Operation GLADIUS

Operation GLADIUS is Canada’s continuing participation in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which was established in 1973 on the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War. UNDOF has a mandate to supervise implementation of the agreement and maintain the cease-fire.

Canada’s contribution to UNDOF, which began in 1973 as Operation DANACA, originally comprised more than 200 personnel, including teams of United Nations Military Observers to supervise the cease-fire and establish a buffer zone between the two countries, and a support unit that provided the entire mission with logistics support. By March 2006, when Op DANACA closed, some 12,000 soldiers, sailors and air personnel had served on the Golan Heights.

Under Op GLADIUS, Canada contributes two senior officers to this mission: one as Military Assistant to the U.N. Commander and the other as Senior Staff Officer at UNDOF Headquarters.