Troops return after 10 months in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 | 8:19 PM MT
CBC News
Some 240 Canadian soldiers posted for the last 10 months in Afghanistan returned to their home barracks in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Soldiers return to a red-coated greeting in Edmonton on Tuesday after a 10-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. (CBC)Their plane arrived at about 3:30 p.m. at Edmonton International Airport, where they were greeted by a red-coated RCMP honour guard on the tarmac.
Task Force 5-09, led by Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance, were the headquarters element that commanded all Canadian troops in Kandahar province, a military news release said.
"I think we did Canada proud in terms of the work we did there," Vance told reporters.
Vance said the arrival of 5,000 U.S. soldiers was the biggest change during the 10-month mission and allowed the Canadians to concentrate their forces and fine-tune their mission.
The biggest disappointment was the death of soldiers.
Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance says some of the troops who returned to Edmonton today may see more duty in Afghanistan before 2011. (CBC)"Losing any soldier at any time was a bad day," he said. "Of particular note, losing Cpl. Nick Bulger out of my team on patrol was a very hard day for all of us."
Bulger, 30, with the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was killed in July when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.
Despite such losses, Vance said he was optimistic about the future of Afghanistan. Some of the soldiers who returned Tuesday could return to duty between before Canada's combat mission is supposed to end in 2011.
"It's a very compelling mission, " Vance said. "It's one that spans the full range of what soldiers can bring to a country, be it the appropriate use of force to eliminate an enemy threat, all the way through to basic humanitarian assistance, support into towns and villages.
"It kind of forms a bond both ways, and I think the troops really enjoyed that."
