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    What the Thunder Said: Reflections of a Canadian Officer in Kandahar
    What the Thunder Said: Reflections of a Canadian Officer in Kandahar
    What the Thunder Said: Reflections of a Canadian Officer in Kandahar
    Ebook315 pages6 hours

    What the Thunder Said: Reflections of a Canadian Officer in Kandahar

    By John Conrad and Christie Blatchford

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    By every principle of war, every shred of military logic, logistics support to Canada’s Task Force Orion in Afghanistan should have collapsed in July 2006. There are few countries that offer a greater challenge to logistics than Afghanistan, and yet Canadian soldiers lived through an enormous test on this deadly international stage - a monumental accomplishment. Canadian combat operations were widespread across southern Afghanistan in 2006, and logistics soldiers worked in quiet desperation to keep the battle group moving. Only now is it appreciated how precarious the logistics operations of Task Force Orion in Kandahar really were.

    What the Thunder Said is an honest, raw recollection of incidents and impressions of Canadian warfighting from a logistics perspective. It offers solid insight into the history of military logistics in Canada and explores in some detail the dramatic erosion of a once-proud corner of the army from the perspective of a battalion commander.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDundurn
    Release dateJun 1, 2009
    ISBN9781770706118
    What the Thunder Said: Reflections of a Canadian Officer in Kandahar
    Author

    John Conrad

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    • 4/5
      This is a good read. There are three reasons I liked the book. First, it is a first person and in some cases raw view of the thinking of a unit commanding officer in the Canadian Army, in Afghanistan. This alone makes the book worthwhile. What kind of person commands young Canadians? A pretty solid, conscientious, thoughtful and well-trained one from the look of things. Second, it speaks to logistics. Few books speak to logistics, but the drab arts of supply, transport and maintenance have doomed many a campaign. For example, the Japanese attack in 1944 on the British XIV Army around Imphal in India was made by well-trained, disciplined and eager Japanese soldiers. They were it is true stopped by equally motivated and trained British Empire soldiers. However, they were destroyed utterly by a complete logistics and medical collapse. Logistics is important, and John Conrad has much to say. Third, it provides a bit of a view of the most intense fighting Canadian soldiers have seen since 1953.It is a bit weak in areas. Lieutenant-Colonel Conrad's forays into history are superficial and would have stood more explanation and bit more depth. Many of his allusions to episodes and personalities in Canadian military history work only for the non-layman. His character sketches, valuable as they are, equally could have stood a bit more depth. I know he knew his soldiers better than he let on. And I know they are all still alive, most of them still serving. Nonetheless, the richness of character and expression that is the Canadian soldiers does not shine through, and it could.In summary, thanks Lieutenant-Colonel Conrad for a great book. I've heard you speak, and you do your profession, yourself and your troops proud.

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    What the Thunder Said - John Conrad

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