EXERCISE “MAPLE STORM”, Apr/May 2007

Capt Tim Fletcher

  The Canadian Forces today are deployed on missions around the world, with the main effort currently underway in Afghanistan. Once you’re there, it’s too late to start training, so it has to be done in Canada. For the citizens of Tillsonburg and Delhi the weekend of 11-13 May 2007, and the previous weekend of 13-15 April, the training hit home as soldiers from 31 Canadian Brigade Group, including the RHLI, practiced the new skills of the “three-block war”.

  This new concept means that in one block, there could be all-out combat, while just nearby it could be soldiers doing patrols, and the next block over from that be engaged in community-building efforts. It’s the strategy being employed in Afghanistan and the skills being learned by Canadian reserve soldiers here in Canada. The best way to learn urban patrolling skills is by patrolling real streets and that’s where communities such as Tillsonburg come in.

  The RHLI set up their Forward Operating Base, or FOB, in a large warehouse near the centre of town and from there set out to take control of their new territory with active patrolling. Talking with the local citizens built up a solid intelligence picture of who the “enemy” was and where they could be found, while the patrols kept the enemy under cover and off balance.

  Information gathered from the locals supplemented by the stealthy searching of the countryside by special reconnaissance units built up a clear picture of the enemy’s stronghold outside the town. Careful planning lead to a dawn attack on the position, which was complete with ambushes, improvised explosive devices and an elaborate trench system.

  Using traditional soldier skills supplemented with their new training, the RHLI successfully penetrated the position, capturing many of the defenders and completing their control of their area of responsibility – the Canadian way.