Canada Forms Quick-Reaction Special Operations Task Force

Task Force Arrowhead is a new quick-reaction task force that is being created by Canadian Special Operations Forces Command to deploy quickly to future hotspots like Afghanistan.

Canada's special forces command is creating a new quick-reaction task force to be led by a Petawawa-based officer and capable of responding to an international crisis.

Task Force Arrowhead will be set up next year and able to quickly put the first special forces troops on the ground in the case of another Afghanistan-like mission, or to conduct smaller, more limited operations.

"As opposed to jury-rigging something on the day, what you've got is not only a standing command team, but a structure where people train together, have the same planning processes and they're packed and equipped and prepared to go out the door in the right way," said Brig.-Gen. Mike Day, commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, or CANSOFCOM.

CANSOFCOM was created in 2006 to oversee Joint Task Force 2, the special forces and counter-terrorism unit based at Dwyer Hill, the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) at CFB Petawawa, the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron at Petawawa and the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit at CFB Trenton. The response unit deals with weapons of mass destruction.

Arrowhead would be led by the commanding officer of the special operations regiment, Day explained. The regiment recently changed command, with Lt.-Col. John Vass taking over from Lt.-Col. Greg Smith.

The task force would not be outfitted for a long-term mission, but instead would allow the Canadian military to quickly put a "footprint" into a crisis area.

By: Shelldrake