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l . . , . . . ‘ .. . .. . . .. .. . . . .. . WAWmMm.-Wfl-9.me"3 mermaid ‘ ‘ â€" - wood \lm-lhiiiald‘ titsrt mines .Ir'm't' 4‘ (111* kitchenerluacom @ Ms $.thde ”moles (til Sill-2791688 . - 2 ”a.“ “WW. m 519 571 2828 l M' ° 1' h d'2 ' . lSSlOIl accomp 18 e . i ‘ l C I O t. 1 Local soldier reflects on end of Canada’s combat role m Afghanistan 1 By Prune DBMOND W ’ "‘ I” “a. l t [ironic/e Stafl 7 ' . ‘ j “ nyone who talks about -5 fi') _ ' my : AAfghanistan, unless r. :7 “,3 '\ 1‘ you've been there, you .4 .. 7 can't understand.” jg. i it . Those words came from Cpl. 1"- ' _ - «fit: . .; Scott Hahn as he spoke with the 4 3‘ i 3. ‘ :3? w- Chronicle about the end of Cana- _ i: 2 132*... .. da's combat mission in J‘ _. ‘ V ' Afghanistan last week. , 5" -‘ ~ About 2,850 combat troops ' . a 3 have been withdrawn from the ‘ ' l country. so far. as the Canadian it “‘3; i t: 5‘ , ‘ - forces transition to a training role ..~. .. ” _ s in Kabul. , ' ' ‘ 2 ' Hahn served Wllh the Royal w ' . , ., , 3 . Highland Fusiliers Reserve ,1; J Infantry in the Panjwaii District of ..~ . 2 i" '1 J Kandahar Provmce from May 2010 1- a ' I to December 2010. F ' _ . ~ . A , i 1 It was the site of the most 7‘ ». - u i l Intense fighting for Canadian ‘5‘“ . ‘ ‘ forces, and also the greatest casu- _ - , . j ‘ allies, _' ‘ ‘ Hahn said that while. in his v 7 ' i 1‘2 J ‘ opinion. the combat mission 3 ,5“ x, ' 1 should have continued. he has ' ' _ , >‘ "g;. 7' ‘ truth American troops Will be able ‘ ' . a“ . ...‘V..J£i;j.. :‘flgfi/fia; J I” Tull" Wmml' . Cpl. Scott Hahn (left) with Pie. Dagg of the Afghanistan National Police and a fellow soldier in Afghanistan. It s disappointing that we ve wlunuomm pulled out of that area but we did hand it over to the Americans." training mission will focus on midst of what he described as One-hundred and fifty-seven “That was probably one of the Hahn said. "’lhere were opportuni- training the local army. heavy attack by the-Taliban. Canadian soldiers have been killed fun parts about it.” he said. “I still ties to do more and we didn't." Operating mostly in Kabul k "Nothing was easy over there.“ since the beginning of Canada‘s knowabit.” The soldier said the task now is the country's capital -â€" about 950 Hahn said. "For the first two involvement in 2001. Hahn attended Elmira District for Canada to continue its pres» Canadian soldiers and training months we got attacked everyday. Of the casualties. 137 were Secondary School and joined the ence to train the locals personnel will focus on advancing "And then it declined rapidly.” combat deaths, while the other reserve througha school co-opera- ' the most imponant thing that wcurity, human rights, promoting His unit was charged with driv- lives lost were what the miitary tive education program. Prior to m- tdll do right no“ is continue regional diplomacy and helping ing out the Taliban and convincing term “non-hostile incidents" such his deployment. he spent a year our support in the country by deliver humanitarian assistance, the locals to suppon the troops. as helicopter and vehicle acci- training at Canadian Forces Base training the Afghan National according to the government's When he arrived, troops were dents. Petawawa where Hahn made .\rmy." Hahn said. “If they can gov website. faced with an area almost 100 per The apprentice electrician said friends with a few other local guys. i em themselves then that‘s just one In the next 14 months. the [1.8. cent supportive of the Taliban he saw great progress during his that be counted on them substan- itiliit‘ i-oiintry that doesn‘t need and other NATO countries will forces. he said. tour. particularly when it came to tially during his tour. \‘ \It l protection. begin withdrawing their own During his time overseas, Hahn the relationship with villagers. Now that his mission has i ‘\\e worked side by side Willi troops from Afghanistan. said he struggled with the relation- "At the end of the tour we‘d ended. Hahn is happy to be home 1 the Afghan National Army -i lot It's expected about one-third of ship and trust-building with locals, seen the progress we were mak- with his wife and continue his and some of those soldiers new the I00,00() American troops in “(You would be) dealing with mg." Hahn said. “They were buildâ€" electrician apprenticeship. stilitt' of the best soldiers I've ever Afghanistan Will be withdrawn. the locals and you'd talk to them ing roads and schools. When asked ifit was all worth it. wen " l'he Government of Canada and they'd walk along with you." “Seeing that was rewarding." Hahn didn't hesitate. ( .iii.id.i oilii rally ended ils estimates the cost of the war to be Hahn said. “And then they'd walk lftherewas anything the soldier "I felt accomplished," he said. tttllllhll role in Afghanistan July 5. $1 I 3 billion since 2001. away and all ofa sudden we would could describe as fun during his “We're soldiers. we went to do our but will iii.iiiit.iiii .i presence in the At 22, Hahn was deployed to the hit an (improvised explosive time. Hahn said it was picking up job. - J (cumin until :0” Hie remaining embattled l’ariiwaii region in the device)" some new language skills. "We got the job done,” ll :- l k kit-"x i . V m .351 l . «firm . . . ,4 - j -" , 4 ~ 1:“.in ' . 3 g a: H p . 2. .' rc- v; r1 on? ‘ I. I i _ " 554,45 so I'm-WW - ’ . , dtifi '- . j W? fiéwwa ‘ ~ - . t. . ireâ€"r21 (ribs g ‘ A . . i K ‘ 99 \y c L- a; syld ......., _ m r: 2:: zeta: $5.1 - ”a ‘ LL , , ma. . A!, ac,____________â€"‘