"I'm just bagged ma'am, it's been a long trip,'' Wagman said, declining an interview with the Leader-Post.
While Wagman, a reserve sergeant with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and a reservist with the Royal Regina Rifles, was reticent to talk about his six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, his parents Jim and Lin Wagman shared their delight in having their son back in Canada.
"I am relieved he is coming home on his own two feet. It has been eight months actually, six over there in Afghanistan and two months of training in Edmonton. Eight months. He said it went fast, but it seemed pretty long for us,'' said his father, Jim.
"It was a hot mission they were on.''
The almost daily media reports of insurgent activity in Afghanistan, particularly in and around Kandahar where his son was stationed, Jim said, kept the family on edge.
"If I heard it on the news then I knew we were probably all okay. But when you look out the window and you see two people -- a padre and another one -- walking up your steps that is when you know you've got problems. A lot of people in the military are pretty good -- if there is an accident or a death over there they get the survivors to phone home as soon as they can to let their parents and families know everything is okay,'' he said.
Jim said his wife got one phone call and then the lines went dead. "That is when those four Canadians were killed. So I think when there are casualties all outgoing calls are cancelled. Rob phoned home the next day to say he was OK.''
According to his father, the 31-year-old provincial government employee, has seen four active tours of duty. He went to Croatia when he was 19 as a machine gunner and then he did two tours in Bosnia before his last mission to Afghanistan.
Being a part-time soldier is something that their son has chosen to do, said Lin, adding while they are supportive of their son's decision at the back of their mind there is always a niggling fear for his safety.
"I'm delighted he is home and he is safe. You think about it whether you want to or not. It is always there, but this is what he wants to do,'' she said.
On June 9, Lin said she got a phone call from her son saying he was out of Afghanistan on leave and was heading home.
"When he phones you never know where he is and sometimes he has to keep the conversation short because there are 2,500 other guys in line for the phone. So when he phoned I told him to bring gifts, I have no problem with that,'' Lin said with a laugh.
Lt.-Col. Murray Allan with the Royal Regina Rifles said a total of six reservists from his unit were sent to Afghanistan -- one of whom was there for a month tour to upgrade some of the armour on the vehicles and has since returned.
"Rob is the first one back , mind you he left before the others and completed his tour of duty. We are expecting the other four guys back at the end of August or in early September,'' Allan said.
With a commitment by the federal government to extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan, Allan said, he expects more reservists will volunteer for duty. "We haven't been asked or tasked to provide any more soldiers for any overseas missions coming up in the next little while, but we are sure that will come within the next year or so. So I am sure they will be asking for more reservists to serve in the future.''
PUBLICATION: The Leader-Post (Regina)
DATE: 2006.06.21
BYLINE: Anne Kyle
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