77 136—a forward observation officer—would be the Regiment’s first ever daughter to die in combat when her light armoured vehicle was hit by several rocket propelled grenades in Pashmul village, Kandahar Province near what would soon gain infamy as the “white school.” When you strip away the uniforms and the customs and traditions, what is left of a Regiment is that it is a family. It has its share of overbearing big brothers, thoughtful sisters, crazy uncles, perhaps a solid dad, definitely a caring mother and a whole bunch of diverse kids and their wives and husbands. Families might squabble sometimes, but deep down there is a solid bond. Woe to the neighbour—be they one from another unit, or worse yet, someone from outside the army—who tries to do wrong to a member of that family. All of the Canadian artillery is one family, one regiment— strangely enough it’s one made up of a number of regiments, currently four from the regular force and sixteen from the reserve force.7 They all share the same uniform and cap badge and are all units of the ‘Regiment’—the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. That’s hard to explain to an outsider sometimes. The story of how the Royal Regiment came to be in that remote and often dusty place is a long one. Even more so is the story that followed their arrival. This is that story. A story of Canada’s artillery after the events of that fateful day on September 11th, 2001 when a fanatical terrorist organization brought down two high-rise office towers in New York City, damaged the Pentagon and killed many more innocent civilians in a fourth plane crash near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It’s the story of how thousands of Canadian gunners, both regular force and reserve force, answered the call and fought their first combat actions since the Korean War (1950-1953). It’s the story of the gunner family, as told by them. It’s the story of who they were and what they accomplished in Afghanistan … with only a few guns. 1. Debbie Gallagher, interview by Brian Reid, Wolf Riedel, Kevin Smith May 19, 2021 2. Gunner is a generic term that applies to all members of the Canadian Forces who serve in the artillery. It is also a rank equivalent to the rank of private. 3. “E-mail newsletter a lifeline for military families,” CBC News, February 28, 2006 https:/ www.cbc.ca/news/canada/e-mail-newsletter-a-lifeline-for-military-families-1.581619 4. Debbie Gallagher, interview by Brian Reid, Wolf Riedel, Kevin Smith May 19, 2021 5. Ibid. 6. A call sign is a unique designation on a radio net for a specific individual or group and their vehicle. The letter “G” or “Golf” indicates that it is artillery. G13 would indicate the third forward observation officer detachment in the first battery of a given artillery regiment. 7. The reserve force also has three independent field batteries. NOTES
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