The Canadian Airborne Regiment, 1968-1995 (merged)

[Jungle]

The CAR lost it's formation status in 1992 and became a unit. Before that, it was commanded by a Col, the 2ic was a LCol and the CDOs were commanded by Majors. Each CDO had it's own colours, as each was unit. The CDOs also had an Ops-O, an Adjt and a BOR  on strength, to permit expansion to Battalion size.
After 1992, the CAR became the largest Infantry Battalion in the Army, with the normal 3 Rifle CDOs, HQ CDO, SVC CDO, and a large CBT SUP CDO that included, on top of the usual Cbt Sup Pls, an Air Def Pl and a Cbt Eng Pl.
I believe authorized strength was just over 700.

 

[Petrus]

"Initially, 1er Cdo and 2 Cdo were small Bn sized units.  A, B and C Cie in 1er Cdo, and D, E and F Coy in 2 Cdo. "

How were these Commandos organised?

You may find it interesting that in the TOandEs Yahoo Group http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TOandEs/ a thread on the Canadian Airborne Regiment has appeared.
Some posts give info on the Regiment structure, eg.
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TOandEs/message/11344
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TOandEs/message/11194

Perhaps more is to come, so try looking there.

Best regards,
Piotr

 

[AJFitzpatrick]

I'll just point out that a) This question was asked just under two years ago and b) the questioner is no longer a member of the message board.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

  Reviving an old subject.

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/29/feds-should-apologize-to-disbanded-airborne-regiment

    Feds should apologize to disbanded Airborne Regiment

By Kris Sims ,Parliamentary Bureau
OTTAWA - They were Canada's best of the best.

Before Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2), the Canadian Airborne Regiment was the elite rapid-response unit in the Armed Forces for more than a generation - with roots reaching back to the Second World War.
Now, 16 years after the Somalia inquiry which resulted in its “disbandment in disgrace,” the final commanding officer of the regiment is demanding an apology from the federal government.

“When they disbanded the regiment, they tore the heart out of me, and of every other man that was serving that day and serving in that regiment before,” said retired colonel Peter G. Kenward. “It was a miscarriage of justice, it was grossly unfair and it was a politically expedient move by the Liberal government of the day.”

The regiment was a specialized group of Army soldiers selected to jump out of airplanes into hostile territory. The storied group of paratroopers traces back to the First Canadian Parachute Battalion, which landed behind enemy lines on D-Day in 1944.
Officially formed in 1968, the Canadian Airborne Regiment was most notably deployed during the 1970 October Crisis to thwart a terrorist threat from the FLQ, and in 1974 to Cyprus during a civil war.

It was the 1992 peacekeeping mission in Somalia where things went wrong. A Somali teenager was tortured and killed, and several Canadian soldiers were court martialed. After the official inquiry, the federal Liberal government disbanded the entire regiment.
“The soldiers, the people who built that regiment, 99.9% were so harshly punished for the misdeeds and the wrongs of a few,” said Kenward. “Under any justice system, that is totally unacceptable.”
Groups dedicated to the “Airborne Brotherhood” are filled with calls that the regiment be reinstated and the term “disgrace” removed from the official record. Many young soldiers still wear the disbanded colours.

The Conservative MP representing CFB Petawawa, the final home of the Airborne, supports the call.
“One way would be to resurrect the colours. They took down all of their symbols and to this day you can still see, peaking through a wall that was white-washed, the shadow of the Airborne,” said Cheryl Gallant. “It will be an honour for me, as a member of the Conservative majority government, to see how this historic wrong can be corrected.”

kris.sims@sunmedia.ca





It would be about time and a good way to slap the Liberals when they are down.

 

[Journeyman]

Now, 16 years after the Somalia inquiry which resulted in its “disbandment in disgrace,”....

As a member of the Airborne Regiment through the disbandment, I recall the leadership being quite adamant that the disbandment was not "in disgrace."

Perhaps they were clutching at administrative/legalistic straws, but it was a significant point for the overwhelming majority of us who had never tortured anyone to death and felt we were all being punished for the acts of a few....most of whom were already being punished.


An apology would be nice, but there's no need to resurrect the Regiment (as per the news story's comments); CSOR already fills that niche.

 

[dapaterson]

Let's make a deal:  The government will apologize the same day the former COs and RSMs who failed to ensure discipline in the unit also make a public apology for their failings.



Anyone?  Bueller? 

 

[Journeyman]

Let's make a deal:  The government will apologize the same day the former COs and RSMs who failed to ensure discipline in the unit also make a public apology for their failings.

Let the spiralling begin...  :

.....but you may note that the one CO who tried to address the discipline issues was sacked.
The Airborne's "problems" were exacerbated beyond the Regimental level.

 

[dapaterson]

Let the spiralling begin...  :

.....but you may note that the one CO who tried to address the discipline issues was sacked.
The Airborne's "problems" were exacerbated beyond the Regimental level.

Yes.  There were good leaders who tried, and others who did not.

This is not a simple yes/no, good/bad situation; there are kudos and criticisms that can legimitlately be sent in all directions.  Which is why I find this sort of request to be out of place.

 

[old fart]

I will say this...

I too served in the post Somalia Airborne Regiment....and echoing what has been said by many, the unit that was disbanded under the leadership of LCol Peter Kenward was not the unit of the Somalia debacle.

I continue to serve, now in my 33rd year....but I still have trouble reconciling that episode and the outcome; Canada and the CF lost a great deal the day Collenette ordered the disbandment of this proud Regiment, more than they will ever know...in particular the many good soldiers who just said bollocks to it and left the army.  Unfortunately I was the first paratrooper (still proudly wearing a maroon beret) that met Collenette in Bosnia early 1996, to say there was a pregnant pause when he put out his hand to shake mine was an understatement.  The look on his face is one I will never forget and I hope vice versa.

And that is why the results of the last federal election, in a cynical and self serving manner make me feel so much better.

"And that's all I have to say about that"....maybe not...

“Airborne and proud of it  ”

 

[Kat Stevens]

I will say this...

I too served in the post Somalia Airborne Regiment....and echoing what has been said by many, the unit that was disbanded under the leadership of LCol Peter Kenward was not the unit of the Somalia debacle.

I continue to serve, now in my 33rd year....but I still have trouble reconciling that episode and the outcome; Canada and the CF lost a great deal the day Collenette ordered the disbandment of this proud Regiment, more than they will ever know...in particular the many good soldiers who just said bollocks to it and left the army.  Unfortunately I was the first paratrooper (still proudly wearing a maroon beret) that met Collenette in Bosnia early 1996, to say there was a pregnant pause when he put out his hand to shake mine was an understatement.  The look on his face is one I will never forget and I hope vice versa.

And that is why the results of the last federal election, in a cynical and self serving manner make me feel so much better.

"And that's all I have to say about that"....maybe not...

“Airborne and proud of it  ”

Should have kneed him in the junk. 

PS Congrats on the Bronze Star, Kev...CHIMO

 

[Tow Tripod]

What is done is long done. Now it is nothing more than Canadian military history. I think the Canadian army has significantly changed for the better between 2000 and 2011. At the conclusion of the mission in Kandahar I just hope we as an institution don't revert to the 1991-1992 mind set. The early 90/s is my LOA on how not to treat sub-ordinates but yeah WTF does it matter? Things are good right now overall. That is all!

TOW TRIPOD

 

[Good2Golf]

.....but you may note that the one CO who tried to address the discipline issues was sacked.
The Airborne's "problems" were exacerbated beyond the Regimental level.

...and the CDS of the day (well, quietly shuffled off to NATO)...

 

[daftandbarmy]

Hear, hear,

I also think Prince Andrew should also apologize for that awful beret. There is no statute of limitations on looking like a gomer (your Royal Highness!)

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/29/feds-should-apologize-to-disbanded-airborne-regiment

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Personally, I see no sense to it, It would just be a touchy feely thing. The present PM and the CPC would be giving an apology for past sins of another party and generation. Kinda like our internment of the Japanese, or Jesuit schools or any one of a hundred disconnected thing we apologize for, but none of us had anything to do with. I doubt that it would really appease anyone from the Regiment and would just ring hollow despite the best efforts of the Government.

The real villians are the defunct liebral party and that band of gangsters, long since retired, that should be paraded before the MSM and held to account. They are the petty charlatans that tried to save face on the backs of the Regiment, not Harper.

However, the PM has never shied from doing the right thing even when the calamity was something he had nothing to do with. The PM has probably (just guessing) apologized to more groups that any other government we've ever had. So I would not be surprised if he did it.

Hopefully, while doing it, he places the blame, front and centre with the responsibility dodging libranos.

I have no dog in this fight but my brother (RIP) was CAR.

Just my uneducated :2c: worth.

 

[Old Sweat]

I was serving in J3 at the time and recall an emotional discussion with Peter Kenward as he was leaving to take command of the regiment. I told him if anyone could fix the regiment, it was him. Unfortunately we both also agreed it may have been too late.

A few years after the event I was told by what I consider a reliable source that the decision had been made to disband the regiment well in advance of the announcement, like several months at the least. Recall that this was in the early days of the decade of darkness, and that the army went down to six "full size" infantry battalions as well as one 10/90 battalion per regiment. (What happened to the airborne capability?) There just was not an easy way to fit an airborne battalion into this. A flow of cleverly crafted leaks and rumours along with a compliant media and a hardly neutral (my opinion) Somalia Inquiry created an atmosphere where the CF was hardly at the top of the public's Christmas Card list. The airborne would have been lucky to be disbanded as a financial measure, and that was not the way the Liberals worked. This gave the government the ammunition it needed to raze the DND budget.

Not everybody bought it. My wife and I stopped in Napanee for lunch en route to RV with some friends and go to Mexico. The next table was populated by four very senior senior citizens of the female persuasion. During their post lunch coffee the conversation went something like this: "Did you see those pictures of those Airborne guys in Somalia?" "Yes, Weren't they awful?" "Yes, but the Minister had no business disbanding the regiment. We know how the army works. They would have fixed it in a couple of days." All four purple heads nodded in agreement, but the MND was beyond the listening to the public stage.

Modified: To correct misspelling of Peter Kenward's name.

 

[57Chevy]

 
OTTAWA - They were Canada's best of the best.

nuff said  :nod:

Fair Winds and Soft Landings ;D

Airborne ! ! !

 

[Loachman]

Hear, hear,

I also think Prince Andrew should also apologize for that awful beret. There is no statute of limitations on looking like a gomer (your Royal Highness!)

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/29/feds-should-apologize-to-disbanded-airborne-regiment

When I click on the link, I get a pop-up message that says "Do you want to open or save feds-should-apologize-to-disbanded-airborne-regiment (16.1 KB) from www.torontosun.com?" Clicking "Open" gives me a choice of programmes to open with, none of which seem to work. Sun pages used to open up like any other. Why is this one acting this way, and why can I not open it?

 

[Good2Golf]

When I click on the link, I get a pop-up message that says "Do you want to open or save feds-should-apologize-to-disbanded-airborne-regiment (16.1 KB) from www.torontosun.com?" Clicking "Open" gives me a choice of programmes to open with, none of which seem to work. Sun pages used to open up like any other. Why is this one acting this way, and why can I not open it?

Out of region, Loachman.

(Photo copyright TorontoSun.com)

 

[Dennis Ruhl]

A few years after the event I was told by what I consider a reliable source that the decision had been made to disband the regiment well in advance of the announcement, like several months at the least. Recall that this was in the early days of the decade of darkness, and that the army went down to six "full size" infantry battalions as well as one 10/90 battalion per regiment.

Yup!  When they were hacking at everything else the Airborne was just an easy target.  It was truly nothing personal, just handled stupidly.

20-30 years earlier there were a bunch of teary eyed Canadian Guards, Black Watch, QOR and Fort Garry Horse.  Nobody likes to see their regiment go.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Fortunately, it looks like the Federal Liberals are headed for the ash heap of history. Ain't Karma a beeeeeyatch boys and girls?

Now that the conservatives are a majority governemnt I don't think an apology is required: simply righting a great wrong by reinstating the 1st Bn CAR would do nicely.

Over to you Mr. Prime Minister.