Category: Military

Wainwright, The Day After

Military 24 Comments

Plus: An interview with @CrashMetaX, whose posts from Wainwright hospital were the most reliable throughout the night.

Meanwhile, MSM doing MSM things.

Finally, a news conference, but very little new information.

Major General Wade Rutland, higher headquarters for units training at CFB Wainwright, confirmed that four Canadian Armed Forces members died and many others were injured in a rapidly spreading grass fire during a training exercise by 3 PPCLI on October 17

More here: 39 other people are currently in hospital in connection with the incident, including 19 in critical condition.

Boris Johnson’s Britain

Military 26 Comments

Where the foxes caper unmolested, the government packs your school lunch and “THE USE OF FIREARMS MUST BE A LAST RESORT.”

On July 3, 2022, the Special Air Service (SAS) was sent into one of the most dangerous places on earth. Its soldiers were on a mission whose existence was and officially remains top secret.

The goal was to defeat Isis.

That night in the desert of Syria, they were tasked with capturing the leader of a terrorist cell. They swept through enemy terrain towards their target.

In the dark, five soldiers came under fire. They made a decision. Believing their lives to be in danger, they pursued the two enemies in view and shot them dead.

The SAS inspected the site. Local intelligence confirmed their target was among the bodies. They returned to their convoy and disappeared into the night.

An initial review cleared the men, finding they had acted in self defence. But all was not as it seemed. What happened next would plunge the SAS into crisis.

First, allegations of civilian casualties started to appear online. Then the director of Britain’s special forces referred the soldiers to police. Within days, the men who pulled the trigger would be arrested, several while on duty on secret bases in Syria and Iraq. Others had their homes raided. All were placed under investigation for double murder, meaning they faced life in prison.

Yet 48 hours after being questioned, they were sent back to the battlefield, parachuting out of helicopters to conduct raids behind enemy lines in the same lawless area of Syria.

Three years of limbo followed. Soldiers faced the psychological pressure of heading into battle while the spectre of life in prison hovered over them.

Last year, the men were cleared, but with the caveat that the case could be reopened at any time.

The fallout has sparked existential questions about the future of the unit, for decades the perceived crown jewel in Britain’s military capability. Today the SAS is losing more experienced soldiers than ever before. Just as Britain faces an era of global conflict, the systems supposed to protect its special forces — and maintain their accountability — have been cast in doubt.

For the past four years, secrecy has shielded those at the top of the chain of command from scrutiny. Insight, the Sunday Times investigations team, has gathered witness testimony, leaked documents and open-source intelligence, meaning the full story can be told for the first time.

CFB Wainwright [developing]

Military 43 Comments

Update #4: Flights continue

The casualties from the CFB Wainwright incident must be catastrophic and numerous.

A CanWest Air Beech King Air B250 air ambulance currently inbound to Wainwright from Slave Lake.

Slave Lake is about 450km or 280 miles from Wainwright.

And more.

@JeffSempleGN – More than a dozen CAF personnel literally parachuting into Wainwright, arriving at the local health centre to respond to the explosion and fire at the nearby Canadian Forces Base.

Update #3: Alberta Energy Regulator has denied a gas well/energy infrastructure was involved.

Update #2, also unconfirmed.

Facebook account from Wainwright is citing injured at 500. That seems high, I hope it's wrong.

Update. Unconfirmed, but the source is on the scene, a long term care patient.

Original post continues below.

I know we have readers in the Wainwright area, any information you might have is welcome in the comments, but if it's hearsay, please indicate that.

A major fire at CFB Wainwright has prompted responses from both the Alberta and federal governments, with leaders describing Saturday’s incident as serious and affecting military personnel at the base.

Premier Danielle Smith said Alberta’s government is learning more about what she called a “significant and tragic fire” at the Canadian Forces, located about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.

“We are learning of a significant and tragic fire at CFB Wainwright today that is affecting many of our brave military personnel,” Smith said in a post on social media.

Smith said Alberta officials are in close contact with the federal government and Prime Minister Mark Carney as the situation continues to develop

Report of multiple aircraft appear to be inbound to CFB Wainwright in response to "the incident" (apparent explosion/fire).

The western prairies are under wind warnings, it's a bad night for a fire.

Unconfirmed: 50+ INJURED

@CrashMetaX

I seen so many burn victims...

They're still bringing people in

I've seen the military truck being used to unload the victims.

8:14 PM · Oct 17, 2026

Apparently there is a military exercise and something went wrong

There is a massive explosion

50 or more are injured..

Being dropped off in pickup trucks

and being dropped off in military trucks

3 more ambulances just went past my bedroom

“I am sorry you miss your sailor daughter, but I also think you’ve missed the point. “

Military 10 Comments

I was the com/nav shop head at the time, and a Staff Sergeant. We walked into the hangars on the second of August, and there wasn’t a sound from the flight line or the shops. It was very weird, because normally it was buzzing and clanging. And then we were told to get our troops and muster on the hangar deck.

There, the skipper told the entire squadron that Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait that morning, and we would all be packing up to head back to El Toro in anticipation of something big going down, in line with precisely why we were there to begin with.

Everyone had half an hour to get to the barracks to get their gear and get back, because we had planes to launch and gear to embark as soon as they could scramble the 130s to come get us.

All the troops took off, but the SgtMaj held us shop heads back and said,

‘I don’t know HOW she did it, or got the number, but the phone rang on the CO’s desk first this morning, and it was LCpl Schmuckatelli’s wife. FROM EL TORO. She called to tell the Skipper that she was very sorry about the deployment to Saudi Arabia (!), but LCpl Schmuckatelli couldn’t go, because she has three children and doesn’t drive.’

New Governor, Same As The Old Governor

Military New Governor The Libranos 14 Comments

Lee Humphrey;

Recently Canada was selected to host what is being called a NATO bank. Its official name is Defence, Security, and Resilience Bank (DSRB) & its mission is to provide low cost loans to NATO members & allies (read Ukraine) to purchase weapons. No country has committed actual dollars to fund the bank other than Canada.

So the word on the street is that Carney gained the support of the EU based NATO members to become the host for the bank by assuring them that Canada would buy the joint Norwegian/Germany [submarine] bid. That’s $100 billion taxpayer dollars being used to gain a prestigious (in Carney’s mind) bank which inflates his status in NATO.

Reuters;

“My prime minister said we should not aim for perfection before launching ⁠this initiative, that we should rally the countries that are ready to be called founding members, and then the membership will stay open,” Hudon said.

The project’s fate remains uncertain without the backing of nations ​crucial to it securing a triple-A credit rating.

Groundhog Day

Art Of The Deal Military Religion Of Submission 44 Comments

Someone wake me up when this thing finally ends. In the meantime, any ideas out there as to how this script will be wrapped up?

President Donald Trump on social media accused Iran of violating the ceasefire and warned of a point where the U.S. may no longer be reasonable “and will be forced to militarily complete the job.”

“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote.

The exchanges of fire began when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vessel off Oman on Thursday and the U.S. military retaliated with strikes.

 

“Vigilamus pro te”

Military New Governor 15 Comments

A CAF juxtapose of sorts.

Brian Lilley: This wasn’t respectful to the troops, don’t think it followed protocol. Problem is, Carney doesn’t know this.

More military mystery…

The officer commanding one of the Canadian Army’s leading regular force battalions and the unit’s top non-commissioned officer have been removed from their position. Lt.-Col. Jason Hudson and Chief Warrant Officer Kim Doerr, of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, were apparently forced to step aside over the weekend, several military sources said Tuesday.

The Department of National Defence, in a written statement, confirmed to CBC News that action had taken place, but refused to explain why.

Reddit reveals: “Beers on a bus”

Keir Starmer’s Britain

Insufferable Twits Military 28 Comments

Where the foxes caper unmolested, the government packs your school lunch and the Defence Secretary has resigned from Cabinet: “you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats”.

Update;

Despite his departure, Healey asked defence ministers to stay in their posts.

But a few hours later, Armed Forces Minister Al Carns followed suit, saying the plan wasn’t “built for the threat we face” and wasn’t “sufficiently funded”.

The latest departures mean seven ministers have now stepped down from the government in the past month.

And another resignation: The pressure on Keir Starmer is intensifying by the hour.

Good comment by reader Orson here.

The UK Defence Secretary resigned not because Starmer refuses to appropriate the necessary funds. He resigned because the UK doesn’t have the funds to appropriate. The UK is very much like Canada in that it voluntarily dissolved industry. Instead they focussed on service and entitlement programs (their National Healthcare one of them). They voluntarily moved money away from Defence costs (including not making the threshold on NATO contributions). Now, the US, who has been making up the difference on all these European countries has drawn a line, and none of the EU countries are in a financial position to accomodate their own defense. It’s an embarrassment. It’s a hard lesson. And, it’s not being corrected because the “leader” of the UK realizes that to make significant changes negates all the “entitlement gifts” used by his Political party faction to bribe the electorate.

Flappy Flap Those Elbows!

Military New Governor The Libranos 16 Comments

Because that’s the only lift the Liberals have left.

McGuinty announced the Snowbirds’ Tutor jets will be replaced by CT-157 Siskin II turboprops but gave no completion date, other than they’re “expected to be operational in the early 2030s.”

Given Canada’s history of military procurement fiascoes, we’ll believe it when we see it.

They have no intention of replacing them.

1⃣ Bucky Belanger introduces David McGuinty. Belanger is the MP who thought the Iran war was in Libya. He describes the Snowbirds being grounded as “very joyous & happy event.”
2⃣ McGuinty asked how long Snowbirds will be grounded. Twice. Reporter mentions 2030’s was in the press release. McGuinty provides no specifics. “Moving as quickly as we can.”
3⃣ How many Siskins (the replacement aircraft, a prop plane, not a jet) to be procured? “That remains to be determined.”
4⃣ Snowbirds will stay in Moose Jaw. Personnel re-assignment? Lt Gen Speiser-Blanchet – “We don’t have a list of specific activities at this time.”
5⃣ Final show is scheduled in the US. Will this change? “We are looking at that now.”

New Governor, Same As The Old Governor

Military New Governor 15 Comments

Via Tracey Wilson;

We need to tell you what happened with the National Afghanistan Monument groundbreaking on May 4th. And we are going to tell it straight.

When we were preparing for April 15th, Veterans Affairs Canada reached out to us. They had an outreach problem. We had dozens of Afghan veterans descending on Ottawa from across the country to present the petition. VAC asked us to help bring those veterans to the groundbreaking ceremony. We agreed. We were told it would happen between our press conference and luncheon on April 15th at 11 am.

Two days before April 15th VAC cancelled. We scrambled to tell the veterans we had invited that it was rescheduled. We were told May 4th. We were told Valour in the Presence of the Enemy would be invited. People personally assured us that email was coming. The week before May 4th we were told directly — “you will get that email, I made sure of it.”

That email never came. […]

And quietly, without explanation, we were removed from the list entirely. An organization led by the former Chief of the Defence Staff. A wounded veteran shot three times in Afghanistan. An original member of the advisory committee. Someone who chaired the Service Excellence Committee for over a decade. They did not want us there. They did not want questions about Jess. They did not want questions about the Victoria Cross. Look at the photos from that ceremony. Members of Parliament outnumber Afghan veterans five to one.

It does not feel like a lot of elbows are up more like a selfie. Not a lot of the people who actually fought that war.

Keir Starmer’s Britain

Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing Military 9 Comments

Where the foxes caper unmolested, the government packs your school lunch and Britannia monitors the waves.

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