Operation CROCODILE: The team on Roto 18

By Major Yanic Larouche

It is 0758 hours on January 29, 2009. With four of my colleagues, I am heading to work at the headquarters of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo — MONUC. Three members of the team — including the tireless Colonel Bailey, our Task Force Commander — have already been at work for nearly an hour. In our white SUV with “UN” on the doors, we take the Avenue de la Justice because the Boulevard du 30 Juin usually becomes a parking lot. A ramble through the streets of Kinshasa can be an adventure in itself, for they are full of remarkable sights: itinerant street vendors of legendary persistence shouting “Canada, Canada” to demand our attention; the driving habits of the Congolese; the unspeakable condition of the roads; the half-wild shegues (street children); or a torrential downpour that transforms the streets into rivers.

Kinshasa, the nation’s capital, has a population estimated at more than 8 million; some sources go as high as 12 million. Whatever the number, there are people everywhere. Here’s a startling fact: the city has absolutely no traffic signals that work, only a few police officers posted at the worst intersections who do their best to maintain some control over the flood of vehicles.

MONUC is undoubtedly the largest of the United Nations’ peace-enforcement and peacekeeping missions, with some 17,000 soldiers from 15 nations, soon to be augmented by at least 20,000 more under a Security Council resolution of November 2008. The mission establishment includes close to 1,000 staff officers and military observers. The Canadian contingent comprises eight staff officers at MONUC Headquarters in Kinshasa, and three brave souls serving in Goma, in the eastern part of the country, the heartland of the struggle that has divided this country for many years. Our team is completed by Warrant Officer Dwight Jackson, who — all by himself — brilliantly performs the functions of a National Support Element.

Today, we head out for the umpteenth time to help our sections deliver the best contribution possible and deal with the many challenges we face each day. In the position of Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Colonel Bryan Bailey is the cornerstone of headquarters operations. Accompanying the Force Commander on all his trips, Col Bailey has made many visits to the eastern part of the country and several major cities in neighbouring countries for high-level meetings. His second-in-command is the many-talented Major Étienne Marin, the go-to guy for every need. As the officer primarily responsible for liaison with the the Democratic Republic of Congo Armed Forces (DRC AF), Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Gros-Jean is never at rest. On a regular basis, he meets with senior representatives of DRC AF operations and reports to the MONUC Headquarters staff, a function essential to the mission in its support role with the Congolese forces. Legal officer LCol Mike Gibson applies his expertise and long years of experience of military justice to the task of reviving and reinforcing the generally ineffective national justice system. Another military lawyer, Lieutenant-Commander Anthony Russell, is engaged in building capacity in the military justice system, while LCdr Alice Damulira provides legal advice to the chain of command. Finally, Major David White and Maj Yanic Larouche (that’s me) are the training officers: Maj White prepares and implements many training programs for the Congolese forces, while I co-ordinate courses for staff officers and military observers who have just arrived in theatre.

Whatever our position, every one of us rapidly understood the importance of our presence to the organization. Well-trained officers fully bilingual in English and French, with a world-class national support organization — in all humility, we can assert that we make an invaluable contribution to MONUC. Operating in a multinational context in which most soldiers come from Asian and African countries, patience is often the key to success in making our points diplomatically. Two very Canadian qualities …

In our free time, several of us help the local people either through humanitarian activities or by simply encouraging artists by buying their works to take home. With the small amount of time and resources at our disposal, we have managed to distribute more than 200 anti-mosquito bed nets and to replace the pump on the well that supplies the village of Kimpoko with safe drinking water. This village, a settlement for DRC AF soldiers’ widows, is located some 40 kilometres east of Kinshasa. The next objective there is the construction of some modest concrete-block houses.

Here we are already at the end of another day of work. On the road home, some of us are sure to daydream about being on safari somewhere in Tanzania with family, or discovering some corner of Europe. Others are most likely thinking about their deployment, whether barely started or already nearing its end. Wherever we are in our imagination, we all end up back at Canada House with a feeling of duty done, proud to be Canadian and keenly aware that, back home, we enjoy a quality of life that we will never find anywhere else.

A final thought wanders through my mind as I cross the threshold of our comfortable home. “I wonder whose turn it is to make dinner …”

Training officer Maj Yanic Larouche is the Adjutant of Task Force Democratic Republic of Congo.