MATTHEW FISHER
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, commander of Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, was sacked Saturday for alleged conduct unbecoming an officer.
The decision by Lt.-Gen. Marc Lessard, who commands all Canadian troops overseas, was made following allegations made earlier in the day, that Menard had had an inappropriate intimate relationship with someone in Task Force Kandahar. This had “caused Commander CEFCOM to lose confidence in Brig.-Gen Menard’s capacity to command,” officials said in a statement that was released just before dawn on Sunday in Kandahar.
An investigation is being conducted into the allegations and Menard, who was to command the biggest NATO campaign of the war in Kandahar in the next few weeks, is to return to Canada immediately, a military spokesman at Kandahar Airfield said.
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and civilian employees, including journalists embedded alongside them, must follow very strict rules governing behaviour with each other. No intimate personal relationships are allowed in theatre, including those involving married couples deployed at the same time.
“Sexual activity or any other form of intimate contact in any context with another individual is prohibited anywhere in the Joint Task Force Afghanistan Area of Operations,” according to theatre standing orders governing personal relationships.
Brig.-Gen Jon Vance, who preceded Menard as commander in Afghanistan, is being rushed to Kandahar to take over for Menard. Vance will command the Canadian task force again until September when Menard’s nine-month tour had been scheduled to end. Vance is to be replaced by Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner, who was also to have replaced Menard.
Task Force Kandahar will be commanded for the next few days by Col. Simon Hetherington, the current deputy commander of Canada’s 2,800 soldiers in Afghanistan.
“As soon as Gen. Lessard became aware of the allegations on May 29, he made the assessment and the decision,” Hetherington said in confirming that Menard had been relieved of command at 2:20 p.m. ET.
“I am not happy to bring you this news,” Hetherington told a small gathering of reporters at 4:30 a.m. Kandahar time.
“It is what it is.”
“I can’t discuss any details of anything that is under investigation. Nor can I go into information on the identity of the alleged other person . . .
“The allegations against Gen. Menard are just that, allegations against Gen. Menard.”
Menard joined the Royal 22nd Regiment as an infantry officer in 1984. Being only 42 years old and already a flag officer, he was considered one of the army’s top young commanders.
Only last Tuesday, Menard pleaded guilty at a court martial in Gatineau, Que., to negligently discharging his rifle. That incident, which took place in March, involved Menard inadvertently firing his rifle as he was about to board a U.S. army helicopter in Kandahar with Canada’s top soldier, Gen. Walt Natynczyk.
Menard was fined $3,500 for the negligent discharge and had only returned to Kandahar on Thursday evening after three weeks of leave in Canada.
“This will be very interesting weeks and months. We are looking forward to it,” Menard said when encountered in a cafeteria hours after he returning here from Canada. The general was referring to a major campaign against the Taliban that he was expected to lead this summer that many believe is the most critical of the eight-year war against the Taliban.
Soldiers waking up to the news in Kandahar on Sunday morning expressed shock and disbelief at the allegations against Menard, but declined to discuss their thoughts on the record.
Asked whether it might effect the military’s standing among the public, Hetherington said: “I don’t see it as a mark against the Canadian military, at all.”
Menard’s emergency replacement, Vance, left Afghanistan on Nov. 25 after a nine-month tour in which the Canadian task force began, for the first time, to live among the Afghan population in small communities to the southwest of Kandahar City. It was a counter-insurgency tactic that was later applauded by U.S army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, who personally visited Vance three times to discuss ways the program could be implemented across Afghanistan.
“It is an administrative and logistics matter to get Gen. Vance here,” Hetherington said. “Gen. Vance is likely to arrive here in five to seven days; call it a week . . .
“It can be assumed that he was selected because of his recent Afghan experience. His reputation with the allies is sound. He is a proven, professional officer.”
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canadian+commander+Afghanistan+fired+alleged+relationship/3088294/story.html
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Sunday, May 30, 2010
Canadian commanderin Afganisthan fired for alleged relationship
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1 comments:
Canadian troops are in Canada to set an example of harmony, peace, discipline and democracy in Afghanistan. It is true that the job of a Canadian soldier in a remote area is quiet dangerous and requires tremendous amounts of training, patience, vigilance and self-control; however, it is also true that these soldiers are just like normal human beings and are allowed to make mistakes. Quite frankly, I am not exactly sure how I feel about this topic. I am more or less sitting on the fence about this issue because I can see why Menard was charged with a fine for mistakenly shooting the airbases twice. It is a major error that under no circumstances should be made by any member of the Canadian troop at any time and obviously cannot be overlooked. Nonetheless, it is perplexing to me that the soldier would be fired for having relationship with one of his colleagues. It was careless and to some extent unethical and selfish of him to do so considering the fact that he has a wife; however, I do not think that it is a good enough reason to fire someone of such high leadership position.
According to his colleagues, he has been a good team player and leader in the past and I think he should have been suspended instead of being permanently fired. I say suspended because it would show those working under him that this type of careless and unmoral behavior is not to be tolerated and will lead to consequences and at the same time, Canada would not have to lose a soldier. In the Toronto star, it was said that fighting season is just around the corner and the troops were almost done planning and were getting ready to fight the battle with their full strength. Hence, I feel that at this crucial time, change of leaders might not be a good idea for the troop because on top of the stress of the upcoming events, they would have to adjust and bond with the new leader all over again.
I found it very interesting that the woman that he allegedly had relationships was not only not charged but her identity was not disclosed. I believe that if this type of behavior was to be taken this seriously and considered so careless then why should only the male be punished for it and not the woman? Did she not have just as much contribution to it as the male? Well, perhaps over the next week or so, these questions will be answered or at least, I sure hope so since firing the male and ignoring the woman’s mistake is sexist and does not represent such a positive image for the rest of the world now, does it?
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