Trevor Jessau briefs Rotary about mission in Afghanistan
Jessau is currently on leave from a tour of Afghanistan. He came home to Canada on Saturday to take part in his daughter's wedding and will be returning to Afghanistan on Friday. Jessau is currently stationed in Shiloh, Man. with the 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, and lives in Brandon with his fiancé.
In Afghanistan Jessau is a troop sergeant major responsible for a group of 44 soldiers. Jessau works on Operation Athena, which is the last rotation of the joint task force in Afghanistan, known as the Mission Transition Task Force (MMTF).
"The MTTF is deployed at Kandahar Air Field, we've been there since July, some have been there since May, (and we're staying) to December. Our mandate is to have all Canadians equipment out of there by Dec. 31 of this year," said Jessau. "Some of our gear will be returned to Canada, some gear including infrastructure will be sold, transferred, or donated to allies or our Afghan partners."
Jessau said to appreciate the armed forces work one has to look at how much things have changed since the mission began.
"Although there remains much work to be done the living standards and the quality of life of Afghans have improved and through our commitment beyond 2011 Canada will continue building on the experience and investments made in Afghanistan to date," said Jessau.
Jessau noted a number of different examples including education, health care, and the economy. When the mission in Afghanistan first began there were only 700,000 students in schools, most of them boys. Today there are more than 7 million students in Afghan schools, including 2 million girls.
In terms of health care, since 2008 Canada has invested over $60 million in eradicating polio in the country. As part of this continuing campaign over 7.2 million children have been immunized.
When it comes to the economy, Afghanistan has grown immeasurably, with its GDP quadrupling since 2001, creating more opportunities for all Afghans.
"Canada has made an important investment in the future of Afghanistan and have given Afghans hope. We are not leaving Afghanistan we are simply changing our focus. We will continue to play a vital role in supporting NATO and the government of Afghanistan by training the Afghan national security forces in the Kabul area and preparing them to assume a greater role over their own security," said Jessau.
Operation Attention is a training mission that will take place in Northern Afghanistan. Forces will be taught about leadership, healthcare, literacy improvement, and core professional skills of all soldiers, with hopes that the Afghans will take over control by 2014.
Overall, Jessau said he has no regrets and that each mission has allowed him to grow as a person.
"All missions have had their challenges for me and I know that each one has helped me to grow as a person and taught me many of life's different lessons. I appreciate the little things, a glass of clean water. We as Canadians we expect that, they don't get it at all. It just gives you a whole new appreciation of what we have here," said Jessau.
For more information on Jessau's mission in Afghanistan you can visit the Op ATHENA - Mission Transition Task Force page on Facebook.
Story courtesy Robin Dudgeon and The Portage daily Graphic