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Canadian military dumps plans to use donkeys in resupply efforts
September, 2, 2009 - 02:20 pm Graveland, Bill - (THE CANADIAN PRESS) KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - They may be the cream of the crop when it comes to strength, stubbornness and agility, but it turns out that in Afghanistan, the donkey makes a lousy soldier.
A trial project to use the humble beast of burden to help resupply Canadian soldiers out in the field came to an abrupt halt this summer.
The idea was to help ease the load for Canadian troops contending with the often difficult Afghan terrain. There are mountains, irrigation canals, grape fields, mud-walled compounds and wadis - dry riverbeds that carry water during heavy rains.
Roadways can be narrow and the choice of thoroughfares limited, making vehicles carrying Canadian and Afghan soldiers particularly susceptible to deadly improvised explosive devices, the weapon of choice for Taliban insurgents.
However, the practical considerations involved with using donkeys made the idea less effective in practice than it appeared it would be in theory, said Capt. Kirk Watson, whose unit - G-4 Ops, based at Kandahar Airfield - is in charge of logistics.
"We got to a point where we fielded a few donkeys on patrols and unfortunately we lost a couple - one actually drowned and another actually deserted and ran off," Watson explained.
"After that we took a significant amount of time and reviewed the particular project and moved forward without it."
With heat during the summer months surpassing 50 C, it is next to impossible for a soldier in full battle gear to carry enough water and ammunition to survive. The plan was to purchase up to 30 specially trained donkeys and turn them over to a unit of Afghan soldiers and their Canadian mentors.
The hope was the donkey, which can survive with little water and carry more than 350 pounds of gear - nearly 160 kilograms worth - would be able to help.
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Even though the donkey brigade idea initially elicted a few snide remarks and some laughter, Watson called it a shame it didn't work out.
"You always want to have something in your back pocket, but it just happened donkeys weren't as easy to hold in your back pocket as a Chinook or a truck," he chuckled.
"Unfortunately, they were a little more temperamental."