Canadian Forces Reservists behind fake letter warning of wolves being released

[MilEME09]

https://globalnews.ca/news/7392996/canadian-reservists-wolves-fake-letter/amp/

Welcome to a PR nightmare, not a person named but a unit that created this. Why do I feel like an OC is about to find a new job.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

An Intel unit studying the art of disinformation, perhaps?

 

[dapaterson]

Troops doing stupid things as a joke is nothing new.  This is not the first time, nor will it be the last time.

Every unit CO experiences this sort of thing during their tenure.

 

[Kilted]

Are we sure that this wasn't a mistake by the media that should have said "members of a unit"? 

 

[dapaterson]

An Intel unit studying the art of disinformation, perhaps?

If these are exercise products of some sort they are supposed to be labelled as such.

 

[PMedMoe]

Nice memo formatting. 

 

[NavyShooter]

I feel sorry for the CO of the base at Aldershot...how do you rebuild relations with the community after something like this?

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Nice memo formatting. 

Except for addressing the letter "To Whom it May Concern" rather than "Dear Resident"and a typo "untook" instead of "undertook" they did a pretty good job.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

An Intel unit studying the art of disinformation, perhaps?

I don't think 3 Int Coy has any sub-units in Camp Aldershot. 

There is a 5th Canadian Division Training Centre detachment there, the West Nova Scotia Regiment (West Novies), and I thought I read in the recent past The Halifax Rifles had a Troop/sub-unit there.

The letter, which looked like an official note from the province’s Department of Lands and Forestry, wound up in a number of mailboxes of residents in Kings County.

Mailboxes makes it sound to me like someone made the effort to *print and distribute* the letters.  op:

 

[MilEME09]

The latest is that this was material meant to be part of misinformation training and was never intended to be distributed to the public. Apparently said training also involved loud speakers broadcasting wolf sounds. According to Public affairs this was not supposed to be part of the training and are now investigating what is going on at the unit in question, The Halifax Rifles.

 

[Blackadder1916]

The latest is that this was material meant to be part of misinformation training and was never intended to be distributed to the public. Apparently said training also involved loud speakers broadcasting wolf sounds. According to Public affairs this was not supposed to be part of the training and are now investigating what is going on at the unit in question, The Halifax Rifles.

http://www.army-armee.forces.gc.ca/en/5-canadian-division/the-halifax-rifles/index.page

Mission Task

A number of Army Reserve units have been assigned specific Mission Tasks. Members within these units are trained in these specific capabilities and ready to be fully integrated, as a formed entity, into the Regular Force units that they reinforce.

The mission task for our unit is: Influence Activities – A company of 52 members, which is trained in the employment of population group influence techniques, including Psychological Operations and Civil-Military Cooperation, to provide behavioural and psychological effects on those populations in support of a Commander’s intent or mission.

If the psychological effect is to piss off the population, then they have made a good start.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

The latest is that this was material meant to be part of misinformation training and was never intended to be distributed to the public. Apparently said training also involved loud speakers broadcasting wolf sounds. According to Public affairs this was not supposed to be part of the training and are now investigating what is going on at the unit in question, The Halifax Rifles.

Source for your "latest"?  Did it include any comments on how letters were distributed to communities?? 

 

[MilEME09]

Source for your "latest"?  Did it include any comments on how letters were distributed to communities??

Source is against site policy, it did not include how, I suspect that will be part of the investigation. Social media is exploding with conspiracy theories that the CAF is preparing to use propaganda against Canadian citizens. Not a good day to be in public affairs.

 

[OldSolduer]

Source is against site policy, it did not include how, I suspect that will be part of the investigation. Social media is exploding with conspiracy theories that the CAF is preparing to use propaganda against Canadian citizens. Not a good day to be in public affairs.

One of my philosophies is "every organization has a loser or losers". It seems we've found some...

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Source is against site policy, it did not include how, I suspect that will be part of the investigation. Social media is exploding with conspiracy theories that the CAF is preparing to use propaganda against Canadian citizens. Not a good day to be in public affairs.

copy!

 

[Jarnhamar]

Social media is exploding with conspiracy theories that the CAF is preparing to use propaganda against Canadian citizens.

Seems like an excellent time for the CAF to have mbrs share IA-approved messages on their personal social media pages.

 

[blacktriangle]

If these are exercise products of some sort they are supposed to be labelled as such.

Oops!

 

[The Bread Guy]

One of my philosophies is "every organization has a loser or losers". It seems we've found some...

Seems like an excellent time for the CAF to have mbrs share IA-approved messages on their personal social media pages.

:nod: on both of these points

Some of the latest from The Canadian Press ...

The Canadian Armed Forces is apologizing after some residents of Kings County, N.S., received a phoney letter warning of wolves in the area.

The letter, dated Sept. 19, said a pack of eight grey wolves had been released in northern Nova Scotia in August to reintroduce the species into the ecosystem.

Lt. Lance Wade, a public affairs officer with the36 Canadian Brigade Group, acknowledged in an interview Tuesday that the letter came from an army reserve training session at Camp Aldershot outside Kentville, N.S.

"We're sincerely apologetic," Wade said, adding the incident was a first for reservists. "Any inconvenience we've caused to the public and the Department of Lands and Forestry, we deeply regret."

He said he doesn't know why the training required the false note or how it got into civilian mailboxes. He said an investigation is ongoing.

"It seems relatively innocuous," he said. "Once we have all the facts, we'll be happy to explain a little bit further on why that was chosen." ...

 

[Blackadder1916]

Lt. Lance Wade, a public affairs officer with the36 Canadian Brigade Group, acknowledged in an interview Tuesday that the letter came from an army reserve training session at Camp Aldershot outside Kentville, N.S.
. . .
"It seems relatively innocuous," he said. "Once we have all the facts, we'll be happy to explain a little bit further on why that was chosen." ...

Probably not the first time that a criminal offense was described as innocuous, but with the cluster***k that is the current state of the military justice system his explanation, when/if it comes, may not include what charges are being preferred.

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/page-82.html#docCont

Counterfeiting mark

(2) Every one who, without lawful authority,

(a) makes a mark,

(b) sells, or exposes for sale, or has in his possession a counterfeit mark,

(c) affixes a mark to anything that is required by law to be marked, branded, sealed or wrapped other than the thing to which the mark was originally affixed or was intended to be affixed, or

(d) affixes a counterfeit mark to anything that is required by law to be marked, branded, sealed or wrapped,

is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

Marginal noteefinitions

(3) In this section,

mark means a mark, brand, seal, wrapper or design used by or on behalf of

(a) the government of Canada or a province,

. . .

 

[Kilted]

Aren't things like that normally supposed to say "training material" or something like that on them. From an IA point of view, this is a Black PSYOP which Canada doesn't take part it. I wonder how this was supposed to fit into the larger training picture.