Job well done! What is a bit worrisome is that the Chinese placed first and second.
Canadian special forces place third in international counter-terrorism competition
By DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN April 5, 2013
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Parachutist in air during a stand-up ceremony for graduating Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) officers at CFB Petawawa in 2006. Commandos from the regiment finished 3rd in a recent competition in Jordan.
Photograph by: Mike Carroccetto
Members of the special operations regiment from Petawawa have placed third in an international competition that tests the counter-terrorism skills of law enforcement and military units.
Two teams from China, the Snow Leopard Commando unit and a group from China’s police academy, took the top two slots, according to a statement from Jordan’s military.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment placed third during the competition that included events testing skills in hostage rescue, aircraft assault, building entry and handling casualties. Shooting exercises were also included in the competition held at the King Abdullah II special operations training centre in Amman from March 24-28.
Thirty-five units from 18 countries, including France, the U.S., Russia and the Netherlands, took part in the competition.
The Canadian Forces would not comment on the regiment’s participation in the competition. But CSOR’s involvement was mentioned in articles in the Jordan Times and Jane’s military magazine.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment team leader was quoted in the Jordan Times as calling the competition “fun”, with the team winning five awards as well as third place in the overall results.
The Palestinian Presidential Guard came in fourth. That unit has been trained by special forces from Russia, the U.S. and Jordan.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment, or CSOR, was created in 2006. Its soldiers have conducted operations in Afghanistan and training in countries such as Mali and Jamaica.
Some of its members recently took part in Exercise Flintlock in Africa, helping train soldiers from Niger.
CSOR currently has around 450 people. It is slowly growing with a goal of having 690 personnel in its ranks but the military does not have a set timetable on when that number would be reached.
It was established to provide support to the military’s special forces and counter-terrorism unit, Joint Task Force 2, as well as conduct its own special operations missions.
Members are drawn from the army, navy and air force, although the bulk of the unit is made up of members of the army. The regiment is interoperable with JTF2 as well as U.S., British, Australian and allied special forces.
(For more details about the competition go to David Pugliese’s Defence Watch blog at ottawacitizen.com)
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