Risks high for Canada's air force in Afghanistan
Updated Fri. Dec. 15 2006 9:46 AM ET Murray Oliver, CTV News
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Many Canadian and Coalition troops on the ground in southern Afghanistan are enduring regular attacks from Taliban fighters. At the same time, the soldiers are also battling Afghanistan's ferocious climate. Some units are virtually snow-bound. Re-supply convoys risk nearly impassable roads that are ideal for ambushes.
And so, in the sky, the men and women of Canada's air force frequently wage their own battles to keep the combat troops supplied with food and ammunition. On this frosty December morning, their frontline is a massive grey Hercules C130 H aircraft commanded by Captain Blair McArthur of Alberta.
Somewhere in the mountains is an isolated unit of American soldiers. Captain McArthur is no-nonsense as he preps his seven-person crew for the upcoming flight. "These guys [the Americans] aren't quite down to their last bean and last bullet," McArthur says, "but almost."
The mission seems straightforward: Fly over the American position and air-drop vital supplies to the troops below. But the weather is bad, the area covered by dense cloud. In the surrounding hills are Taliban fighters carrying small arms and -- possibly -- portable anti-aircraft missiles.
The plane is fully loaded, the enormous pallets jammed into the hold are strapped down. To avoid enemy fire, the crew will be doing "tactical flying": as an indication of the violent maneuvers ahead, the crew chief hands one passenger a stack of air-sickness bags. Taped to the roof of the cockpit is a detailed document entitled, "crash-landing checklist."
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Updated Fri. Dec. 15 2006 9:46 AM ET Murray Oliver, CTV News
Article Link
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Many Canadian and Coalition troops on the ground in southern Afghanistan are enduring regular attacks from Taliban fighters. At the same time, the soldiers are also battling Afghanistan's ferocious climate. Some units are virtually snow-bound. Re-supply convoys risk nearly impassable roads that are ideal for ambushes.
And so, in the sky, the men and women of Canada's air force frequently wage their own battles to keep the combat troops supplied with food and ammunition. On this frosty December morning, their frontline is a massive grey Hercules C130 H aircraft commanded by Captain Blair McArthur of Alberta.
Somewhere in the mountains is an isolated unit of American soldiers. Captain McArthur is no-nonsense as he preps his seven-person crew for the upcoming flight. "These guys [the Americans] aren't quite down to their last bean and last bullet," McArthur says, "but almost."
The mission seems straightforward: Fly over the American position and air-drop vital supplies to the troops below. But the weather is bad, the area covered by dense cloud. In the surrounding hills are Taliban fighters carrying small arms and -- possibly -- portable anti-aircraft missiles.
The plane is fully loaded, the enormous pallets jammed into the hold are strapped down. To avoid enemy fire, the crew will be doing "tactical flying": as an indication of the violent maneuvers ahead, the crew chief hands one passenger a stack of air-sickness bags. Taped to the roof of the cockpit is a detailed document entitled, "crash-landing checklist."
More on link
