AHC Punishment not disbandment of the Canadian Airborne Regiment

[Ming777]

Aside from disbanding the CAR, what punitive measures could have been used to punish the Canadian Airborne after the Somalia Affair?

-Stripping them of their regimental colours?
-ordering them to wear CF Rifle Green Berets with generic badge instead of maroon berets and regimental badge.
-placed as absolute last in order of precedence, behind the reservists and Cadet Instructor Cadre
-regimental battle honours are to be locked up until further notice?
-prohibited from wearing ceremonial dress uniforms?

 

[Carl Schwamberger]

I cant see punishments like those altering the culture or social norms in the regiment that were found objectionable.

From the 1950s through the 1970s the USMC self cured itself of some similar dysfunctional & objectionable cultural traits or social norms. That requred considerable outside pressure, the elimination of a number of individual offenders from the USMC, and considerable portion of the Marines who became convinced those actions were not to be continued. Could the members of the Parachute Regiment have altered their behavior themselves, quickly enough to satisfy outsiders?

 

[TxCoatl1970]

After reading the wiki, there's a LOT of problems with the CAR when it went to Somalia.

What used to be an elite formation had a revolving door of CO's, being repeatedly reorganized and while a proud tradition, not a lot of esprit de corps in the battalion.

It didn't help that while the Canadians had a long peacekeeping tradition, the CAR wasn't a civil affairs or MP unit. They were gung-ho assault troops asked to peacekeep in a war zone with ROE that were all over the place.
They also went from patrolling a fairly quiet AO (Bosaso) four days after hitting dirt in Somalia to Belet Huen which was apparently a free-fire zone.

One of their officers, Capt Michel Rainville, seemed to set a belligerent tone with locals, trying to deter thieves. Two Somalis (Ahmed Arush and Abdi Hunde Bei Sabrie) were shot and Arush killed under suspicious circumstances on 4 MArch 1993

FWIW, an RCAF flight surgeon, Maj Barry Armstrong, is the whistle-blower that the Canadian MoD tried very hard to discredit to cover up the incident.

The Somali Incident that brought a parliamentary inquiry was when the several CAR troopers captured and tortured Shidan Arone to death on 16 March 1993.

NCOs and grunts alike participated in torturing the guy, took photos at trophies, and generally treated it as a fraternity prank. 15-80 troops heard the abuse going on but did nothing

Later during the court-martials it came up that three of the four troops involved with the Arone torture had been injected with Lariam, AKA Malfoquine to combat malaria, and was wll known to have psychoactive effects- paranoia, lack of judgment, etc.

I'm no doctor and have zero experience with melfoquine BUT IMO that wasn't drugs,
YMMDV

The Somalian Incident has eerie parallels to the Abu Ghraib abuses but instead of a bunch of ill-trained reservists thrust into running a military prison with several bosses (Army MP's, Military intelligence spooks, CIA, CPA, just to name a few of the folks breezing through and interrogating folks) and an official culture from VP Cheney to SecDef Rumsfeld on down green-lighting torture as happened in Abu Ghraib.

The CAR had a toxic culture of "boys will be boys" enabled by senior officers.

Apparently the shitstorm caused a lot of senior brass and MoD heads to roll over it.

As Carl said, you needed to have a change in people and style of leadership.