A Canadian soldier in Iraq

As indicated in a Globe & Mail story we highlighted here a few weeks ago, Canadian LCol Darryl Mills is serving on exchange with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq.

Castle Argghhh! denizenne Fuzzybear Lioness (FbL) noted that article and followed it up with an interview of the 3ID Deputy Chief of Staff:

The military exchange program has been in existence for quite awhile, but it's not something well-known in the civilian world. According to LTC Mills, there are currently about 300 Canadians working within their allies' armed forces, a not-insignificant number when one considers the size of Canadian Forces. Canada's goals in participating so strongly are two-fold: to increase their knowledge/skill/experience in ways they can use to improve their own military, and to improve the Canadian military's ability to integrate effectively with allies in both war and peacetime exercises. “When we come back, we’re able to bring back to our country…what we’ve learned abroad,” LTC Mills says. He also points out that it is important for Canada to improve integration for future coalition operations with allies because they recognize that due to their modest size, “We will always be fighting alongside someone else.”

Just because he's doing a staff job now, doesn't mean that's what he was always doing, however:

When LTC Mills deployed to Iraq with 3ID in 2005, he was Operations Officer for the Deputy Commanding General for Maneuver and Operations. It meant he was “outside the wire” on a daily basis, and had the chance to develop intimate knowledge of the people and situation on the ground. “It was an eye-opening and professionally rewarding experience,” he says. In the current deployment he's been tied to desk, and expresses a certain amount of frustration that he must rely on the reports of others for information about what is happening outside the walls. He reports a lack of comfort about that, and feeling a sense of isolation--the lament of many a staff officer who would rather be on the front lines.

Need I tell you to go read the rest? Prepare to move, move now.