Canadian soldier leaving for Afghanistan

In April, 2010 Private T.D.G. will be leaving for Afghanistan. As Canadian soldiers are being trained to battle, they cannot fully predict what they will go through when they arrive.

Private T.D.G has been instructed to not print his full name for privacy and military orders. Private T.D.G is 22 years old. He has been in the army for three and a half years. “I joined the army to serve my country. I always wanted to be in the army since I was a kid. I love being outside, and being physical.”

Being a soldier may mean something different to every person. Being a soldier to Private T.D.G means accomplishing what very few can.

“I am very proud, its one of the few jobs in this country that not even 15% of the people can actually do. If you actually sit down and do what we do, try and think how we think, it becomes very stressful, mentally and physically. It takes a certain type of person to do that. To know I am one of the few people that can actually do what I do, it makes me feel proud.”

The controversy on Canadian troops going to Afghanistan is ongoing. “The military has contracted local builders to build schools, roads, and more. I think Canada has helped. The people of Afghanistan have to maintain and continue the progression. However, we might not have helped as much as we wanted to,” says Private T.D.G.

In preparing to go to Afghanistan the soldiers will go through specific training to help them be physically, and mentally ready. Currently the soldiers are training for the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (K.P.R.T). Private T.D.G explains that this is not a battle group. It’s a whole battalion; the objective is to win the hearts and minds of the Afghanistan people. “This is in place so they turn their shoulder to what the Taliban is doing in their own country, this way they can be self-sufficient on their own.”

Private T.D.G explains that they are going to Afghanistan to focus on reconstruction. However, if it comes down to it he is prepared to do what he has been trained for, which is battle. “We are told over and over again, I am a soldier first and for most over rifle man, so I do what I can. But if time comes down to it I have to do my job, which is fight.”

Private T.D.G backpack contents

Private T.D.G will be going to California to train before he goes to Afghanistan in April. The training will take place on the American facilities, as they have a larger budget for training. They will be learning how to deal with the people over in Afghanistan. There will be paid actors to pretend to be from Afghanistan. The men will have to interact with the people not knowing their language.

November 1, 2009 Maclean’s published the death toll in Afghanistan to be 109. We awake to the morning sound of our alarm clock; a soldier can wake up to screams, yelling, and the sounds of gunshots.

When soldiers go to war they see what most could never imagine seeing. Training one to be prepared for terrible situations can only go so far. “They give us classroom time on what we will see over there. They give us information on who to talk to. However, there really is no way to psychologically train yourself to see what you will see over there. To see someone die beside you, you can’t train to deal with that,” he said.

When soldiers come back from the war they can deal with a lifetime of pain. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most common disorder to develop when someone has seen, or experienced a traumatic event. In 2002, Statistics Canada found that 2.8 % of the regular force and 1.2 % of the reservists had symptoms of PTSD.

“Physically I am ready to go over to Afghanistan. Mentally, I’m so-so, there’s always that fear you’re never going to come back, or see something you don’t want to see. However, I am ready to go over to Afghanistan,” said Private T.D.G.

Most people don’t think about the worst things that can happen to them on the job. Private T.D.G doesn’t feel this way. “I think of the worst possible outcomes. I find being in the military; you have to think of the worst possible outcomes, and hope for the best. Planning for the best and having the worst happen just devastates you. Getting hit by a bomb, or dying is something you have to plan for. If you don’t you’re not going into it mentally ready.”

Private T.D.G is afraid for his loved ones when he goes over to Afghanistan. “I’m not scared to go to Afghanistan. I am scared for my friends and family. I am mostly scared for my grandmother, and mother. We just lost our grandfather, and to lose her grandson would devastate her. And when it comes to my mother, no parent should bury their child.”

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Posted by Alaina Nugent on Nov 8, 2009. Filed under Best of the Beacon, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.