“Fire Mission!”
The instant those words blare over the loud speakers in Afghanistan, young men and women from the 2nd Royal Canadian Horse Artillery start what they call ‘Run for the gun’.
During rocket attacks, while other soldiers dive for cover in sand bag covered trenches, gunners from the Canadian Artillery stand out in the open, manning the state of the art M777 155mm howitzer or the 81mm mortar.
I had the privilege of interviewing a young man from Kitchener, Ont, who is currently serving with the 2 RCHA in Afghanistan. Gunner Steve Roorda explained no matter what is happening around them, when they hear the call to the guns they only have one thing on their mind.
“When you hear ‘Fire Mission’ over the radio, me and everyone else, you get that rush of adrenalin if you hear these words. The No. 1 priority is get on your protective flak vest, grab your weapon and run for the gun.”
When the men and women in the artillery run for that gun they are putting their lives on the line.
“One instance one of our FOBs (Forward Operating Base) was being rocketed and while everyone dove for cover in bunkers our mortar gun troop was running for the gun to return fire.”
The danger for the mortar gun troop in that situation is downright frightening. While surrounded with their own high explosive mortar bombs, they would be in danger of being hit with an incoming enemy round at any second.
But the artillery crews do it because that is their job.
A lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Gunner (a Private in the artillery) Roorda works in the 2 RCHA Tactical Operations Centre. They’re responsible for making sure the targeting for each fire mission is perfect. On average, a shell for the M777 Howitzer weighs 45 kilograms and is packed with lethal high explosives. The M777 can fire those 45 kilogram shells upwards of 25 kilometers. Gunner Roorda and everyone in the 2 RCHA are well aware of the devastating power of one those shells, and because of that, they now there is no margin for error.
“Any time our guns fire – we have to know about friendly troops and we have to take into account the civilian population. Ultimately our CO gives authority to fire, being perfectly on target is a big deal.”
Dealing with life and death situations every day for a six moth tour of duty would put a strain on even the toughest human being. So the men and women in Afghanistan deal with it in the most Canadian of ways: hockey.
Gunner Roorda is proud of the fact he’s one of the leading scorers in the Afghanistan ball hockey league. For Roorda and the rest of the Canadians in country, hockey is their lifeline to home. Hockey is their therapy from days filled with the kind of stress we could not possibly imagine.
“I think it is super important physical stress relief of it and it gives you something to talk about than what is going on around you. Everyone considers hockey Canada’s game. Coming here I noticed that is not an empty cliché. You have guys coming over from half away around the world playing ball hockey when they can and playing in between rocket attacks and playing with the passion that they do, it is pretty significant. I couldn’t stress enough how important playing ball hockey and Timmy’s (Tim Horton’s coffee) is.”
Just like team work is the key to success in hockey, team work is even more important for the crews that are needed to work the M777 howitzer:
“In some cases peoples’ lives are stake if the team work isn’t there and your not functioning as a complete unit then it’s a pretty big deal.”
At 27 years of age, Roorda still realizes that what he’s experienced in Afghanistan has changed him forever.
“One of the things that bring people together is shared experiences, when that experience is something like war, that bonding is so much greater than other circumstances. One of the things I hear a lot of people say is that you really find out a lot abut yourself and about others in this kind of circumstance”
Because of the eight and half hour time difference in Afghanistan and because of duties within his unit, Gunner Roorda hasn’t been able to watch any hockey games during his tour of duty.
“They do play some games at Canada House across from Tim’s, but I haven’t been able to see any. I read about (the Leafs) in papers.”
Gunner Roorda has only seen the Leafs play once when he and some friends drove down from CFB Petawawa to catch a game at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. When his tour of duty ends on December 1, Gunner Roorda wants to see his girlfriend (a Montreal fan) and watch the Leafs in action at Air Canada Centre.
Being so close to the end of his tour of duty, one would think that he is counting the days until he goes home. However, the gravity of his responsibilities doesn’t allow much time for that.
“It is human nature after you’ve been here for that many months and you know that the end is near to think abut that and thinking abut back home at the same time. But we still realize that we are not in Canada yet and we have a job to do and we will do it until we do get on the plane back to Canada “
So for all of those hockey playing Canadians serving our country in Afghanistan like Gunner Roorda, please take a moment at 11 a.m. on November 11 to pay your respects and say thank you.
Lest We Forget.