6. The Grind (2007–2010)

This episode includes accounts of grievous injury. Defeated in Operation Medusa, the Taliban shifts to insurgency tactics. Asymmetric warfare is the order of the day as Canada leads the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.  Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are a constant danger and insurgents mingle with the locals. Troops are on constant alert for invisible threats. When the worst happens, combat casualties arrive at the Role 3 combat hospital, where medical teams stabilize them for evacuation out of the country.   The psychological toll of deployment mounts as the war continues. But Canada’s military engagement in Kandahar will soon be coming to an end.  Read more Canadian War Museum: "Counterinsurgency in Kandahar: Canada in Afghanistan, 2007-2010" Oral histories In Their Own Voices Ryan Flavelle –– Transcript Cecilia Ho –– Transcript Hilliard Kahpeaysewat – Transcript / Video Dennis LeBlanc –– Transcript / Video Nicole Mahoney –– Transcript Lee-Anne Quinn –– Transcript / Video Credits The Long War: Canada in Afghanistan is a podcast by the Canadian War Museum.  Narrator: Anna Maria Tremonti  Historian: Andrew Burtch Producers: Lisa Gabriele and Neil Morrison Associate Producer: Hailey Choi Mixing: Cameron McIver Executive Producers: Jenny Ellison and Steve McCullough Text editors: Shannon Moore and Pascal Scallon-Chouinard  The podcast cover image shows private Michael Kubis of The Royal Canadian Regiment standing in a cloud of dust moments after the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) in Panjwaii District, Kandahar, in 2010. Photo: Louie Palu. Many voices heard in The Long War come from the Canadian War Museum’s oral history project, In Their Own Voices: Stories from Canadian Veterans and Their Loved Ones. Both of these projects have been generously funded by donors including the A. Britton Smith Family; the Azrieli Foundation; Arthur B.C. Drache, C.M., K.C., and Judy Young Drache; The Royal Canadian Legion; The Legion National Foundation; Friends of the Canadian War Museum; the Crabtree Foundation; Robert Stollery, in honour of his service in the Second World War; Colonel (Ret’d) Stanley A. Milner, O.C., A.O.E., M.S.M., C.D., LL.D.; and individuals from across Canada.