Training the next roto for Afstan

A Canadian Army news piece; the troops actually should start arrving pretty soon (see "Rotation 6" here):

Ex Maple Guardian readies troops for TF 1-09

Mohammad Ghalacheh in the role of an Afghan requesting help from Captain Nathalie Truchon and Lieutenant Mathieur Proulx, two representatives of civil-military cooperation (CIMIC).

Thursday, January 08, 2009

CFB/ASU Wainwright, Alberta – Exercise Maple Guardian 0802 was held from September to November 2008 to train the upcoming rotation for Task Force Afghanistan.

Sapper Mark Smith from 5 Combat Engineer Regiment helps an injured civilian.

The two groups—a battle group drawn principally from Land Force Quebec Area and a headquarters group originating primarily from Land Force Western Area—received their training at the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre.

Pte Jean-Francois Carreau climbs out of a tunnel after clearing out a suspected Taliban stronghold.

EX Maple Guardian is one of the final steps in the training of soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan with Task Force 1-09 next Spring.

Article by Cpl Jasper Schwartz, Army News, Montréal
Photos by Cpl Jasper Schwartz and Julie Turcotte

Project Number:08-0796

And here's info, listing component units, on the subsequent Roto 8 for late summer of 2009, Task Force 3-09.