Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan has closed. On July 7, the nation's contingent of almost 3,000 troops officially halted their fighting on the front lines after a phasing out process of several months.
One of those soldiers was Lt. Col. Jon Burbee, part of the international contingent securing and operating Kandahar Airfield. As Burbee helped wrap up Canada's mission abroad, he was also the final stages of his own 23-year career as a soldier, which began right out of Duchess Park secondary school in Prince George.
With his NATO duties to attend to, there was little time for sentimentality while in Afghanistan, said Burbee, but when individual bases were handed over to other NATO countries, during Canada Day celebrations with Rick Mercer, or when the Prime Minister visited in the final days, it was impossible to miss the gravity of the moment.
"Canada has done a lot more than our fair share, amongst our NATO partners," he said of the nine-year operation that followed the international invasion of Afghanistan started on Oct. 7, 2001.
Canada was not part of the initial military raid, that was done by the United States, the United Kingdom and a coalition of Afghan forces opposed to the terrorist-supportive Taliban government of the time.
Canada was part of a NATO-led coalition of 48 countries taking military action in support of the initial invasion.
Since joining, Canada took on many key combat roles in some of the hottest theatres of battle. Canadian commanders were often put in leadership roles over the combined forces. As a result, we suffered a disproportionate number of casualties for our population (although Denmark tops that category with 41 dead) or our percentage of troops. Canada suffered 157 soldier deaths plus two civilians on Afghanistan's soil before the close of the combat mission.
"We are still going to have a fair number of troops there helping Afghanis take control of their country by training their security forces," said Burbee. "We have a mentorship and training role now to make sure there is an end plan for the Afghan people to look after their own national security. It is a very very important part of the world [he noted the four nuclear powers plus one nuclear aspirant in the area]. At some point the Afghanis themselves have to take responsibility for their part of the world. We are leading the pack in the next stage, which is building them up to that level."
He said personal opinions within the military were as varied as the general public's about if Canada should have maintained combat positions longer. He said, as someone who witnessed 20 ramp ceremonies at the NATO airfield but only two pertaining to fallen Canadians, all anyone there wants is for the mission to be meaningful when the eyes of time look back on the ousting of the Taliban.
What Burbee knows for certain is there is now an outspoken pride on the streets of Canada about the men and women in our nation's uniform. That was not the case when he first joined.
"It was a low-point [in Canada's military esteem]," he said. "The reasons I joined weren't altruistic, it was simply a means to get my university paid for, but it kept being interesting. It grew to a lot more for me and I'm glad. Because of Afghanistan, the role of the Canadian service member has been enhanced in the eyes of the common Canadian, I think.
"The mission did change Canada," he said. "About how Canadians feel about their military, about how soldiers think about themselves, and we all got to see that we compare very well with the countries at the top echelons of the global military. We are tactically competent and technically proficient; very, very well-led; motivated; fit; but also witty and aware of the world which you can't say about every country's soldiers."
His days as a soldier are now over, but not his contact with the military. This week he hung up his camouflage uniform and put on public service clothes at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt as their Manager of Real Estate Services.
He stressed that "I'm not leaving the Canadian Forces to get away from anything" but had reached a point that a civilian role made the most sense for him and his family. He was proud to continue serving Canada in a different yet still familiar capacity.
THE PRINCE GEORGE CONNECTION
"I'm always proud of where I'm from. A lot of people were wearing Prince George pins around Kandahar, which I gave them. Our old family friend Don Bassermann sent them over to me," he said. "There are a lot of things that seem ordinary when you live in Prince George but are really impressive to other people - tubing down the river, being 15 minutes from total wilderness. It's a great place to grow up. And I think everybody in Afghanistan, and everybody in the Canadian military now knows, whether they wanted to or not, that Prince George is hosting the Canada Winter Games in 2015."
- Son of Bud and Betty Burbee (two brothers).
- Married to Connie (two daughters Hannah and Sophia).
- Graduated from Duchess Park Secondary School, class of '88.
- 1992 graduate of Royal Rhodes Military College in Victoria (Bachelors of Science Degree in Physics and Oceanography) and Royal Military College in Kingston (Masters of Defense Studies).
- Began military career as an air navigator, transferring to Military Engineer Branch in 1993.
- Extensive duties/training in Europe, the United States, the far north, and six Canadian Forces Bases spanning all regions of Canada.
- Career highlights: command duties during Manitoba floods of 1997; NORAD operations in Florida; Chief Engineer during Operation Podium (2010 Winter Olympics security); Squadron Second-in-Command of the general engineer support unit during the initial Canadian Forces deployment into Kosovo in 1999; in 2009 named an Honourary Aide de Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of B.C.; Base Engineer in the multi-national headquarters supporting Kandahar Airfield in 2011.
- Achieved promotions in 1995, 1996, 2000, and 2005.
- Member of the national Canadian Forces basketball team 1993-97 and the national Canadian Forces volleyball team in 2005.
- At his Kandahar Airfield posting, lost a bet on the Canucks-Bruins Stanley Cup finals outcome with some NATO comrades from Slovakia. Had to wear a Slovakia jersey in honour of Bruins captain Zdeno Chara hoisting the cup.
"Of course I had to tell them it took Prince George to make him a good hockey player," he said.
