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Task Force 3-09 - Battle Group Commander's Message -
LCol Jerry Walsh

June 26, 2009

It's All About Teamwork
In February, when the Battle Group first stood up, I told the soldiers that this tour and the preparation for this tour is all about teamwork. Our number one priority from then until the day we step on the plane is to train a cohesive, confident and highly capable team.

Each soldier in this Battle Group has a significant role to play. It’s now been five months since the Battle Group came together for the first time and we have accomplished a great deal with training that has tested every soldier at every level. I want to recap those successes because we seldom take the time to reflect on the past as we are often too focused on the next steps.

Make-Up of the Battle Group
Our 1200 strong Battle Group based primarily on the First Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, consists of Regular Force infantry, armour, engineer sub-units from 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Edmonton, artillery battery from Shilo, and a reconnaissance sub-unit from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Petawawa. In addition, we have about 75 Reserve Force soldiers from across Land Force Western Area. In other words, we have a large team that’s spread throughout the country and as such our training has been conducted in numerous locations mostly within Canada, but also in the United States and even now some of our tankers are in Germany upgrading their skills on the new Leopard tank.

Training
We began building our team through progressive training. We first mastered the basics by running numerous Primary Function Cycles and focusing on low level training through Exercise Patricia Warrior in February that ran concurrently in Wainwright, Shilo and Petawawa.

We then came together as a team in March in Suffield and for the next four weeks moved from section level all the way the Battle Group and cumulated at the Brigade level during Exercise Desert Ram.

We took a very short pause to re-charge our batteries and then quickly moved on to Exercise Maple Guardian in May in Wainwright to validate those skills which we had acquired in Suffield. The tempo of Exercise Maple Guardian was extremely fierce simulating a six-month tour packed in two-weeks of force-on-force training.

Future Exercises
Our motto is, “Any Mission, Any Time, AnyWhere,” and I truly believe that we are a force that’s capable of doing just that and we have come a long way, but we are not done. We still have a number of critical objectives we need to accomplish, and we will do so through Exercises Unified Warrior and Brave Ram which will afford an opportunity to refresh lower level training, such as weapon handling, or re-enforce highly specialized skills.

I’m extremely proud of the soldiers of this Battle Group. The training we have done thus far has been extremely demanding but we rose to the challenge. You have all invested an incredible amount of time into this training and so have your families.

Family Support
I can not stress enough the importance of family support in a soldier’s life and how grateful I am – the Battle Group is – for the steadfastness of our loved ones. You are in this with us and we need you, and the Battle Group is here to support you. The Family Support Cell, the Deployment Support Centre, and the Military Family Resource Centre are all available to you - our families - to assist while your soldier is away. Never hesitate to ask for assistance, depend on us as we depend on you.

Total Commitment Required
I will close of the same as I did five months ago. This mission requires total commitment.  You must put the mission first, never quit and be there for each other.  It’s all about teamwork.  I am honoured to serve with you as part of that team and look forward to the Fall when we step on the plane and finally do the job for which we are training so hard.

Exercises