Toronto Star, Sunday 12 March 2006
"A Canadian civil affairs officer came in peace yesterday to a destitute Afghan village, removing his helmet and laying his weapon on the ground. He sat cross-legged with tribal elders and produced a notepad, into which he began to faithfully record the people's needs.

From behind, a young man stepped forward suddenly from among the crowd of villagers and raised an axe above his head. With a single cry of "Allahu Akbar," he swung the blade into the top of the Canadian officer's head.

Lieut. Trevor Greene, a Vancouver resident serving in the Canadian Forces' Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC) unit was in critical condition last night, en route to Germany, where a team of neurologists waited to assess the extent of brain damage. His vital signs were said to be satisfactory and he was breathing without assistance.

Greene's unidentified assailant, estimated to be less than 20 years old, was dead within seconds of the attack. Three Canadian soldiers accompanying Greene opened fire, pumping 14 bullets into the attacker, who stood over his victim, making no effort to escape."

The 41st Brigade's mission in Afghanistan will be one of the most challenging that any Army can assume. It will require soldiers to build relations with local tribal leaders, extend help and support to local communities, continue efforts to build an infrastructure, while teaching and mentoring the officers and the enlisted soldiers of the Afghan National Army. Yet within this mission of good will, every soldier must remain vigilant to possibilities of threats and attacks. The incident of Canadian Lieut. Trevor Greene is a solemn reminder that all situations pose a potential risk.

In an effort to increase individual units adaptability and survivability, the Army has established the Center for Army Lessons Learned, otherwise known as C.A.L.L.. Based in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, the program has been established to transmit cultural, current events and situational awareness information from areas of current operations back to units that are preparing to deploy. The hope is that by increasing a soldier's cultural awareness and sensitivity, as well as current operational challenges, each soldier will in turn reduce his/ her individual risk while operating in the foreign environment. In this case, Afghanistan.

The C.A.L.L. presentation was held at the Post Theatre. Since soldiers are readying for deployment into a potentially hostile area, most units here at Camp Shelby are requiring soldiers to carry their weapons with them at all times, once they have passed their qualifications. The C.A.L.L. instruction was attended by members of the Embedded Training Teams (ETT's). These are small teams that will be living and working directly with members of the Afghan National Army. As the teams arrived for the presentation, weapons were checked and cleared, to allow the soldiers to carry them safely inside.

Time before the class was spent quizzing and reinforcing various phrases in Dari, the predominant language in Afghanistan. Though this language training is not directly related to C.A.L.L., it is an other example of the effort the Army is making to better equip the soldiers for the environment they will be working in. Once the teams had settled in, Sam Young, Senior Military Analyst, began his presentation.

The instruction covered a broad range of subjects related to cultural awareness. Topics included Afghan tribal and family structure, the traditions of negotiations, dealings with Afghani women, Afghani views of the individual versus the tribe, cultural bias awareness, means of gaining respect, current developments relating to threats and risks, and reminders of the missions focus. Lectures began at 10 am and finished around 4:30 pm.

The dual role of peace keeping and combat demands the highest level of awareness and focus from each and every soldier. Situations must be assessed and analyzed, literally, on a second by second basis. Training such as C.A.L.L. adds a element of knowledge to each soldier's decision process to better assist them in making a decision that can mean the difference in life or death... whether that be their own, or that of an Afghan.

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Copyright, Scott Kesterson- 2006

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