The Patrol Read Online Free Page A

any and all of the equipment they are using to do it. There are no longer any qualms or quibbles—we are going to fight.
    I’ve managed to spend four months in-country patrolling withthe infantry without getting into a major firefight. It looks like that is all about to change. The unspoken implication lies heavy in my heart: there is a good chance some of us won’t come back.
    “Oh and, Flavelle, keep your shit muckled up.” I never did find out exactly what
muckle
means.
    My first thought is to e-mail my girlfriend, Darcy, tell her what’s going on and that I love her. Unfortunately, the veil of operational security doesn’t allow me to even tell her that I’m going out. I also have more pressing concerns.
    It might be useful at this point to outline the situation on the ground in my little corner of Panjway at the time that these events are taking place. We are sitting in one of the southernmost provinces of Afghanistan, Kandahar. The majority of Canadian soldiers deployed to Afghanistan are based there, specifically just north of the province’s capital, Kandahar City, in a base called Kandahar Airfield (KAF). KAF is famed for its numerous creature comforts such as a Tim Hortons, a Burger King, multiple shopping outlets, a weekly bazaar to buy souvenirs, and over five separate kitchens serving everything from burgers and fries to Nepalese-style curry. Everybody who resides on a semi-permanent basis outside of KAF despises it and everyone inside for being good-for-nothing WOGs (not even sure what that stands for; Without Guns? Waste of Groceries?). We band together in our hatred for how easy their lives are, despite the fact that many of the KAFers would willingly trade places with us. The reality is that most soldiers do not choose where they are going to be deployed overseas. Some, like me, could have just as easily spent their tour shopping for the perfect carpet at the weekly bazaar. What we in Sperwan Ghar do not see is the mind-numbing boredom and routine of life on KAF; instead, we focus on the glittering opulence of Burger King and the outdoorconcrete hockey rink. Many in KAF want to be warriors and to test themselves against the Taliban; instead, they have to let their salty tears mingle with their iced cappuccinos.
    About 40 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City is Forward Operating Base (FOB) Ma’sum Ghar (MSG). This mountain had been taken by force during a previous rotation, and it was the site of numerous battles involving Canadian soldiers. By the time we deployed, it had calmed down substantially, and basically marked the end of friendly territory. It is home to the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), an armoured regiment. They are newly outfitted with Leopard C2 tanks, probably the best tank available in the world. We also hate them, but less than we hate those in KAF.
    About 10 kilometres west of MSG is my home sweet home for seven months, Patrol Base Sperwan Ghar (PBSG). When a previous rotation of soldiers (ROTO) took it over from the Taliban, they found it outfitted with a Russian-built concrete compound, left over from the last war. What that means to us is a comfortable room with clean beds sheltered from the dust and sandflies outside. We also have functional shower facilities, and Canadian cooks who work harder than anyone else on camp to ensure that we are fed and our morale is high. There is even a library of books ranging from fantasy to self-help.
    Everything to the west of Sperwan Ghar is basically Taliban territory. On TF 3–07, the ROTO before ours, the Van Doos (Royal 22nd Regiment) had established three police substations (PSSs) named after the villages they were situated in: Haji, Zangabad, and Talukan. At the end of the line there is one Afghan National Army strongpoint (SP), Mushan, with a company of ANA soldiers and only three Canadians. When the fighting season started, these outposts had been attacked every day, and the Afghan National Police (ANP) were pulled out