Two Afghanistan tours haven't tarnished soldier's view By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 11 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, August 21, 2009 H e recently finished his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and he's not ruling out the possibility of going back for a third. Major Fraser Auld, 35, is back in Petawawa following 10 months in Kandahar where he served as a staff officer and lead tactical planner to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is struggling to quell a strong Taliban insurgency. Auld, whose parents still live in Oakville, has a long history with the Canadian military dating back to when he first signed up as a reservist in 1990. While both of his grandfathers fought in the Second World War, Auld said there had been no family connection to the military since then. He joined up just because it was something he was interested in doing. Auld became an officer after graduating from Royal Military College in Kingston and in the fall of 2004 he was told he would soon be heading to Afghanistan for his first tour. Auld's feelings about his impending departure were nothing but positive. "I was good for that," he said. "That's why you join the army and I was quite happy to go." When deployment finally came in July of 2005, Canada's soldiers were not yet operating in the volatile province of Kandahar, but were stationed at Camp Julien, a base near the country's capital of Kabul. The sights of the city left a distinct impression on Auld. "It's like going back in time," he said. "For the most part it is a poor, crowded city where for most people, the daily routine is to just get out and get enough to get by. That is something that we're not necessarily used to over here, where you can do your grocery shopping and pick up everything you need for the week in one spot. There, on a daily basis you are on the search for food or to scratch out enough money to buy food for that day or just for the next meal." Auld said the big box store does not exist in Kabul. Instead, entire sections of the city are devoted to bazaars, which consist of hundreds, possibly thousands, of stands selling different items. Trips to several of these stands are necessary to get everything a person needs with bartering and haggling taking place at each one. Methods of construction in Kabul were also different with the Afghans building scaffolding out of parts of trees and whatever other materials that could be found as they did not have access to construction companies or proper building supplies. Auld still remembers a lot of details about daily life in Kabul and the surrounding area. "I was second in command of a reconnaissance squadron," said Auld. "We would go off somewhere to determine `pattern of life.' All `pattern of life' means is what is normal for an area. For example, we may establish a position on a hill that overlooks a valley and from there we can observe traffic in and out, we do patrols to see how many shops are open, we see how of his colleagues likened to squeezing a bag of water. You squeeze one part of the bag and the water just squirts over to another part. "The point is that if you can keep them off balance and keep them busy with something else you're giving the Afghan government time to get their security forces sorted out and their government sorted out. You're giving time to the international organizations that are building roads and schools over there," said Auld. "At the end of the day those are the things that are going to make the people realize the future is brighter with the government and not the insurgents." I F Major Fraser Auld on patrol in Afghanistan. many people visit the bazaar everyday and we He returned home, but did little relaxing and talk with the local leaders." instead began training for the staff officer and Figuring out what is normal for a communi- planning position he would hold during his secty is important, Auld noted, as doing this allows ond tour. the soldiers to detect subtle changes that could be cause for concern. n April of 2008 Auld again found himself in "That one day when you go out there and you Afghanistan but this time, instead of carrysee that nobody is in the bazaar and all the shops ing out the battle plans of his superior offiare closed and one of the roads is empty and cers, he was helping them to design those plans. there's no kids on it when usually it's filled with One counter insurgency operation that Auld kids, this is now abnormal and it could be an took part in targeted a number of IED indicator that something is about to happen," (Improvised Explosive Device) factories that had said Auld. been established in Kandahar's Zhari District. Dubbed `Southern Vulture,' the November or three months Auld carried out these operation lasted for a week and saw not only parduties in the area surrounding Kabul. In ticipation from Canadian soldiers, but also from October, it was decided the efforts of British soldiers, Afghan security forces and Canadian soldiers would be better spent else- British helicopters. where. Auld and his fellow soldiers began the The operation ended with the seizure of sevmonumental task of moving all soldiers and eral hundred pounds of explosives, a motorcycle equipment to Kandahar. that had been rigged with explosives, mines, Auld said this endeavor required the soldiers drugs, weapons and ammunition. Several militants had also been killed during to drive huge convoys the 500 km distance from Kabul to the Kandahar airfield for about two the attack. The operation did have a noticeable impact, months. Fortunately, at this time the insurgency was but it was only temporary. "We did actually see a marked decrease in still in its infancy and around 95 per cent of the convoys arrived at their destination without IED events on one of the main highways for just less than a month," said Auld. anything out of the ordinary taking place. "The insurgents are not dumb, they'll set up Auld himself rode with six of these convoys, with each trip proving uneventful. a new factory somewhere else. It just takes them "I think if they tried to do it today it would be time to do it. " different," he said. While Auld admits to being frustrated by the With a new base of operations established in enemy's quick recovery, he points out that this Kandahar, Auld's first tour came to an end. is the reality of counter insurgency, which one I n the end Auld noted, it is the people of Afghanistan and not the military, who will defeat the insurgents by no longer supporting them or turning a blind eye to what they do. Auld said this victory will only take place when the people have confidence in their government, something that is still a long way off. "The best way to explain it is here in Canada, if you wake up and look in your backyard and there's four guys with guns sitting around a fire you just go to the phone and call the police and you know there is going to be a response," said Auld. "Over there, in some parts of the country you call the police and they will show up and take these guys away. In other places, there's nobody for them to call, or the people they call are actually buddies with the four armed guys in the backyard, who are now going to tell the four armed guys that you just ratted them out and then something bad happens to you." While helping to plan operations against the insurgency was a prominent part of Auld's work during his 10-month odyssey, there were other missions, which grabbed fewer headlines, but were no less important to helping Afghanistan get on its feet. One of these missions required Auld to provide security and transportation to a group civilians on a fact-finding mission to Spin Boldak, an Afghan city near the Pakistani border. Auld said the mission was important as the Afghan border today is unregulated and uncontrolled with anyone and anything crossing at will. To change this, the Afghan government wants to invest $16 million to create a modern border crossing at Spin Boldak complete with a customs house and inspection areas. Not only would such a border crossing give the Taliban a bit more difficulty in getting supplies and people from Pakistan, but it would also provide the government with a source of revenue in the form of tolls taken from the commercial vehicles that travel back and forth. "This is one of those missions that's not really sexy, it doesn't get on the news, there aren't planes and attack helicopters and things blowing up and all that, but in my opinion these are the more important missions," said Auld. "Enabling these people to get down there and see what they needed to see was one step in unlocking this $16 million investment in the border. These are the missions that are going to further the things that are actually going to win the war."