Canadian army builds mosque look-alike to train their troops on terrorism

[Knightslayer]

A few friends were out hunting and came across a training facility that had what appeared to be a mosque built on the land with the crescent on top and everything.

They got in touch with an army commander and were told it is to train troops on terrorism. They were heavily offended by the notion that a mosque was being associated with terrorism.

Does seem kind of an ignorant thing to do by the Canadian Army.

Thoughts?

[chubeyr1]

If it is the only place they are trained yes it would be ignorant.

Threats are out there from all different sources.


I am sure we also have a tech crew working on cyber attacks.

I have no issues with a mosque being a training excercise. Or a church, or a mall.

I think all three have been targets of terrorists. Why not train for that? I am sure they do!

You are aware a swat team attacking a mosque does not always mean the mosque is filled with terrorists right? Could be one nut job taking the people hostage in a mosque.

They should train for that.

Sorry I am not offended by this at all.

If you told me that is all they were trained to do I might be offended.

This sounds like cherry picking one part of training and making it sound racist.

I am not calling you a racist. Yet I am pretty sure if you researched a little more this is not the only exercise they do.

Yet to some extent securing the scene would be the same as a mall or church as well.

For me make it a catholic church instead of a mosque. I could care less. I dont care what symbol the place of worship shows.

Train the troops to save as many people as they can.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

A few friends were out hunting and came across a training facility that had what appeared to be a mosque built on the land with the crescent on top and everything.

They got in touch with an army commander and were told it is to train troops on terrorism. They were heavily offended by the notion that a mosque was being associated with terrorism.

Does seem kind of an ignorant thing to do by the Canadian Army.

Thoughts?

This seems right on track for a thread started by you.....

I don't think there's many churches out 8n the middle off where our troops usually are deployed so it makes a bit of sense...

I also don't believe you that any of your hunter friends are actually outraged by this. I would say absolutely no people I know that actively hunt are in a pc group 9n this issue. I know a large amount of people between Elbow Saskatchewan to errington B.C that hunt. I'd be absolutely shocked if any people that are drawn to outrage that hunt. Not exactly a strong demographic that draws sympathy in this context.

[_Q_]

Who are the candians and why are they allowed to have an army?

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

A few friends were out hunting and came across a training facility that had what appeared to be a mosque built on the land with the crescent on top and everything.

They got in touch with an army commander and were told it is to train troops on terrorism. They were heavily offended by the notion that a mosque was being associated with terrorism.

Does seem kind of an ignorant thing to do by the Canadian Army.

Thoughts?

So were your friends hunting on a army base or did the army build an elaborate training center in the middle of a public hunting area?

Admittedly I know little about where you're allowed to hunt nor the standard operating procedures of the military for where they build training centres but as a layman it would appear that both options would appear to be unlikely.

On the surface it appears that your tale may be a little tall but it is 2021 so I'm sure your friends on seeing such a oddity snapped some photos of this building to verify their story.

[Knightslayer]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

This seems right on track for a thread started by you.....

What does this mean? I rarely start any threads.

I don't think there's many churches out 8n the middle off where our troops usually are deployed so it makes a bit of sense...

I also don't believe you that any of your hunter friends are actually outraged by this. I would say absolutely no people I know that actively hunt are in a pc group 9n this issue. I know a large amount of people between Elbow Saskatchewan to errington B.C that hunt. I'd be absolutely shocked if any people that are drawn to outrage that hunt. Not exactly a strong demographic that draws sympathy in this context.

If the hunters are Muslim then yeah they'd be bothered.

Would you be ok with police training against child molestors and predators in a church?

There is a video on Facebook so will try and upload it here later on today.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

A few friends were out hunting and came across a training facility that had what appeared to be a mosque built on the land with the crescent on top and everything.

They got in touch with an army commander and were told it is to train troops on terrorism. They were heavily offended by the notion that a mosque was being associated with terrorism.

Does seem kind of an ignorant thing to do by the Canadian Army.

Thoughts?

Where did this happen?

Were they on private land, Crown land, or Base land?

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

There is a video on Facebook so will try and upload it here later on today.

yes please

[Knightslayer]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Where did this happen?

Were they on private land, Crown land, or Base land?




yes please

It's an army training base so I am going to assume it isn't private land.

[edslunch]

Having a crescent on top seems an unnecessary detail

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Dan02

So were your friends hunting on a army base or did the army build an elaborate training center in the middle of a public hunting area?

Admittedly I know little about where you're allowed to hunt nor the standard operating procedures of the military for where they build training centres but as a layman it would appear that both options would appear to be unlikely.

On the surface it appears that your tale may be a little tall but it is 2021 so I'm sure your friends on seeing such a oddity snapped some photos of this building to verify their story.

I dont know the veracity of this story, but you can definitely access some military bases for recreational purposes. I've rafted (with permission) on CFB Suffield. You have to go when they aren't practicing with the artillery, but iirc the permission wasn't hard to get as long as you checked their calendar.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

It's an army training base so I am going to assume it isn't private land.

Nothing to see here move along.

If this happened in Alberta it was either on CFB Wainwright or CFB Suffield. I know you can hunt in Suffield (more like a cull) but I'm not sure you can hunt in Wainwright.

I would suspect the "Mosque" wasn't sat atop a hill like the Alamo, rather it would be part of a large Training Village type facility. Why a "Mosque"? Well the CAF had been fighting a war in a Muslim country and having that landmark in their training area only makes sense, much like I reckon they would also have had a "Afghan National Police station" an "Afghan local political office building" and any other number of common areas that show up in small villages & towns in your AO.

Originally Posted by edslunch

Having a crescent on top seems an unnecessary detail

Realistic training, including the use of realistic landmarks saves lives. This doesn't mean that the CAF (or ####eaters if in Suffield) were targeting the "Mosque" rather it was a point of reference much like other points in town.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...wright.html?rf

When the soldiers and the actors take their places this fall at the fake Afghan villages in Wainwright, Alta., it will mark the end of an era.

For five years, hundreds of actors and thousands of military personnel have gone through the Wainwright Training Area on sets constructed to resemble villages and life in Afghanistan.

“It’s extremely important to be exposed to the environment before you go into the actual situation,” said Maj. John Page at CFB Wainwright, about 200 km east of Edmonton. “It’s a good chance to practise as a team. They’re putting it all together in one place at one time.”

With the Conservative government sticking to its plans to withdraw active Canadian military engagement by 2011, the training session that begins in September to November at Wainwright will be the last exercise conducted.

About 2,000 military and 500 support workers will participate in the training and interact with the 300 actors who have been hired to play Afghan villagers or translators and the wounded.

In the 1990s, said Maj. Greg Poehlmann, public affairs officer with National Defence based in Kingston, Ont., the military recognized it needed to better reproduce the environment where the soldiers were deployed.

The training exercise and sets are designed to realistically portray everything about life on the base and in villages. Soldiers are equipped with devices that will provide feedback to medical staff, who are also in training to handle injuries found in a real situation.

“It’s a snapshot of everything, from military to transport, signals, communications. They are in vehicles that if all the lights start flashing, they know that vehicle’s been taken out by fire. Streets are narrow so they have to get out and walk through the village,” Poehlmann said Wednesday.

In the past, the villages have been outfitted to resemble those in Bosnia and Serbia. The Afghan villages will remain for now.

I look forward to seeing the video.

[Knightslayer]

How does having a crescent on top save lives? What if it was a star? What difference would it make?

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Pictures, or it never happened.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

How does having a crescent on top save lives? What if it was a star? What difference would it make?

The Crescent denotes it as a "Mosque".

Trust me on this, the more realistic the training, the great the quality of training, the more lives are saved.

If it was a star it could be well a Commie building or a "Synagogue".

Look I get you need outrage here, but there isn't any.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

How does having a crescent on top save lives? What if it was a star? What difference would it make?

I am embarrassed for you.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Pictures, or it never happened.

Oh the horror!!!!!!!!!

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

What does this mean? I rarely start any threads.


If the hunters are Muslim then yeah they'd be bothered.

Would you be ok with police training against child molestors and predators in a church?

There is a video on Facebook so will try and upload it here later on today.

If they built a replica and it wasn’t an actual church?

Yeah. It might be worthwhile knowing what elements of the building are particularly sacred.

There’s also a lot of evidence that police SHOULD be training to prevent child molestation that occurs within churches.

The fact that it’s a mosque might even be more worth doing, since I’m guessing most Canadian forces infantry aren’t Muslim, and may have less of an idea of what’s important and what isn’t.

So if you didn’t want them to desecrate it in the course of a raid that they may well need to carry out, it might be good for them to know what they’re dealing with.

I dunno. It’s the army. They have a tough job. They spent 15 years in Afghanistan - they weren’t fighting Jews.

[Krovikan]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

A few friends were out hunting and came across a training facility that had what appeared to be a mosque built on the land with the crescent on top and everything.

They got in touch with an army commander and were told it is to train troops on terrorism. They were heavily offended by the notion that a mosque was being associated with terrorism.

Does seem kind of an ignorant thing to do by the Canadian Army.

Thoughts?

I assume you've never watched a historical military documentary?

I have to make this assumption because if you had, you will constantly hear, the military built a replica of X, the military built an entire small city, the military built etc.

Based on the amount of time Canada and NATO spent in Afghanistan, I would expect them (all of NATO since we share training facilities) to have replica Mosques across the country at most training bases. Along with Afgan-style towns, cities, etc. They also probably have replica Russian Orthodox churches, North Korean detention sells, they even probably have a replica South Korean city since we may have to fight in South Korea if the North invades.

Would I expect them to have Christian churches? Maybe, the Canadian Military isn't responsible for domestic terrorism and this is (at least to me) mostly a domestic problem. And that is a key thing, having this Mosque doesn't mean it's even the biggest threat of terrorism. I was watching a show on the JTF in the US, and they clearly stated that domestic right-wing terrorism is their biggest threat. But up here and in Canada, the military would only assist in that, that would be an RCMP and CSE responsibility.

[CliffFletcher]

About 2,000 military and 500 support workers will participate in the training and interact with the 300 actors who have been hired to play Afghan villagers or translators and the wounded.

A buddy of mine was one of the actors. Played a driver. Had a long beard, so he fit the role. Said it was a very intense, full-on exercise.

[Knightslayer]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

The Crescent denotes it as a "Mosque".

Trust me on this, the more realistic the training, the great the quality of training, the more lives are saved.

If it was a star it could be well a Commie building or a "Synagogue".

Look I get you need outrage here, but there isn't any.

Not outraged at all. Was curious on people's thoughts.