"Information and legal cover would help.  Especially if I can get some radio info on what to use to approach those ex and possibly current forces.  My mum always said to call first if you are coming over, after all."

Exactly folks. We call first. From an operational point of view we may run into a big problem if we don't have any partners across the border. This much was true with the 40th Army in Afghanistan. My idea is to have a sort of contact of contacts across the border that would help mutually to secure both sides of the fence. Something like a zipper.

He linked the fingers of both hands to nail his point.

We are very short of manpower and the Canadian battalion still out there in the valley far away from contact. In the meantime there are many things that can be done. We need to probe the far banks of the Fraser for penetration routes and gather further intel from locals, prisoners, etc. Once we can get in touch with the Americans we can start advancing South in a classic "Hammer and anvil" maneuver. I would like to start from the West, from the coast. That is the shortest distance to the US border. From there we can move Eastwards and eventually link with the battalion.

Taras was depicting his operational intent in the map posted at the blackboard in the classroom.



This is, of course, one of many possibilities. Makes sense since there is a lower risk at the beginning since we look towards occupying terrain rather than bringing the fight to the criminal elements. Later on, we can envelop them more easily and we can make sure that the border is not too "leaky" if we can count with some help. This kind of operation can bring some political leverage as well. But that is beyond my expertise.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:18, Tue 10 July 2012.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 23):

"That battalion is up in Kamloops, about 500 km away! Up the Fraser, yes, but a long, long ways up. They won't be ready to move for weeks, yet."

"I see what you mean about the border. Operating with American loyalists would be like the South Africans operating in conjunction with UNITA in Angola. Not the best comparison, perhaps!"

"Still, at the moment, you should have little need to cross the border at this time. But yes, we need to make sure we can pursue criminal elements south.

"Once a federally-allied American force is set up (possibly CIA-supported and based in Canada) to lock down their side of the border, and we have CF, militia and RCMP based in the valley to shut down our side, the flow of guns and drugs should dry up. Possibly that will tempt the bikers to launch some kind of reckless attack, luring them into the open for us to smash, or maybe they'll slink away.

"For today, a reconnaissance sweep east is in order. Contact those communities. Help them if you can, or at least find out about the local situation. There will be no hammer south for now, or to be precise, you are the hammer. To make that happens, we'll have a look at the bridge, and go visit the Cougar that's being loaned to us. Any more questions?"

In reply to Alain Belanger (msg # 24):

"Why are we assuming that the CIA is friendly?  If they're here covertly, then they're not here with any premise of Her Majesty's approval."

In reply to William Hawke (msg # 25):

"Oh, well, the CIA's presence here is not covert to us, if you know what I mean. Not that they're in the phone book or anything but there are channels.

"The US government are our allies, of His Majesty's government, too, and there are reciprocal agreements and strong ties between our intelligence services (CIA, CSIS, MI6). I would imagine Commander Clarke-Sullivan, being an intelligence officer, might know more but probably can't say about any DRI-CIA cooperation, except that Lt. Stone may be involved. Or maybe not."

For that matter, Lt. Stone had upped and disappeared a day earlier, called back to DRI headquarters at UBC to talk with Commander Clarke-Sullivan.

Commander Clarke-Sullivan was their largely unseen commanding officer (OC), currently located back at UBC. She'd been in naval intelligence during the war, although such distinctions meant much less now. The particular team they belonged to (URIEL) was part of the federal Department of Reconnaissance and Investigation (DRI), created by the Canadian government to gather domestic intelligence and facilitate national reconstruction. There were both CF and RCMP personnel present, reflecting it's hybrid military-civil nature.

GM Note: the above might give newcomers a little better handle on who you are, what your team does in the bigger picture.

"I can't speak officially about any matters relating to the political standoff between the US government and renegade elements of the US military, as that's an internal matter we do not want to be pulled into. We have no such agreements with the US military junta or the DIA, they are not enemies so much as persona non grata.

"Which reminds me, if you do encounter US forces operating in Canada, they are not authorised to be here and should be escorted back across the border, peacefully. We don't want to get into a shooting war! So be careful and if you encounter any US military personnel, find out as much as you can. They may be here on reconnaissance looking for Soviet remnants, salvaging needed materials, pursuing criminals or guerillas, selling arms to bikers or civilians, who knows?

"For that matter, US military personnel probably have fond memories of operating with Canadians during the war. We believe they probably haven't even been told the truth about the schism between the military and US government."

In reply to Alain Belanger (msg # 26):

"Great, that shite's well outside my pay grade."

He paused a while.

"So we can't tell if these bastards are friends or foes, or spies.  That's a bastard set of ROE for us."

500 kilometers is nothing! One month! Holy Mother of Kazan! I can bring you a Type B regiment here in 1 week, take a piss, drink some vodka and then take Seattle!

And yes, those rules of engagement are going to be a real pain in the ass. We were frying yanks in Chinatown recently and also recruiting them at the same time! Anyhow, we need some clarification on the border problem. Once we cross the Fraser the game will be up and I don't want to run the troops into a potential disaster. Get the HQ to do some job while we clear the possible access routes.

Belanger, you mentioned moving East. What does it mean? Across the Pitt River and into Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge? Perhaps moving towards...what is this...Langley?

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 28):

Belanger smiled at Hawke. "Yes, the Yanks are tricky. You've got to get them to go peacefully if you can, not pick a fight. Unless they're engaging in clearly illegal activities like assault, rape, narcotics trafficking, arms dealing. Confiscate what you can, bring them into custody.

"Salvaging is a little dicey because that's technically looting, we don't want them to do it but it's not worth fighting over some scrap metal."

"As always, remember your Rights to Engage. RTEs state that you do not need for them to fire first if you are threatened. We don't want another Rwanda."

He then nodded at Taras.

"This isn't flat terrain like you're used to in the Ukraine or even most of Russia, this is 500km of mountains more rugged than the Urals. Not as simple as you'd think, with maybe two viable routes at most. Don't worry, nothing new to us!"

"Your eastern stop line is the border between Abbotsford and Chiliwack. South is the border, north is the river.

"Possible hostile forces include a Hells Angels chapter in Abbotsford, at least from before the war. There is also the prison at Matsqui in Abbotsford, which was never evacuated. The status of the convicts are unknown, although as none have showed up here I would guess they stayed there or travelled further east. Oh, have a look at the Abbotsford International Airport, too. That's the largest airfield in the lower mainland not under water.

"Friendly forces are located here, in New West. There are friendly detachments operating in Surrey across the river from the Pattullo and Port Mann, but they have their hands full with salvage and rescue operations."

Oh Belanger...do not underestimate the knowledge of the Red Army! Kamloops is a transportation hub and is well connected with highways. Not only that, there is a main railway centre. That's why you got there The Rocky Mountain Rangers. That's a light infantry unit that put a good fight up there. They don't have much tonnage to move around if you want to send anywhere...

Anyways, I understand that the federal government will have their own ideas across the chessboard. We'll start with the bridge, why not! Then we can see what we do in Surrey. Any news on that Cougar vehicle?

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 30):

"The Cougar would be handy from my perspective, as it would allow me to carry more inventory for my med bag.  I could do some serious help with that."

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 30):

"Aside from the Rocky Mountain Rangers, there's also a former Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment in Kamloops, as well. Part of the delay is organising some kind of joint force that's good for more than local defence."

"The Cougar is ready to go at the Westie's armoury. We can head down at any time! Then examine the bridge."

The days after the Port Coquitlam mission were spent by Taras and his new Polish friend surveying the Pattullo Bridge. Constructed in 1936–37, it spanned the Fraser River linking the city of New Westminster on the north bank of the river to the city of Surrey on the south bank. The bridge's base was constructed of wood. A key connexion between Surrey and the rest of the Lower Mainland, before the war, the bridge handled an average of 67,000 cars and 3400 trucks daily. The bridge's dark orange colour and arch shape cause it to resemble the Port Mann Bridge, located a few kilometres upstream.

Although not bridge engineers per se, Taras and Darek were able to understand the forces bearing on a steel structure. Shevchenko was trained to be able to act against them with explosives! The real and potential forces influencing any bridge are many and varied: Gravity, weight of the structure, traffic, wind, snow (this is Canada after all!), etc. Then there are dynamic loads that refer to sudden, one-off disastrous events like nuclear bombardment,tsunamis, earthquakes, etc. Unlike the Second Narrows bridge (totally destroyed by a nuke) or the slightly affected Lions Gate Bridge, the Pattullo was free of man-made World War III elements and that was a blessing. Stress placed upon an structure during one of these events are extremely difficult to predict. Witness the overpasses that collapsed in San Francisco in the 1989 earthquake.

The seemingly abandoned bridge most likely danger came in the form of the wildlife that inherited this piece of real estate. As a Staff Sargent of the RCMP Taras was able to grant a patrol unit to provide some protection at the Southern end while inspection was taking place. Barely armed with a Makarov just in case some of the life forms may turn nastier than usual, the most likely tools were the pair of binoculars, hand held radios and climbing gear. The buddy system was mandatory for safety reasons. Pairing with the Polish permitted to conduct some rope work to inspect the structures. The slavic background of both characters as well as the common nature of their specialised job brought them together really fast. More so when your life was depending on who's at the end of that rope!

Overall the bridge appeared to be in a decent shape and several vehicles in an increasing weight scale were used to test the strenght before rolling the heavy Cougar. Taras found out that the Pattullo was closed to oversized commercial vehicles such as heavy trucking but he was confident that it will support the Cougar as it was at least 10 tons lighter than the LAV III.

Tuesday, 01 June 2001
1100 Hours Lima

The morning was sunny and pleasant. They rolled down through New West, entering the north checkpoint, then down 6th st. south towards the river. The militia at the Westies armoury (next to city hall) directed them to the north end of the Pattullo bridge. There they would find the Cougar they'd been loaned, along with the RCMP NCO that was the vehicle commander.

The Cougar armoured vehicle was parked on an overpass overlooking the bridge from the north. There were a few militia around, they pointed out where to find Cpl. Sochaki. He was across the bridge, on the south side. To get to him they'd have to cross over to the south side.

Cpl. Sochacki was dressed in CF Olive drab combats (army fatigues) with a black armoured beret and black RCMP/GRC tactical vest. He was standing below the south bridge abutment with a party of New West city engineers in reflective vests, going over the recently-finished bridge repairs.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 33):

The two men spoke a common language in a world and place so different from the one they grew up in. Their roles reversed, it was the Polish man that was subordinate to the Ukrainian, as his RCMP rank demanded. Still, they had common interests, and it was much easier to communicate in their native languages than English.

"Taras, what sort of security were you thinking about for this end of the bridge?" Darek asked, interested to know Taras's thoughts.

OOC: Here we go! :P

Kelsey took one of the Jeeps along with them to to Cougar, with all the gear and setup for the Lovin' Spoonful radio setup.  A pair of recent SINCGARS able base boxes, a booster, a big whip antenna, a shorter whip antenna, and a base antenna that could be set up and raised on the ground.  Also, she carried the four new SINCGARS able portable sets.  With the one or two other SINCGARS sets available she was in good shape, she thought.

Kelsy drove as far as she could, then dismounted.  She got a look at the fellow and adjusted her glengary before approaching him.

"Cpl. Sochaki, I hope?  Sergeant Champlain.  I got the radios to put in the Cougar, is that her?"   She indicates the nearby vehicle.

She is hoping that the CF 'reserve' Glengary might put him more at ease, though any experienced soldier would note her previous unit's tabs still on most of her uniforms.

She's got her gear stowed in the jeep as well, just in fatigues and carrying her sidearm, her Carbine in the gun mount for the driver in the nearby 'jeep'.

Some critical points, such as this key bridge, within the area of responsability of the RCMP detachment may be vital to the tactical plan. Such crossing point needed to be controlled to permit friendly units to use them and to prevent the enemy from using them. So far there was no plan to turn this critical point into an obstacle by use of demolitions. Nonetheless, Taras felt that similar conditions to that of the creation and assigment of a demolition guard were granted in order to set up the defense of this newly acquired asset.

We are going to set up an improvised "Demolition Guard". This is the unit tasked to ensure that the site of a reserved demolition is not destroyed or captured by the enemy. In this case we are not going to blow up anything but it will serve the purpose.

This should prevent any sabotage, attack, etc and help to regulate the traffic. We will have updated status and use it as a launching platform for the next mission.

For that matter I shall prepare at least two platoons of militia commanded by experienced RCMP Officers. The two platoons will provide an all-round defense, Soviet style. I should position one platoon on the "enemy" side of the bridge to occupy roadblocks on avenues of approach leading to Surrey. This platoon will be  responsible for all actions on that side, I'll put another platoon on and around the bridge to defend it and regulate the flow. I will also set up a quick reaction force coordinated with the New Westminster unit with our LAV III and give them combat positions from which they can support the platoon defending the bridge and the platoon defending the enemy side.

Again, this will be a temporary arrangement until we can get a firm hold on the South bank and some tactical depth for the defense of the bridge. In the meantime we can ready the Cougar for action and start planning our advance...

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg # 37):

There was already a police/militia checkpoint there on the south end of the bridge, but only section-sized and consisted of traffic barriers and a single small bunker made of sandbags and cinder-blocks. Mostly to regulate traffic and search vehicles crossing the bridge when desired.

Nothing that elaborate, and a platoon (or less) could easily take it out. The local militia NCO took some notes, to follow up on later.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg # 36):

Cpl Sochacki stood listening to Taras as he talked about security. When he saw Kelsey, he stopped speaking Polish and continued to talk to him in English. Once she finished introducing herself, he returned her greeting and asked her how she functioned as part of the group.

"Sgt Champlain, we are discussing the bridge's defenses" Darek said, waving towards the Ukrainian and then nodding at the bridge. "I was thinking of some metal rods or concertina wire to funnel foot traffic  through a narrow entrance. What do you think about this idea?"

"Mac" looked around and grunted.

"Huh, this is the edge of biker territory. Seems like defenses are a little light. Heard some rumours that New West had some sort of "arrangement" with the HAs or other bikers."

Darek had heard the rumours as well, although most of the time some sort of plausible excuse had been given in the past on why a larger outpost wasn't possible at this location.

In reply to Christopher Little Hawk MacDonald (msg # 40):

"Mac, do you think some sort of local recruiting drive is in order?" DS asked. "Maybe some sort of equivalent to a 'neighbourhood watch' sort of thing. One of our guys to one of the loacals. It might help our standing with the civilian population."

"I would make sure it is hard to drive through.  Can I get to work on installing commo in the vehicle?"  She gestures up the hill to the intended vehicle.

Mac helped Kel start to load the Cougar with the comms gear.

"That's a good idea, Darek. More something to pass along to the militia or police, someone with the resources and personnel. I know the RCMP is recruiting auxiliaries and the militia is expanding.

"As a Dept. of Investigation and Reconnaissance team, our two main tasks are to gather intelligence and back up local forces when needed. So we're kind of transient at the moment. Patrolling neighborhoods alongside the local citizens is very effective but is more of a long-term project. Maybe we can get the ball rolling, and in theory when we get more DRI personnel we can set up a network to collect local information."

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg # 42):

"Absolutely Sergeant, by all means" Cpl Sochacki told the woman. "Also, if you have any ways to imrove comms or overal electric systems of the Cougar, please feel free to improvise."

"Mac, I understand what you mean about long term projects" the Pole said. "Recce, I get it. Still, if we're to expand operations in this area, we're going to start taking losses. I just think it's a good idea to get some people trained up just in case we have to fill some gaps while 'on the road'".

OOC:

OK obviously Dare Sochacki has at BEST an accent and at WORST garbled words and mistakes in grammar. I'm not going to try to type what I think his accent sounds like. It's too hard to read. Just understand that he's not a native English speaker and isn't doing well in communication, even if he really is trying to 'go for Canadian-sounding', whatever that means. :)

J
This message was last edited by the player at 11:21, Mon 16 July 2012.

"Thank you Corporal, I will do what I can for the vehicle."  She proves quite capable of lifting and moving the heavy radios herself, not that she doesn't appreciate the help.

Que Dieu nous aide, je ne peux pas le comprendre.  She mutters in earshot of Mac, as they are working on the radios.  "Did you understand him, Mac?  I heard him using your nickname, do you know him?  Oh, hand me that spanner would you buddy?"  She says the last pointing at a spanner wrench just out of her reach as she is balancing a radio with one hand.

As they getting their radios shoehorned into the Cougar and with the antenna up and active she performs radio checks with the portable units she has, both vehicle radios, and the base radio.  She'll hook the vehicle comm system to at least one set, and switchable.  She brought as much of the comm equipment including the helmets and mics as she could, not knowing what she would be walking into.  Hopefully since both are CF vehicles they will be to the same standard as their LAV.

Wayne had been characteristically quiet since the last operation, yet distant in a way that he was not on the boat ride to the farm.  He never did take up Kelsey on her offer of beer--no explanation given--and he made no demands, other than a few boxes of 9mm training ammo that he unceremoniously expended at the range.

Wayne had been habitually out of uniform during the down time the group received, appearing in battle dress for the first time on the morning of their departure.  Now he waits with the main body of the team, watching as Taras appears to haggle for the keys to the new IFV.