Straight-talking colonel takes over Canada's special forces
CAMPBELL CLARK AND ALAN FREEMAN
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
June 30, 2007 at 12:59 AM EDT
OTTAWA — Tall, ramrod-straight and promising a no-nonsense style, Colonel Mike Day took over the Canadian Forces' secretive special operations Friday with an assertion that his growing section of the military will use a moral compass to fight in a “world that has lost its way.”
A formal transfer of command at Ottawa's Cartier Drill Hall placed the 44-year-old Col. Day in charge of the Forces' tactical and anti-terrorism units, which are in the midst of a 10-year expansion that will see their size doubled.
The Special Operations Forces command, or CANSOFCOM, includes the JTF2 commando unit, a special helicopter squadron, a chemical- and nuclear-weapons unit, and a broader Special Operations Regiment now being built up to a battalion size of about 700 soldiers.
Col. Day commanded JTF2 until a month ago, and will head a section of the Canadian military that is regularly tasked with some of the most difficult missions. But on his first day he argued that they bear a moral responsibility that is key to their functions.
“I personally believe we live in a world that has lost its way,” he told the audience. “I believe that CANSOFCOM has been given the opportunity to answer that challenge.”
He told reporters later that he believes high moral character is a key to the work of special forces units.
“Everything rests on their shoulder to make the right decision in the right way. And the foundation of that is the Canadian character,” he said.
“We are very careful with who we select, how we train our people. And it's not just hands and feet skills. We reflect Canadian values at its very highest. And it is what makes us, I believe, one of the pre-eminent special forces elements in the world.”
The secretive nature of the special forces units was underlined Friday when Governor-General Michaëlle Jean awarded 11 of the military's most prestigious medals to members of the special forces command, but their identities, and the details of their actions, were not revealed.
It is no secret that their size and importance inside the Canadian military is growing rapidly, however.
The special operations forces command is the smallest in the Canadian Forces, but the fastest growing, more than doubling to about 2,500 soldiers by 2011.
The size of the JTF2 unit has doubled since 2001, and a helicopter squadron, the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron, was revamped to support them. The Joint Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defence Company is also being expanded, and a Special Operations Forces Regiment, with broader functions than JTF2, launched last year, will have 700 troops by 2011.
In a world where military operations are now rarely the classical clashes of two uniformed armies, and are more often battles against a slippery guerrilla insurgency, special forces are now seen as a vital tool, said retired Canadian Forces Colonel Mike Capstick. “The demand for them is growing,” he said.
That is true also in Canada's current mission in Afghanistan, where special forces are involved in operations related to the Canadian-led NATO mission in Kandahar, as well as the U.S. Operation Enduring Freedom, aimed at rooting out Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in other regions.
Col. Day, who was stationed in Afghanistan in 2002 and has travelled there several times since, insisted that the country has been “transformed,” even though there is much more to do. “But for anybody who has had the luxury of a period of time, you absolutely see the change. I mean, it's tangible,” he said.
Col. Day takes over from CANSOFCOM's first commander, Col. Dave Barr, who is being transferred to the expanding security effort for Vancouver's 2010 Olympics.
Prior to taking over JTF2 in 2005, he was commander of the more conventional forces of the second battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. But Col. Day had also served in JTF2 from 1992 to 1995.
When a reporter joked Friday that Col. Day could kill him with his thumb, he replied: “Not with this one, I've got a hangnail.”
Col. Capstick said Col. Day's experience in commanding more traditional units and as a special operations officer made him an obvious choice for the post.
He said Col. Day's straight-ahead style means that his superiors can expect to hear his unvarnished views – a point Col. Day made to Chief of the Defence Staff General Rick Hillier Friday. “I am not the easiest subordinate to lead or command,” he told Canada's top soldier.
