Stanley Cup, MND, CDS and others at Kandahar/Roto length

Well, we are Canadians (note the video):

NHL players return to Kandahar

Other reporting:

1) Success in Afghanistan 'tremendous'

On fifth visit, MacKay points to new roads, bridges as sign of optimism

2) Longer Afghan missions eyed

MacKay says extending 6-month stints possible as manpower shortages hamper Afghan mission

Longer deployments for Canadian troops in Kandahar – perhaps as long as a year – are being considered as the military struggles to meet the manpower demands of a mission that has been extended by two years.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said yesterday from Kandahar he is not ruling it out, but added the decision rests with senior commanders...

Retired general Lewis MacKenzie said the forces could have to introduce longer deployments to meet the demands of keeping 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan at a time, through to 2011.

"It's a matter of resources. ... I think they're going to have to look at it," MacKenzie said yesterday. "It's a pretty frequent subject of discussion because they are facing the dilemma of just not enough troops."

MacKenzie said the army has an effective infantry corps of about 5,000, once leaves, injuries and other absences are accounted for.

Out of Canada's 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan at a time, typically 800 to 1,000 are front-line infantry corps.

MacKenzie said the force should consider deployments of nine months, even a year.

Front-line Canadian troops now serve a six-month rotation with typically a three-week vacation; headquarters staff are sent for between nine months and a year.

Senior U.S. commanders have said the six-month rotations could be an impediment to NATO success in Afghanistan.

American soldiers serve 15-month deployments, though the Pentagon is reducing that to 12 months to ease the strain on overburdened soldiers.

"What does 15 months mean? The American soldier ... develops a relationship with the terrain, with the indigenous people and their leadership, and with the enemy. And they have sufficient time to exploit that relationship to their advantage," said top NATO commander Gen. Dan McNeill, an American.

Each new Canadian deployment is accompanied by a period of "instability" as the new troops get used to the local geography and dangers, said Brian MacDonald of the Conference of Defence Associations.

"If it takes them one month to do that, then you have one month at less than 100 per cent effectiveness followed by five months of effectiveness," he said...

..."What does 15 months mean? The American soldier ... develops a relationship with the terrain, with the indigenous people and their leadership, and with the enemy. And they have sufficient time to exploit that relationship to their advantage," said top NATO commander Gen. Dan McNeill, an American.

Each new Canadian deployment is accompanied by a period of "instability" as the new troops get used to the local geography and dangers, said Brian MacDonald of the Conference of Defence Associations.

"If it takes them one month to do that, then you have one month at less than 100 per cent effectiveness followed by five months of effectiveness," he said...

... MacKenzie said the rotation lengths are a holdover from United Nations peacekeeping missions.

"Everybody that did a lot of peacekeeping got into this routine of six-month rotations, which is really quite inefficient when it comes to an operational theatre," he said.

The Canadian military has made it no secret that the prolonged Afghan mission, already extended once by two years, is straining its resources.

For example, it has been deploying sailors and air force personnel to Afghanistan to help bolster the ground forces.

And it has meant that the pledge by then-defence minister Gordon O'Connor to limit combat troops to one deployment in Afghanistan to avoid wearing them out has gone out the window as well.

Canada's latest casualty – Sgt. Jason Boyes, killed in a bomb blast on Sunday – was on his third tour in Afghanistan.

"You just can't sustain that for very long," MacKenzie said about the repeat tours.

He said the idea of longer deployment has surprising support among families, despite the hardship of the longer absences...

And here's a typically delightful Globe and Mail comment thread.

Updates:

1) No plans to change length of troop rotations: Hillier

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Canadian soldiers could one day face the prospect of longer rotations in Afghanistan but it won't happen anytime soon, Canada's chief of defence staff suggested Thursday.

Gen. Rick Hillier said the length of deployment is one of the many battlefield factors that's always under consideration and review by senior Canadian commanders.

The lessons learned on the battlefield are always influencing how the mission takes shape over time, Hillier said.

"We look at those things all the time, (but) we've made no decisions at this time,'' he said.

"We learn lessons in this mission as we do every other, and those lessons over six, 12 or 18 months help us change and shape things, from the vehicle suites we need to the kind of training that we need back in Canada to the lengths of the deployments.''..

A senior military official in Ottawa said Thursday [March 20] that any rotation changes would likely be driven either by a substantial change in the situation on the ground, such as a marked deterioration or improvement in the security situation, or a substantial reconfiguration of the battle group.

"It's very much driven by circumstance,'' said the official, who added: "The longer a soldier is on the ground, the tougher it becomes.''..

2) Both sides claim win as NHL old-timers beat Canadian troops 9-2 in Kandahar
...
The Stanley Cup gleamed in the afternoon Afghan sun to inspire a team of troops that included Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's chief of defence staff and an unabashed hockey fan, and Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, the diminutive commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan...