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Hang in there Master Corporal
Lewis MacKenzie
National Post
Friday, August 02, 2002
I'm sure there are days -- many of them -- when Canadian soldiers wish we could go back to a time when the media and public paid no attention whatsoever to things military. Minor problems within the military stayed minor and problems were resolved away from the eyes of a public that expressed little if any desire to understand the military culture. Not so today. On a number of occasions that I personally can recall, the media outnumbered the soldiers accompanying me on a particular task.
Master Corporal Arron Perry probably feels more than a little betrayed by his profession these days. Master Corporal Perry, you will recall, is a member of the sniper section of 3PPCLI that is currently returning from a six-month tour of operational duty in Afghanistan. Corporal Perry and his fellow Canadian snipers were able to kill the enemy at ranges and under conditions that so impressed their U.S. commanders that a number of the Patricias, including Perry, were recommended for the U.S. Bronze Star -- a highly respected decoration for heroic and/or meritorious service. Unfortunately for Master Corporal Perry, a rude comment in the general direction of the unit's padre and a photo of a dead terrorist with a sign on his chest saying, "F--- Terrorism" resulted in charges being laid along with the prerequisite investigation.
While the charge involving the padre has been dropped, the "trophy photo" continues to be investigated and Perry remains suspended from duty and will not be eligible to participate in his unit's homecoming celebrations next week. Too bad, really, because he earned the right to be there by doing exactly what the Government of Canada ordered and paid him to do -- kill the enemy. Master Corporal Perry didn't decide to go to Afghanistan on his own in order to practise his marksmanship skills on other human beings. He was ordered to do so by the people of Canada through their elected representatives.
Regarding the sign on the dead terrorist -- it was wrong but explainable. While Perry has denied placing the sign on the body, he has admitted supporting what it said, which seems reasonable considering we are at war with terrorism and F--- is a universal noun, verb, adverb, etc. as you get closer to the front line.
The point is, and Master Corporal Perry should take some consolation from this fact, the military had no choice but to lay the charge in today's politically correct fish bowl. As little as a decade ago, as Perry's commanding officer, I could/would have torn a strip off him wide enough to get his attention for the rest of his career and then within the next five minutes called him in and congratulated him on his superb skills and for bringing credit to our unit and our nation on the battlefield. Regrettably, if anyone tried that today, the brown envelopes would be in the hands of the media by tomorrow's 6 p.m. news and the commanding officer would be hung out to dry.
If we are to fulfill our obligations on the world's stage and not rely on others to provide our security, we had better get used to the more unsavoury side of conflict. Soldiers shouldn't have to consider how their actions will play out in the media back home as they are trying to kill the other guy before he or she kills him. As long as they follow the rules of war that have been developed over centuries that should be good enough. To add in a sub-set of Canadian political correctness guidelines merely complicates our soldiers' lives at the precise moment when they need the maximum flexibility to do their job in order to save their own life and those around them.
If you have stayed with this column to this point, thanks for your interest; however, I wrote it in order to speak to Master Corporal Perry who is considering leaving the military as a result of his treatment during the past few months.
Master Corporal Perry, hang in there. We don't have enough soldiers, let alone enough good ones. There are times in all military careers when each of us get frustrated and decides to leave. In my case, when I was 29, I was told I wouldn't be eligible for promotion to major until two years after I was otherwise qualified. I decided that was it, the system stunk and I was leaving. Fortunately, a friend convinced me that it would work out in the end and I stayed. Every time I came up for promotion I got a sympathy vote because I had been screwed around during my promotion to major. I've got a feeling that you are probably going to get more than a few of those sympathy votes over the coming years. Don't be too hard on the system. It has its problems, but the work you and your fellow soldiers do makes the public uncomfortable and the military leadership has a terribly delicate job balancing the demands of the two solitudes. I continue to believe that it will all work out in the end.
Lewis MacKenzie
National Post
Friday, August 02, 2002
I'm sure there are days -- many of them -- when Canadian soldiers wish we could go back to a time when the media and public paid no attention whatsoever to things military. Minor problems within the military stayed minor and problems were resolved away from the eyes of a public that expressed little if any desire to understand the military culture. Not so today. On a number of occasions that I personally can recall, the media outnumbered the soldiers accompanying me on a particular task.
Master Corporal Arron Perry probably feels more than a little betrayed by his profession these days. Master Corporal Perry, you will recall, is a member of the sniper section of 3PPCLI that is currently returning from a six-month tour of operational duty in Afghanistan. Corporal Perry and his fellow Canadian snipers were able to kill the enemy at ranges and under conditions that so impressed their U.S. commanders that a number of the Patricias, including Perry, were recommended for the U.S. Bronze Star -- a highly respected decoration for heroic and/or meritorious service. Unfortunately for Master Corporal Perry, a rude comment in the general direction of the unit's padre and a photo of a dead terrorist with a sign on his chest saying, "F--- Terrorism" resulted in charges being laid along with the prerequisite investigation.
While the charge involving the padre has been dropped, the "trophy photo" continues to be investigated and Perry remains suspended from duty and will not be eligible to participate in his unit's homecoming celebrations next week. Too bad, really, because he earned the right to be there by doing exactly what the Government of Canada ordered and paid him to do -- kill the enemy. Master Corporal Perry didn't decide to go to Afghanistan on his own in order to practise his marksmanship skills on other human beings. He was ordered to do so by the people of Canada through their elected representatives.
Regarding the sign on the dead terrorist -- it was wrong but explainable. While Perry has denied placing the sign on the body, he has admitted supporting what it said, which seems reasonable considering we are at war with terrorism and F--- is a universal noun, verb, adverb, etc. as you get closer to the front line.
The point is, and Master Corporal Perry should take some consolation from this fact, the military had no choice but to lay the charge in today's politically correct fish bowl. As little as a decade ago, as Perry's commanding officer, I could/would have torn a strip off him wide enough to get his attention for the rest of his career and then within the next five minutes called him in and congratulated him on his superb skills and for bringing credit to our unit and our nation on the battlefield. Regrettably, if anyone tried that today, the brown envelopes would be in the hands of the media by tomorrow's 6 p.m. news and the commanding officer would be hung out to dry.
If we are to fulfill our obligations on the world's stage and not rely on others to provide our security, we had better get used to the more unsavoury side of conflict. Soldiers shouldn't have to consider how their actions will play out in the media back home as they are trying to kill the other guy before he or she kills him. As long as they follow the rules of war that have been developed over centuries that should be good enough. To add in a sub-set of Canadian political correctness guidelines merely complicates our soldiers' lives at the precise moment when they need the maximum flexibility to do their job in order to save their own life and those around them.
If you have stayed with this column to this point, thanks for your interest; however, I wrote it in order to speak to Master Corporal Perry who is considering leaving the military as a result of his treatment during the past few months.
Master Corporal Perry, hang in there. We don't have enough soldiers, let alone enough good ones. There are times in all military careers when each of us get frustrated and decides to leave. In my case, when I was 29, I was told I wouldn't be eligible for promotion to major until two years after I was otherwise qualified. I decided that was it, the system stunk and I was leaving. Fortunately, a friend convinced me that it would work out in the end and I stayed. Every time I came up for promotion I got a sympathy vote because I had been screwed around during my promotion to major. I've got a feeling that you are probably going to get more than a few of those sympathy votes over the coming years. Don't be too hard on the system. It has its problems, but the work you and your fellow soldiers do makes the public uncomfortable and the military leadership has a terribly delicate job balancing the demands of the two solitudes. I continue to believe that it will all work out in the end.