Scott Taylor defends soldiers' personal kit for Afstan

Good on him this time:

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Then came the allegation from a serving soldier that Canadian troops in Afghanistan are poorly equipped. Anxious as always for any new angle on the Afghan debate, the media eagerly gave voice to the concerns expressed by Cpl. Daniel Beaulieu.

His resume seemed very impressive: An 11-year veteran with the Royal 22nd Regiment, Beaulieu served a tour in Bosnia and has just returned to Valcartier from his second tour in Afghanistan. This experienced rifleman’s memos of complaint had fallen on deaf ears within the chain of command, so he decided to take his message to the local TV station.

To a civilian, Beaulieu’s comments no doubt sounded pretty scandalous. According to this corporal, our contingent is equipped for "peacekeeping, not war-fighting" and to argue his case, he listed several shortcomings. Beaulieu pointed out that the current protective vests issued to our soldiers only have pouches to hold four magazines of C-7 rifle ammunition. Add to this the 20 rounds of ammunition in the magazine already on the weapon, and our soldiers carry into combat 100 preloaded 5.56 calibre bullets. According to Beaulieu, this should be increased to 15 spare magazines or a total of 320 rounds of ammo.

Nobody thought to ask this combat veteran just how he planned to carry the extra 35 pounds of weight this would add to an average soldier’s current full kit load of nearly 80 pounds. Nor did anybody inquire if there has been a single instance in Canada’s six-year military experience in Afghanistan where our front-line troops have been forced to break contact with the enemy as a result of an ammunition shortage.

During Beaulieu’s seven-month tour in Kandahar, there were no prolonged firefights with insurgents. The only casualties suffered in the Van Doo battle group came as a result of roadside bombs. Given the nature of this threat, I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind wanting to travel around with 300 bullets strapped to their chest.

When our troops have fought insurgents in major offensive operations, they have done so close to their armoured vehicles that offer them not only heavy fire support and protection, but also ready access to additional ammunition.

Beaulieu’s second gripe about bullets was that infantry soldiers are only issued with one spare clip of ammo for their side arms. He felt they should be issued with at least two spare magazines for their pistols.

As side arms are intended for use only as an emergency backup or in extremely close-quarters fighting, I cannot imagine a scenario to date in Afghanistan where any of our soldiers would have expended one clip, let alone three, of pistol ammo.

Complaint No. 3 was that the service-issue holsters made the pistol too accessible. Sometimes the handguns would fall out unexpectedly, and Beaulieu stated the obvious by saying this might cause an injury. To date, we have had three Canadian soldiers killed and several wounded by accidental weapon discharges, but these all involved C-7 rifles, or in one case a shotgun — not handguns. As one military spokesman explained in the wake of Beaulieu’s public charges, the pistol has to be able to come out of the holster easily — that’s the way they’re designed.

The last big revelation from Beaulieu was that the desert boots were substandard. Sure they may be state-of-the-art footwear that retail at around $300 a pair, but after Beaulieu went on long patrols, his feet hurt. I will pause here for a moment to let everyone who once served in the infantry roll their eyes skyward in disbelief.

Cpl. Beaulieu says he fears retribution for his public outburst, but the military would be wise to heed his advice. They should design the corporal a vest that can hold 15 ammo mags, issue him the extra pistol clips and insist that he carry them all the time.

Admittedly, there was a time in the mid-1990s when our troops were serving overseas in threadbare combat clothes, and rotating soldiers had to exchange helmets and flak jackets at the airport, but those days are long gone...