Exclusive: Canada’s early days in Afghanistan difficult, close, built

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Exclusive: Canada’s early days in Afghanistan a difficult challenge

Few cruises can come close to matching the sheer wonder of a single voyage: the Transatlantic Crossing. Fortunately for today's cruisers, the line that started it all continues to offer a full season of sailings between England and North America.

Once the only means of transit between Europe and North America, "the crossing" was what Cunard Line (www.cunard.com) built its reputation on with liners like Mauretania, Aquitania and the venerable Queen Mary. First founded in 1848 by Canadian Samuel Cunard, the line that bears his name sails on today as part of the Carnival Corporation and boasts a fleet of three striking ships: Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and the iconic RMS Queen Mary 2.

Cunard remains the only line to offer a full season of transatlantic crossings between Southampton, England and New York, typically spanning between late April and mid-November. While these can be thought of as pleasure cruises, they're also extremely useful. When European air travel was disrupted by last year's volcanic eruption in Iceland, savvy travellers snapped up the last of the available tickets aboard Queen Mary 2. And isn't seven days aboard an incredible ship better than nine hours strapped into seat 34H?

Additional voyages sail between Hamburg, Germany and New York with a stop in Southampton. There's still a few dates available this summer: July 27th for the Eastbound Crossing and August 13th for the Westbound.

As a bonus for diehards like yours truly, the line even throws in the odd "Winter Crossing", a voyage made during the first week of January when conditions can best be described as 'rocky.' It's an experience that is both thrilling and exhilarating, particularly aboard the Queen Mary 2: unlike normal cruise ships, the QM2, as she's affectionately known, was designed specifically to battle the worst the North Atlantic can throw at her. Her bow is sharp and exaggerated, and her lifeboats hang roughly two decks higher up than most ships. She is 1,130 feet long and stands 200 feet above the ocean. She even boasts two enormous whistles, one of which is from the original Queen Mary. It's deep bass note can be heard for ten miles.

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But aboard QM2 there's no shortage of ways to pass the time. In addition to a production theatre and a full-scale Planetarium (really!), passengers can indulge in any number of bars and lounges, including an authentic British pub, as well as a two-story Canyon Ranch spa, four swimming pools, and the largest ballroom at sea.

Cunard's "Insights" on-board programs offer guests several exclusive opportunities, including concerts performed by the famous London National Symphony Orchestra, musicians from New York's Juilliard School, and more. Cunard still attracts some very famous passengers, including musician James Taylor and comedian John Cleese, who both demonstrated their respective talents in performances offered to those on-board.

It all adds up to create a unique voyage where the focus is on the ship, not the destination. For many passengers, the classic crossing of yesterday is the perfect cruise of today.


Afghanistan Canada's first J-model CC-130 Hercules aircraft number 602. The first J model in Kandahar Airfield arrived on the 1st of January 2011 after departing from their home unit, 436 (Transport) Squadron at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont. on Dec. 28. The Hercules is preparing for its first mission with crew in Kandahar. This mission marks the first time the new J-model Hercules in Afghanistan. The J-model Hercules will conduct operations alongside the H-model Hercules over the next four months until the H-model is brought back to Canada. While the J-model aircraft will remain in Afghanistan for an indeterminate amount of time, crews will rotate in and out of theatre on a four-month rotational basis. The aircraft will belong to the Tactical Aviation Unit (Task Force CANUCK), which is part of the JTF-Afg Air Wing. This tactical aircraft will be used for missions such as intra-theatre transport of troops and cargo, battlefield illumination, and drops of combat packages. Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) Operation ATHENA is CanadaÕs participation in the International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan. Focused on Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan since the fall of 2005, Op ATHENA has one over-arching objective: to leave Afghanistan to Afghans, in a country that is better governed, more peaceful and more secure.




Wearing body armour, Kevlar helmet and anti-blast glasses, Postmedia News correspondent Matthew Fisher waits to board an inbound Canadian CH-47 Chinook helicopter at a small joint Canadian-Afghan base in Panjwaii.



Ten Canadian Chinook and Griffon helicopters took part in the biggest air assault of the Afghan war last February, at the start of an offensive to push the Taliban out of strongholds in Helmand Province. Canada would not have been able to take part if the Manley Panel had not recommended, and Parliament had not approved in 2008 the dispatch of helicopters to southern Afghanistan. The helicopters were deemed essential to Canada's mission because they would reduce the need for troops to move by road in convoys that were constantly targeted by the Taliban using lethal homemade landmines.