CLIPPING: Elite soldiers get better stuff

Sunday » October 9 » 2005

Military accused of favouritism
’Double standard’: Critics fear elite soldiers gaining at regulars’ expense

David Pugliese
CanWest News Service

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Canada’s special forces unit has gone on a multi-million-dollar spending spree, outfitting itself with high-tech weaponry that is the envy of units throughout the military.

But some Members of Parliament are questioning why there appears to be a double standard in equipping regular and elite soldiers.

Flush with federal government cash, the Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 has purchased everything from the futuristic P-90 submachine gun to the Heckler and Koch automatic grenade launcher.

A JTF2 procurement team recently returned from Sweden where it test-fired and then ordered a new anti-armour weapon specially designed to be used in confined spaces or for fighting in cities.

In addition, JTF2 has received armoured transport trucks from the U.S. company, Stewart and Stevenson, for use in Afghanistan. The unit also recently bought a portable X-ray machine designed to ferret out bombs. That system has also been shipped to Afghanistan.

But Conservative MP Gordon O’Connor is accusing Defence Minister Bill Graham of "a double standard when it comes to protecting the lives of our soldiers." He said regular troops now in Kandahar, as well as those expected to arrive there on an even riskier combat-oriented mission in February, face a similar level of danger as those serving in JTF2.

"I think it’s great that JTF2 is getting the Stewart and Stevenson trucks with the armour kits because they do need them," said Mr. O’Connor, a retired general. "But so do the others [units]. To listen to the minister argue that somehow the rest of our troops and the ones arriving in February are going to be in different circumstances is basically fiddle-faddle. "Roadside bombs and attacks by rocket-propelled grenades go on whether you’re chasing the enemy in the mountains or whether you’re in Kandahar," he added.

Mr. Graham says there are different missions on-going in Afghanistan and that since JTF2 is highly specialized it requires different equipment. The Department of National Defence did not respond for comment on the issue.

Military officials recently revealed that JTF2 has participated in operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces and was involved in the capture and killing of insurgents.

They did not provide further details on those actions.

But regular force troops serving in Afghanistan are also facing danger, the latest being a suicide bomb attack which left three soldiers with minor injuries.

Unlike the regular forces, which obtain their equipment through the ponderously slow federal procurement system, JTF2 is able to cut through much of the red tape and quickly get approval for gear from both the military and political leadership. The unit also does not have to deal with usual rules on government accountability and its purchases are considered secret.

When regular troops were driving around in unarmoured Iltis vehicles in Afghanistan several years ago, the JTF2 commandos were outfitted with the latest armoured Hummer vehicles equipped with heavy machineguns.

While JTF2 quickly received approval for its new automatic grenade launchers and anti-tank weapons, the army has been waiting for years to buy similar gear. That equipment is not expected to be acquired by regular units for at least another year or two.

In April, JTF2 procurement officers spent days touring the CANSEC defence equipment exhibition in Ottawa, meeting with company representatives and obtaining details on the latest military gadgets.

Mr. O’Connor said JTF2 is able to acquire its equipment faster because the unit is ordering small amounts of gear and it has been given priority on such purchases by the military’s leadership.

"They have their own procurement system where they don’t have to go through all the checks and balances," he said.

In particular, Mr. O’Connor questioned why the regular army has to do without basic armour protection for its logistics trucks even though such vehicles could be open to attack by enemy forces using roadside bombs or rocket-propelled grenades.

JTF2’s budget is secret but in the mid-1990s when the unit was made up of around 100 commandos the government was spending about $400million a year on the formation.

The unit now has approximately 500 members, according to a newly released Senate defence committee report.

© National Post 2005

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