Recently added articles from Esprit de Corps:
On target? Violent clashes in Kandahar resulting in more Canadian casualties keeps the Afghan mission front and centre in the electoral campaign.
Oct 01, 2008; ... Since the federal election was called on September 4th there has certainly been no shortage of news stories about the mission m Kandahar. In a clever campaign move aimed at taking Afghanistan out of the debate, Stephen Harper's Conservative Party strategists had the prime ...
Afghan mission our greatest blunder.(POSTED IN: Letters to the editor)(Letter to the editor)
Oct 01, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Canadian government's commitment to keep our military deployed in Afghanistan until 2011 is probably going to be our biggest military blunder in history. The blunder will not be the fault of the Canadian Forces, the commanders, or soldiers ...
What other troops?(POSTED IN: Letters to the editor)(Letter to the editor)
Oct 01, 2008; ... First off, I would like to correct Neil M. Deck, whose letter appears in Volume 15 Issue 8, by pointing out there is no such outfit or regiment as "the RCRs," as he writes. The proper name for Canada's number one and senior infantry regiment is The Royal Canadian Regiment, or in short form ...
Not a 'polish' camp.(POSTED IN: Letters to the editor)(Letter to the editor)
Oct 01, 2008; ... I write to you with great disappointment in regards to your recent publication Volume 15 Issue 8 and the corresponding article by Norm Shannon "The devil's dues." In this article, the author refers to two Canadians who were captured and held in "a Polish concentration camp." I would like ...
Correction.(POSTED IN: Letters to the editor)(Correction notice)
Oct 01, 2008; ... In Volume 15 Issue 8, Norm Shannon's World War II article "The Devil's Dues" contained a factual error. Although Shannon correctly identified the location of the Buchenwald concentration camp as being five miles from the German town of Weimar, in a subsequent passage it was referred to as ...
This photo of past Canadian prime ministers appeared in a story on defence spending ini the "Hits & Misses" section of Volume 14 Issue 12.(POSTED IN: Letters to the editor)(Correction notice)
Oct 01, 2008 ... This photo of past Canadian prime ministers appeared in a story on defence spending ini the "Hits & Misses" section of Volume 14 Issue 12 ....
Election 2008: plotting a course for the military: Canada's political parties weigh in.
Oct 01, 2008 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We are now nearing the end of the election and by this point most that are tuned in are ready to tune out. For those able to scratch below the daily polls, punditry and horseracing, a substantial policy discourse is actually occurring. ...
Safer access: a moral kind of security contractor?(EYE ON INDUSTRY)
Oct 01, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The deaths of MCpL. Josh Roberts of 2PPCLI and Canadian aid workers Jackie Kirk and Shirley Case raise the question of the role of security contractors in conflict zones. Although a military investigation later ruled otherwise, Roberts was initially ...
Our troops and Peter MacKay's true colours.(COMMENTARY)
Oct 01, 2008; ... ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, AFTER the formality of meeting with Governor General Michaelle Jean to request that she disband parliament, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the assembled press corps at Rideau Hall that he expected this election to become a battleground of personal attack ads ....
Ignoring the 800-pound gorilla.(COMMENTARY)(Afghanistan)
Oct 01, 2008; ... YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, AND YOU'VE invited the national party leaders over to an election-time luncheon to discuss it. Miraculously, they agree, and over tea and finger sandwiches they start shouting their party platforms in unison. Naive as you are, you let them prattle, assuming that someone ...
Secure Canada not so secure.(INCOMING: Hits & misses)(Secure Canada cancelled because of potential security threat )(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2008 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Speaking of cancellation, it seems that an item we reported on in our last issue has also been called off. Billed as a three-part show that would highlight "Command and Control innovations, strategies, operations and technology in North America," the ...
Joint support ship takes on water.(INCOMING: Hits & misses)(Joint Support Ship Project )(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Last month we reported that there were some major problems surrounding the Joint Support Ship program to replace Canada's fleet of supply ships. Apparently, these were irreconcilable. Shortly after we went to press last month, in the evening on a Friday night, the government ...
Casualties amidst an election.(INCOMING: Hits & misses)
Oct 01, 2008 ... It seemed almost grimly appropriate that shortly after Stephen Harper called an election came news that another soldier had died in Afghanistan--an ugly reminder of the end result of policies made in Ottawa. Unfortunately, this "800-pound gorilla" (as Michael Nickerson says in his column) ...
Election spending.(INCOMING: Hits & misses)
Oct 01, 2008 ... You can always tell an election is around the corner when the announcements come fast and furious. In the days leading up to the election call (September 7) the military served as no exception to this rule. A brief recap: September 6: New overland surveillance capability for the ...
HMCS Ville de Quebec's mission extended.(INCOMING: Hits & misses)(Her Majesty's Canadian Ship )(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2008 ... HMCS Ville de Quebec's mission to support the World Food Program (WFP) has been extended to October 23. Ville de Quebec has been serving as an escort for WFP food aid shipments from Mombasa, Kenya to Mogadishu, Somalia. The threat of pirates in these waters is significant. So ...
On the rock.(Cover story)
Oct 01, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] In mid-August I had the pleasure of embarking on my first real family vacation in recent memory. The destination of choice was St. John's, Newfoundland for the reason that it was the only region of Canada I had yet to visit, and with no major military ...
Shadow soldiers: Sir John Johnson: Sir John Johnson's life mirrored that of his father Sir William Johnson. In life, both men were brave in battle and fiercely loyal to Kings George II and III; in death, both suffered the ignominy of having their graves desecrated.
Oct 01, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The parallels were many and the differences few between the lives of Sir John Johnson and his father Sir William Johnson. Both were baronets with huge landholdings in their respective colonies, Upper Canada and New York; both were prodigious at ...
At ease: military trivia & humour.
Oct 01, 2008 ... So you think you know your military history? Well, think again! Each month we publish questions to test your knowledge as part of our "At Ease" feature, a collection of military trivia and humour. The answers to the quiz are tucked away on another page in this very issue. Good ...
Dear General X.(AT EASE: MILITARY TRIVIA & HUMOUR)(Column)
Oct 01, 2008 ... As part of our summer intern program, Esprit de Corps took in a recently retired, extremely popular general officer who was looking to start a new career in the field of journalism. Modest by nature, this candidate insisted that his real name not be used on his byline, as he wanted to make ...
The Zamzam affair: Canadian civilians are caught in a diplomatic tussle after being taken captive by the Germans.(SECOND WORLD WAR)
Oct 01, 2008; ... The following is the first of a two-part excerpt from the book Mercy Ships: The Untold Story of Prisoner-of-War Exchanges in World War Two, published by Continuum Books in 2008. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On April 7, 1941, the liner Zamzam, a neutral vessel sailing under ...