whistler. It’s only when your eyes follow the flagpole down to ground level, and take in the HMMWVs and armoured sport utility vehicles parked nearby, that you come back to reality. You’re not in Canada any more.

The 920 members of the Canadian Forces contingent serving with the NATO Training Mission–Afghanistan (NTM-A) no doubt appreciate this weather more than some of the coalition soldiers from sunnier climates.

The brisk, frosty morning inspires a street hockey game on the main drag of Camp Eggers, the NTM-A base in downtown Kabul. The familiar clatter of hockey sticks is interrupted by the traditional call of "Car!" The nets are pulled aside and a convoy of MRAPs — "Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected" vehicles — passes the cluster of Gretzkys and Yzermans. The morning exercise is soon over and the players head off to do their part in the NATO mission supporting the training cadre of the Afghan national security forces.

Master Seaman Jason Boudreau of Flin Flon, Man., is a training advisor working with the Afghan National Army. Lieutenant (Navy) JoAnne Carter of Ottawa, Ont., works with the Afghan National Civil Order Police. Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Craig MacFadgen of Dartmouth, N.S., advises Afghan senior non-commissioned officers. The list goes on: the Op ATTENTION team has 920 personal stories to tell.

Through early November, poppies will be worn on the arid-pattern camouflage uniforms of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, who will gather on Remembrance Day to share their bond with all those who have worn the uniform, especially the fallen. Two minutes of silence will be followed by the sound of bagpipes drifting across the landscapes where Canadians deployed in Afghanistan are serving today: in Kabul, in Mazar-e-Sharif in the north, and in Herat on the western border.

Part of the entrance to Camp Eggers is a protected corridor. At one of the doors opening into this corridor, the Afghan guard has propped a large shard of broken mirror on top of the cement wall so he can see everyone who approaches his post. If you cast a glance at the mirror at just the right moment as you pass by, you can see both where you’re going and where you’ve been.

Like the mirror, Canadians on parade in Afghanistan on Remembrance Day reflect on where Canada has been since eleven o’clock in the morning of 11 November 1918. And, like that mirror, those Canadians on parade will offer a glimpse of where we’re going.

SLt David Lewis is a public affairs officer serving in Kabul at the headquarters of the Canadian Contribution Training Mission–Afghanistan, the task force deployed on Operation ATTENTION.