CANADA WANTS STATE, USAID TO JOIN AFGHAN

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000183 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/A E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL MOPS EAID NATO AF CA SUBJECT: CANADA WANTS STATE, USAID TO JOIN AFGHAN PRE-DEPLOYENT EXERCISE ¶1. (U) This is an action Request for SCA/A -- see para seven. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: Canada would like a total of six State Department and USAID personnel to join hundreds of Canadian military and civilian personnel preparing to serve in Afghanistan for a large, "realistic" pre-deployment validation exercise in western Canada May 26 - June 13. Post requests that the Department respond to the invitation to join Exercise Maple Guardian no later than March 20. End summary. ¶3. (SBU) Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Afghanistan Task Force (FTAG) Senior Advisor David Fairchild asked pol/miloff on March 9 to inquire whether State and USAID would be willing to send personnel to Canada's next Afghanistan validation event, Exercise Maple Guardian (EMG),alongside the Royal 22nd Regiment battle group and DFAIT and Canadian aid (CIDA) personnel preparing to deploy to Kandahar this summer. ¶4. (SBU) According to Fairchild, Canada would welcome up to six State and/or USAID employees at the May 26 - June 13 event, preferring those who are also about to deploy to or recently have returned from Afghanistan. Headquarters and Embassy personnel with detailed knowledge of and/or experience with Afghan-related operational and policy issues would also be welcome. U.S. participation would benefit both sides, he observed, by providing "realistic" experience and guidance to officials preparing to operate in a complex environment that soon will include thousands more U.S. troops and a correspondingly larger U.S. civilian presence. ¶5. (SBU) The validation event will took place at the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Center (CMTC) in Wainright, Alberta, where civilian participants will have four days of briefing and office time (May 26-29) to prepare before joining military elements in CMTC's desolate ranges May 30 - June 13. Participants will role-play in the sort of activities that personnel from both countries likely will encounter in the Kandahar region of Regional Command - South, Fairchild said. Troops will conduct live-fire simulated kinetic operations, while military and civilian participants plan and execute the full range of civ-mil operations, to include attending mock shuras with Afghan role-players. Throughout the event, he observed, participants will work at resolving the frictions that inevitably occur when coordinating interagency, multi-national allied efforts in foreign war zones. ¶6. (SBU) Fairchild asked for confirmation by March 20 of possible U.S. intent to join EMG, and the names and agency affiliations of U.S. participants. Should the U.S. government respond positively to this offer, he said, Canadian officials will amend the civil components of the scenarios to reflect American participation, organize logistical support, book "Spartan" accommodations, etc. ¶7. (U) Action request: please advise NLT March 20 whether the USG accepts this invitation and, if so, provide a list of the proposed six State and/or USAID participants in Exercise Maple Guardian. Visit Canada,s North American partnership community at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / BREESE