2,400 Canadian Soldiers, Engineers Headed For Gulf

Units have served with British SAS in counterinsurgency ops

Placed on 72-hour standby, a Canadian combat engineering
unit and a complement of 2,400 soldiers are headed for the
Gulf Coast.

Career officers in the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group
sometimes serve up to a 3-year secondment in U.S. Military
units. The Canadian Engineer Regiment is often associated
with British SAS and has taken a role in Afghanistan and
Bosnia in counterinsurgency operations.

Signed on February 14, both Canadian and U.S. governments
kept silent on the deal, which allows troops to cross the
border to serve in their opposite number's armed forces in
case of an emergency.

Canadian Generals Gene Renuart and Lt. Gen. Marc Dumais, the
head of the Canada Command, signed off on the agreement.