Inherent risks when someone joins Army

Editorial, Belleville Intelligencer, 14 Jul 06

Accusations have been flying that reservist Cpl. Anthony

Boneca was "misled" by the military about Canada's role in

Afghanistan.

Some family members and close friends of the 21-year-old are

saying he was ill-trained for the combat role that claimed his

life. However, Boneca's father, Antonio refuted those reports

saying his son, "loved being in the army" and was aware of the

situation he was facing.

Some family and friends of Boneca, who died Sunday in a firefight

west of Kandahar City, said he was so desperate to come home he

considered telling an army priest he was suicidal in the hopes he

would be discharged.

"He expected to be on patrol, not fighting a war for someone else,

" said Larry De Courte, father of Boneca's girlfriend Megan. "He

wasn't ready for that."

It was Boneca's second tour in Afghanistan, but that the mission

was quite different from his last - guarding a post in Kabul.

De Courte also said Boneca, a reservist with the Lake Superior

Scottish Regiment based in Thunder Bay, Ont., whose tour of duty

was to end in three weeks, didn't have the proper training to

engage the enemy.

These allegations are being downplayed by the Conservative

government and the defence minister.

Not that we are dismissing the fears and trepidation felt by all

men and women in combat, but Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor is

quite right to dismiss suggestions the mission had changed and that

Boneca and other reservists were misled.

While we express our sympathies for the family's loss and even

understand their need to express anger at the loss of their loved

one, all soldiers, reservists included, know the risks of combat.

The Army Reserve is the part-time component to the Canadian Army.

According to the DND website, existing reserve units are the

framework or structure the Army would use to mobilize or expand the

Army should the nation ever need to respond to a large crisis.

The Army Reserve augments the professional Army by providing

soldiers, units or specialists to the Canadian Forces.

Reservists - who make up 10 to 15 per cent of the Canadian Forces

in Afghanistan - are treated as regular soldiers.

"(Reservists) receive the same training, the same protective

equipment... There is no difference," said O'Connor.

O'Connor also said that any reservist who "didn't want to go to

Afghanistan, wouldn't be sent," but once deployed they are not sent

home without good reason.

"Everybody has to take equal risks. Once you're in and committed,

you don't get a choice about what you do and don't do. This is the

military."

Despite criticisms from families of fallen soldiers, the

Opposition parties and some in the public, it is clear Canada does

have an important role to play in the embattled country of

Afghanistan.

Canadian troops, who have taken over from their American allies on

the front lines of Kandahar, are on a a mission of mercy.

Yes, there will be sacrifices - such as the death of Boneca - but

Canada has an important role to play on a global scale.

This nation must continue its tradition of helping the embattled

just as it did in the First and Second World Wars