SPECIAL FORCES ANTI-TERROR UNIT PLANNED FOR BC: Joint Task Force 2 commandos could be moved to protect West Coast from attack

The Defence Department is looking at creating a special forces unit based on the West Coast to deal with maritime threats, a move that could see Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 commandos spending more time at sea.

Defence officials are releasing few details about the unit, but privately military officers say consideration might be given to using members of JTF2 at Canadian Forces Base Comox on Vancouver Island.

Rear Admiral Roger Girouard, commander of maritime forces in the Pacific, noted in a recent speech there are plans in the works to establish a special forces unit at the base. Such a unit would be made up of navy personnel and specially trained officers, he said in a speech to the chamber of commerce in Victoria.

Rear Admiral Girouard did not release further details, but noted that ferries and cruise ships are particularly vulnerable to a terror attack.

Gerry Pash, a Victoria-based military public affairs official, said the admiral was speaking generally about defence forces in the Pacific region.

"(The admiral) was trying to be as open and transparent as he could be within possibilities, but no decisions have been made," he said. "People are looking at things all the time."

Additional inquiries about the potential for a B.C.-based special forces unit were referred to National Defence headquarters in Ottawa. But headquarters defence spokeswoman Karen Johnstone said the department would not comment on special forces issues.

Currently, JTF2 handles threats on the country's coasts. It is unknown whether the Defence Department is considering a similar unit for the East Coast.

During the federal election campaign, the Conservatives promised to boost the numbers of regular force military personnel in British Columbia. Vancouver will host the Winter Olympics in 2010 and defence planners are already laying the groundwork to protect that event from a terror attack. JTF2 is to be on standby to respond to a crisis at the Games.

The Canadian military is in the process of substantially boosting the size of its special forces, which will number around 2,300 by the end of the decade. That includes not only JTF2 and chemical, nuclear and bio-logical defence specialists, located in Ottawa, but a special forces helicopter squadron and a new special forces regiment at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa.

JTF2 also has a cadre of scuba divers and other specialists, as well as high-speed rigid inflatable boats for its naval missions.

On Thursday, the Senate's defence committee released a report which called on JTF2 to be capable of reaching the location of a terrorist attack or emergency incident anywhere in Canada within nine hours.

JTF2 officers have acknowledged the unit must further develop such skills if it's to deal with a nightmare scenario involving terrorists seizing a ship or outfitting a vessel with a weapon of mass destruction and detonating it on Canadian territory. In such a case, the unit would be used to take control of the vessel from terrorists while another specialized military team would deal with the weapon.

Some security experts have been predicting that with increased vigilance over the world's air transportation system after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., groups such as al-Qaeda would shift their attention to ground and maritime transportation.

PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2006.06.24
BYLINE: David Pugliese