Free No Lack of Courage by Colonel Bernd Horn Page A

others.
    The cost was high. On that terrible Labour Day weekend in 2006, one of the engaged sub-units, Charles Company of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group, lost their company commander, a company sergeant-major, one out of three platoon commanders, all three platoon warrant officers (one wounded, two killed), five of nine section commanders, and all of their sections’ second-in-command master-corporals. In total, they suffered five killed and more than 40 wounded in a 48-hour period. But it is important to note that those who survived stepped up. A young sergeant promoted to that rank less than a year earlier became the company sergeant-major. Young master-corporals became platoon commanders and platoon second-in-commands. Equally remarkable, young soldiers became section commanders and they carried on the operation and the fight against the Taliban that gave NATO such an incredible boost. After all, political and military decision makers in Afghanistan and NATO all publicly stated that Operation Medusa, in essence NATO’s first actual battle, was key to the very survival of Afghanistan, if not the NATO alliance itself.
    And our troops were successful. Fighting a savage enemy in some of the harshest conditions and terrain any Canadian soldier has ever had to endure, they fought in close-quarter combat for days on end and overcame a determined and cunning enemy. In the end, Operation Medusa is a true Canadian epic.
No Lack of Courage
is an amazing account of those tragic yet inspiring days, when Canadians demonstrated the justly earned reputation as fierce warriors. Told in the words of those who were actually there, this book vividly captures an important piece of Canadian military history and should be read by everyone.
    General (Retired) R.J. Hillier

I NTRODUCTION
    T HE OPPRESSIVE HEAT and relative calm of the Afghan afternoon betrayed the overpowering undercurrent of tension permeating the area surrounding the non-descript, white schoolhouse complex nestled in the Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province. Hidden away in bunkers and fortified buildings was a group of fanatical Taliban fighters, tightening up the slack on their triggers as they nervously eyed the approaching Canadian vehicles. Simultaneously, the soldiers from “C” Company (Coy), 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group (1 RCR BG), rolled their vehicles slowly toward the suspected enemy position. In a split second the hot, relatively quiet countryside erupted in a fusillade of noise, explosions, and death. The fight was on.
    That event, which became known as Operation Medusa, was a major offensive conducted by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with assistance from the Afghan National Army (ANA), from 1–17 September 2006. Their objective was to establish government control over an area of Kandahar Province centered on the district of Panjwayi, approximately 30 kilometres from Kandahar City, the birthplace and heartland of the Taliban. The region was undeniably an enemy stronghold. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) intent, under whose auspices ISAF was operating, was to destroy or capture the insurgents who had dug-in to fight. Initially the campaign design followed a phased approach of engaging the local leaders diplomatically, to attempt to minimize the level of death and destruction in the immediate area, and thento apply superior and precise combat power as required. By 2 September 2006 it was apparent that combat was inevitable. The brunt of that combat fell to the Canadians.
    The road to Operation Medusa was a long one. It began almost five years before on the morning of 11 September 2001 (9/11). At the time, no one could have predicted that the world was about to change. As nations were beginning to come to grips with the instability of the post-Cold War era, a global upsurge in terrorist attacks failed to cause a spike in concern among Western nations.