Mark is one of my best friends and a true leader in the Canadian Forces. Mark was also my first contributor to the Afghanistan Veteran Project so it seemed fitting to republish his story on the blog. Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do…I know seeing what has gone on in Afghanistan over the last several weeks has stirred your emotions as it has my own. Corporal, now Captain, Mark Richardson who served as a member of the Operational Mentor Liaison Team (OMLT) as part of Task Force Kandahar from April - November 2010.

War is contextual…

Experiences in a combat environment vary depending on a variety of factors including job placement, location and luck. Anyone that is exposed to such environments responds to war differently regardless of the quality of pre-deployment training and sentiments of personal ‘toughness’. My experiences in a combat environment reflect those of a soldier that was well trained, equipped and privileged. Although I recall many personal incidents that I experienced while on tour, I often think of my fellow Afghan brethren and how their experiences differed. This is an ever-lasting consideration that I hold as I have continued my life as a Canadian Citizen.

As a member of the Operational Mentor Liaison Team (OMLT), I was assigned to a small group of Canadian Soldiers who lived and worked alongside a large group of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers. Our role was to provide mentorship to the ANA and liaise with NATO regarding the status of our ANA and general status of the surrounding area. My tour lasted approximately seven months and I often had access to internet, a satellite phone and mail from friends and family back home. When on patrol I carried a new weapon, an individual communication system and wore a bullet proof vest. When travelling in a vehicle, I rolled in a 20 ton up-armoured tracked vehicle that was heavily gunned. When I look to my Afghan Comrades I recall how they experienced war differently.

While I always had the luxury of looking forward to returning to a privileged life as a Canadian Citizen, I initially failed to consider how the lives of the ANA that I worked with would unfold. When I first came to Afghanistan in April of 2010, many of the ANA had been there for years. When I left Afghanistan most of the ANA would continue to fight. While I surfed the internet in my camp, the ANA did not. When I contacted friends and family over satellite phone, the ANA did not. While my family suffered emotionally as I served, my ANA brethren lost family to the enemy. While I drove in a heavily armoured vehicle, the ANA traveled in un-armoured vehicles, and were often injured and killed as a result of injuries sustained. My experiences as a soldier in combat reflect those as a first world soldier.

When I think about my tour in Afghanistan I think of my immediate team mates, the violence I encountered, fellow Canadians that were injured and killed, the positive impact my organization had on Afghanistan, and the ANA that I worked with. I chose to write about the ANA because we often fail to think about the struggles of Afghans to secure Afghan stability. Just like us, the soldiers of the ANA want peace and stability; they want to return to their homes and live without having to fear the reality of war. Yet that continues to be their reality, a context dominated by war.