From Cold War to New Millennium : the history of the Royal Canadian Regiment, 1953-2008

434 Pages·2011·9.33 MB·English

by  Horn

From
COLD WAR
to NEW
MILLENNIUM
From
COLD WAR
to NEW
MILLENNIUM
The History of
The Royal Canadian
Regiment, 1953–2008
COLONEL BERND HORN
Foreword by Major-General (Retired) Tom de Faye
Copyright © Bernd Horn, 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
(except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press.
Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Project Editor: Michael Carroll
Editor: Nigel Heseltine
Design: Jennifer Scott Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Horn, Bernd, 1959—
From Cold War to New Millennium [electronic resource] : the history of the Royal Canadian Regiment,
1953-2008 / Bernd Horn.
Companion vol. to Establishing a legacy.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Electronic monograph in PDF format.
Issued also in print format.
ISBN 978-1-55488-898-6
1. Canada. Canadian Army. Royal Canadian Regiment--History.
I. Title.
UA602.R55H673 2011b 356’.10971 C2011-901161-1
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our
publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the
Canada Book Fund and Livres Canada Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book
Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the
publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent
editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President
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This book is dedicated to the fallen and their loved ones.
CONTENTS
Foreword by Major-General (Retired) Tom de Faye
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 Defending the Bastion of Freedom and Democracy: The Beginning of the
Cold War — the 1950s
2 An Era of Change: The 1960s
3 A Shift in Focus: Defence in the 1970s
4 The Last Hurrah: The End of the Cold War — 1980s
5 The New World Order: Entering the 1990s
6 Into the 1990s: The Decade of Darkness
7 The New Millennium: A World on Fire
8 A Return to Combat Duty: Operation Medusa
9 The Difficult War: Hard Service in Afghanistan
Conclusion
Appendix A: Select Key Honorary and Regimental 367 Appointments,
1953–2008
Appendix B: Battle Honours
Notes
Glossary of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Selected Bibliography
About the Author
Index
FOREWORD
The Regiment. Those words carry a specific and very personal meaning for
many of us who have been privileged to serve. This personal meaning is formed
by our individual experiences and the friendships formed during our service.
Collectively, the sum of these experiences represents the history of The Royal
Canadian Regiment (The RCR). In this volume — the second part of a
modernized history of the Regiment covering the period from 1953 to 2008 —
Colonel Bernd Horn has the challenge of capturing and recording an extreme
range of events in the life of The RCR from the decades of the Cold War to the
violence of counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan where the citizens of
Canada, so well served by the Canadian Forces, have come to a new
understanding and recognition of the value of military service and sacrifice to
the nation.
From the early 1950s until 2008, well into its second century, The Royal
Canadian Regiment’s history parallels the complex post–Second World War era
known as the Cold War, in which it participated in many United Nations and
coalition operations that continue to this day. If a single theme can be identified,
it is continual change and adaptation. The Regiment has during this period lived
through the social development of our nation, many evolving world events, and
the remarkable technological changes of the third millennium. All these realities
have played and will continue to play a role in the remarkable evolution of The
RCR.
This period of has been characterized by change unprecedented in all the
previous decades of the Regiment’s service. These events were geostrategic,
socio-economic, and technological. They shaped the evolution of our leadership,
the attitudes of our soldiers, command relationships, regimental institutions, and,
most important, the relationship between the Regiment and the citizens of
Canada to whom we are accountable.
The Regiment played a major role in the Cold War with decades of service in
Canada’s formation within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Units assigned to 4 Canadian Infantry Brigade Group (4 CIBG), and,
subsequently, to 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (4 CMBG), enjoyed
clearly defined operational taskings, which in turn provided higher levels of
resources for training and equipping the Canadian brigade in Europe. This
NATO commitment lasted some 40 years and the Canadian brigade became the
army’s cradle of professionalism. Training facilities and resources were more
abundant than in Canadian-based units, huge annual operational level exercises
were conducted, and Canadian brigades were exercised and tasked by real, not
notional, superior formation headquarters. We learned the meaning and
importance of interoperability and, in terms of our taskings, made it work.
Service in Europe, where the threat was clearly defined, shaped our equipment
acquisition programs and the development of our army’s doctrine and tactics.
Although the main effort during this period was the Cold War in Europe,
Canadian sovereignty was not neglected. The RCR was often called out in aid of
the civil power to help keep the peace as well as assist in natural disasters.
Moreover, winter warfare skills and Arctic training exercises were a constant
throughout the Cold War in Canada as part of the nation’s vigilance in securing
its northern frontier.
Likewise, The RCR played a pivotal role in military parachuting in Canada
— the airborne service. From the early days of The RCR platoon in the
Canadian Special Air Service Company, to the airborne battalion and company
in the Mobile Striking Force and Defence of Canada Force, respectively, to the
Canadian Airborne Regiment and 3 Mechanized Commando, to the parachuting
entities created when those units were disbanded, and on to this day, the
Regiment has always contributed more than its share of leaders and soldiers to
the airborne organizations that were vital to Canadian sovereignty and
international readiness forces. Quite simply, airborne service has been a pillar of
service for Royals throughout these years.
The Regiment was also instrumental in building Canada’s international
reputation as a global citizen. Peacekeeping, in the Pearsonian tradition, formed
the basis of a number of operational commitments and became a Canadian ideal
that lingered long after the reality of the post–Cold War era of fragmentation
rendered it unworkable. All the regular battalions participated in numerous
deployments. The Regiment saw service in the Balkans after the disintegration
of Yugoslavia, in Somalia as a commando of the Canadian Airborne Regiment,
and in Ethiopia and other operational theatres. In addition, individual members
of The RCR participated in many other challenging missions.