2010, May 18 - Colonel Geoff Parker, The RCR - VBIED in Kabul

[Michael OLeary]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/18/kabul-afghan-blast.html

Canadian colonel dies in Kabul bombing
NATO service members, Afghan civilians also die in attack
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 | 12:33 PM ET

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/18/kabul-afghan-blast.html#ixzz0oIeWg347

A Canadian colonel — the highest-ranking Canadian Forces member to die in Afghanistan — was among 18 people killed Tuesday in a suicide car bombing in Kabul.

The dead Canadian was identified as Col. Geoff Parker, 42, of the Royal Canadian Regiment.

Parker was born and raised in Oakville, Ont. A 1990 graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Parker was married with two young sons, according to his military biography.

U.S. forces spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks earlier confirmed that five of the dead were American.

"I strongly condemn the suicide attack today in Kabul, which has led to the death of Afghan civilians and ISAF soldiers, and injuries to many more Afghans," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which happened early Tuesday in a west Kabul neighbourhood near an army recruitment centre and many government buildings.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying women and children were among the victims.
12 Afghan civilians killed

At least 12 Afghan civilians were killed and 47 people were injured in the attack, which struck at least five NATO vehicles, a bus and a number of private cars.

"It was morning rush hour, the street packed with traffic, the sidewalk crowded with pedestrians," journalist Tom Popyk said, noting that American troops moved into the area after the blast to assist with rescue efforts.

"I saw one person laying on the ground with no head," said Mirza Mohammad, who was on his way to work when the blast happened up the road.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a phone call from an undisclosed location that the bomber was a man from Kabul and his car was packed with 750 kilograms of explosives. The attacker targeted foreign forces, he said.

Tuesday's bombing is the deadliest attack on NATO forces in the capital since September, when a suicide blast killed six Italian soldiers.

The attack comes as NATO readies a major offensive in the southern province of Kandahar, a major Taliban stronghold.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/18/kabul-afghan-blast.html#ixzz0oIeQapVF

[Gord Vaillancourt]

Rest In Peace Sir, may god bless you and your family. Your services will always be remembered.
Pro Patria.
Gord.V.

[Neil Reece]

Deepest condolences to family and friends.

Neil,

[Guy Lagasse]

Served with Col Parker in the third.

RIP Sir, we lost another good soldier, condolesences to the family.

[ranrad]

May you Rest in Peace Col. I thank you and your family for all your service and dedication. My condolences to all family and friends..ranrad

[Ron Gross]

May you rest in peace and God bless. My condolences to the family.

Pro Patria Colonel.

Ron

[Mike Blais]

Rest in peace, Soldier. 

The Niagara Branch will be traveling to the Highway of heroes or CFB Trenton to form a roadside honour guard. Details to be announced, all welcome. 

[Mike Blais]

Oakville-born colonel killed in Kabul bombing

May 18, 2010

Mitch Potter
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Col. Geoff Parker, 42, born and raised in Oakville, Ont., was among at least 18 people killed when a Taliban suicide car bomb targeted a NATO convoy in Kabul, May 18, 2010.
DND HANDOUT

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN – Canada suffered its highest-ranking casualty of the war in Afghanistan in Tuesday’s massive morning suicide attack in Kabul, the military has confirmed.

Col. Geoff Parker, 42, born and raised in Oakville, Ont., was among at least 18 people killed, including five U.S. soldiers, when a Taliban suicide car bomb targeted a NATO convoy in Kabul during the morning rush-hour.

Another 47 others were injured, many of them Afghan civilians on a public bus, as the powerful blast erupted on the Darulaman Road, a major thoroughfare. Rescue teams sifted through nearly 20 wrecked vehicles in search of survivors.

The vast majority of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are deployed in Kandahar, but a small contingent is based in Kabul in a variety of capacities supporting the NATO mission.

A biography published by the military in 2007 said that Parker joined the military in 1990 as an infantry officer after graduating from the University of Western Ontario. He was married with two small children, a son and daughter.

“Geoff was well known, highly respected and considered a best friend by countless army officers and soldiers across Canada,” said Col. Simon Hetherington, Deputy Commander of Task Force Kandahar, who knew Parker personally.

“The post he was preparing to fill was important and of such high-profile he was hand-picked from across the army to do so. A rising star, his potential was undeniable.”

Canadian Forces officials are withholding the specifics of Parker’s role in Afghanistan as they await the notification of kin of the five U.S. soldiers with whom he was working. Hetherington would say only that, “Parker was in Kabul to interact with the various international organizations in order to prepare his team for an upcoming deployment.”

The vast majority of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are deployed in Kandahar Province, but a small, high-ranking contingent is based in Kabul, including five Canadian generals, in a variety of capacities supporting the ISAF mission.

Canada’s International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda, speaking to the Toronto Star during her fourth visit to Kandahar Tuesday, expressed condolences for the lives lost in Kabul.

“It’s always unfortunate when these situations happen. It’s a sacrifice the world is willing to make for the people of Afghanistan.”

Oda said the high civilian toll was an added tragedy. “It’s hard to separate, in this situation, military from civilian.”

Parker was the 145th soldier to die since the Canadian mission began in 2002 and the seventh to die this year. He outranked all other Canadian casualties; prior to today the Canadian Forces had not lost a soldier above the rank of Major in Afghanistan.

Hetherington described Parker as a “career infantry officer and a proud member of The Royal Canadian Regiment who excelled in virtually every position he held in the army.

“As a battalion commander, he led from the front and he led with distinction.”

Tuesday’s bombing also marked a grim milestone for U.S. forces, bringing the toll of American dead in Afghanistan beyond 1,000.

Reading from a prepared statement, Hetherington said Parker “could be incredibly funny – he had a truly infectious laugh and smile.

“To some, he was simply known as ‘Parker’ because that’s what his wife called him. We all knew him to be remarkably smart and the consummate professional officer.

“Equally important,” Hetherington continued, “he was always standing ready to be a friend. He knew when to tell you the hard truth you needed to hear and when to led a sympathetic ear.”

Hetherington added that “Although not likely to admit it, Geoff was a very compassionate man. He cared about people. And you saw that. Finally, despite his obvious talent, Geoff was humble and quite often the brunt of his own jokes. His loss will be felt by many.”

The powerful blast occurred on a major Kabul thoroughfare that runs by the ruins of a one-time royal palace and government ministries. It wrecked nearly 20 vehicles, including five SUVs in the NATO convoy, and scattered debris and body parts across the wide boulevard. The body of woman in a burqa was smashed against the window of the bus.

The attack — the deadliest for NATO troops in the capital since September — comes despite a ramped up effort by Afghan authorities to intercept would-be attackers and better secure a capital city that saw a spate of brazen attacks this winter.

In the last such attack in February, suicide bombers stormed two small downtown hotels and killed 16 people.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a phone call from an undisclosed location that the bomber was a man from Kabul and his car was packed with 1,650 pounds (750 kilograms) of explosives. The target of the attack was the foreign convoy, he said.

U.S. troops and Afghan police held a security cordon around wrecked vehicles at the blast site in the west of the city. Emergency workers zipped the dead into body bags and lifted the injured into ambulances.

“I saw one person laying on the ground with no head,” said Mirza Mohammad, who was on his way to work when the blast happened up the road.

Police officer Wahidullah, who goes by one name, said he saw the body of woman in a burqa smashed up against the window of the bus.

“Everywhere was dead bodies,” Wahidullah said. At least 12 Afghan civilians died and 47 were wounded — most of them in the bus, the Interior Ministry said.

It was the deadliest attack for NATO in the capital since a September suicide bombing that killed six Italian soldiers. The attack comes as NATO readies a major offensive in the southern province of Kandahar, a major Taliban stronghold.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned the attack and said it would not deter NATO’s efforts in Afghanistan.

“NATO remains committed to its mission to protect the Afghan people and to strengthen Afghanistan’s ability to resist terrorism,” Rasmussen said in Brussels.

President Hamid Karzai also condemned the attack.

“There were casualties among the NATO forces as well as among civilians — women, children and schoolchildren,” Karzai told a news conference.

NATO said that five of its vehicles were damaged as well as more than a dozen civilian vehicles. There were no obvious military vehicles among the wreckage, but NATO troops often travel in unmarked SUVs in the capital.

The Feb. 26 attack against two residential hotels in the capital killed six Indians, along with 10 Afghans. Afghan authorities blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the same Pakistan-based Islamist militia that India blames for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 166 people.

[Mike Blais]

Bio - Career soldier was engineer, father

Jill Mahoney

Globe and Mail Update Published on Tuesday, May. 18, 2010 1:34PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, May. 18, 2010 1:48PM EDT

Colonel Geoff Parker, 42, was a career soldier who joined the military while he was in university and climbed the ranks over 21 years.

He enlisted in 1989 through the Regular Officer Training Program while studying engineering at the University of Western Ontario. After graduating in 1990, he completed infantry officer training, according to a Department of National Defence biography.

The following year, Colonel Parker was posted to the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment in London, Ont. He moved with the battalion to Petawawa, Ont., in 1992, serving as a commander of several rifle platoons.

In 1995, he was posted to Belleville, Ont., in support of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment as part of 3rd Battalion, returning to Petawawa the next year. While with the battalion, he served as company second-in-command and completed the Canadian Land Forces command and staff courses, according to his military bio.

Colonel Parker was promoted to major in 2000 and spent the next two years as the officer in command of B Company of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment.

In 2003, he was posted to Toronto to attend the Canadian Forces College. He then returned to Petawawa and served with the 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group. He became a lieutenant-colonel in 2006.

He was posted to Gagetown, N.B. in 2007. According to the biography, which was written in 2007, Colonel Parker was married to M.J. Parker; they had two children, Charlie and Alexandria.

At the time of his death in Afghanistan on Tuesday, Colonel Parker was working at Land Force Central Area Headquarters. He was in Kabul as part of a NATO team preparing for their upcoming mission, DND said in a statement.

[HPeace]

My family met Col. Geoff Parker when we lost Cpl. Thomas Hamilton to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2008 when he was with 2RCR. He went above and beyond helping us and was one of the most genuinely compassionate people that we met at that time. I always said we would never forget him and we won't. I hope his family receive the same treatment and finds the same comfort that he gave our family. May you Rest In Peace Col. Parker

Pro Patria.

[Mike Blais]

Highest-ranking Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

By Tara Brautigam, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Last Updated: May 18, 2010 3:50pm

A Canadian Forces colonel has become the latest casualty of Canada's mission in Afghanistan _ the highest-ranking Canadian soldier killed since the mission began in 2002.Col. Geoff Parker, 42, was a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment,...Click here to watch the video

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A Canadian Forces colonel has become the latest casualty of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, and the highest-ranking soldier to give his life for the mission since it began in 2002.

Military officials at Kandahar city said Col. Geoff Parker, 42, a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment who was born and raised in Oakville, Ont., died when a massive car bomb struck a NATO convoy on the edge of the Afghan capital of Kabul.

A biography on the Department of National Defence website said Parker was commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, RCR, based at CFB Gagetown.

Parker was in Kabul to interact with international organizations there in an effort to prepare his team for their upcoming mission, Col. Simon Hetherington, deputy commander of Task Force Kandahar, told a news conference.

“He was a career infantry officer — a proud member of the Royal Canadian Regiment — who excelled in virtually every position he held in the Army,” Hetherington said.

“As a battalion commander, he led his soldiers from the front and with distinction. The post he preparing to fill was important and of such high profile, he was hand picked from across the Army to do so. A rising star, his potential was undeniable.”

Twelve Afghan civilians also died in the attack, many of them on a public bus in rush-hour traffic.

The attack — the deadliest for NATO troops in the capital since September — comes despite a ramped up effort by Afghan authorities to intercept would-be attackers and better secure a capital city that saw a spate of brazen attacks this winter.

Parker was the seventh Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan this year and the 145th Canadian soldier killed as part of the mission since it began eight years ago. Two civilians — diplomat Glyn Berry and journalist Michelle Lang — have also been killed.

In a statement that seemed more detailed and personal than those that usually accompany news of Canadian casualties, Hetherington described Parker as a fun-loving and admirable man who was well-loved within the ranks of the Canadian military.

“Geoff could be incredibly funny and he had a truly infectious laugh and smile; to some, he was simply known as “Parker,“ because that’s what his wife called him,” Hetherington said.

“We all knew him to be remarkably smart and the consummate professional officer. Equally important, he was always standing by as a friend. He knew when to give you the hard truth to get you going and when to lend a sympathetic ear.”

The powerful blast occurred on a major Kabul thoroughfare that runs by the ruins of a one-time royal palace and government ministries. It wrecked nearly 20 vehicles, including five SUVs in the NATO convoy, and scattered debris and body parts across the wide boulevard. The body of woman in a burka was smashed against the window of the bus.

In the last such attack in February, suicide bombers stormed two small downtown hotels and killed 16 people.

U.S. forces spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks confirmed that five of the deaths were American.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a phone call from an undisclosed location that the bomber was a man from Kabul and his car was packed with 750 kilograms of explosives. The target of the attack was the foreign convoy, he said.

U.S. troops and Afghan police held a security cordon around wrecked vehicles at the blast site in the west of the city. Emergency workers zipped the dead into body bags and lifted the injured into ambulances.

“I saw one person laying on the ground with no head,” said Mirza Mohammad, who was on his way to work when the blast happened up the road.

Police officer Wahidullah, who goes by one name, said he saw the body of woman in a burka smashed up against the window of the bus.

“Everywhere was dead bodies,” Wahidullah said. At least 12 Afghan civilians died and 47 were wounded — most of them in the bus, the Interior Ministry said.

It was the deadliest attack for NATO in the capital since a September suicide bombing that killed six Italian soldiers. The attack comes as NATO readies a major offensive in the southern province of Kandahar, a major Taliban stronghold.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned the attack and said it would not deter NATO’s efforts in Afghanistan.

“NATO remains committed to its mission to protect the Afghan people and to strengthen Afghanistan’s ability to resist terrorism,” Rasmussen said in Brussels.

President Hamid Karzai also condemned the attack.

“There were casualties among the NATO forces as well as among civilians — women, children and schoolchildren,” Karzai told a news conference.

NATO said that five of its vehicles were damaged as well as more than a dozen civilian vehicles. There were no obvious military vehicles among the wreckage, but NATO troops often travel in unmarked SUVs in the capital.

The Feb. 26 attack against two residential hotels in the capital killed six Indians, along with 10 Afghans. Afghan authorities blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the same Pakistan-based Islamist militia that India blames for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 166 people.

— With files from The Associated Press.

[Mike Blais]

  Colonel was to take senior job in Kandahar

1 hour, 44 minutes ago

By The Canadian Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Canadian colonel who died in a suicide car bombing in Kabul on Tuesday was preparing to take over a senior position responsible for development work in Kandahar.

The Canadian Forces says Col. Geoff Parker was set to become the deputy director of stability for Regional Command South headquarters at Kandahar Airfield.

In that job, a civilian position that typically lasts one year, Parker would have been tasked with co-ordinating humanitarian and development activity in support of the ISAF mission in southern Afghanistan.

The 42-year-old native of Oakville, Ont., was killed when a suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy in Afghanistan's capital city, killing 18 people.

The dead included five American troops and 12 Afghan civilians, making it the deadliest attack on NATO in Kabul in eight months.

Parker is the highest-ranking Canadian Forces member to die in the eight-year-old Afghan mission.

[Mike Blais]

  Colonel's death marks new turn in Afghan war

Highest-ranking Canadian to die in Afghanistan

Mary Vallis, Kathryn Blaze Carlson and Drew Halfnight,  National Post; With Files From Canwest News Service

A suicide car bombing in Kabul killed at least 18 people yesterday, including Canadian Colonel Geoff Parker. The nearby palace was destroyed during the '90s. Ahmad Masood, Reuters

Colonel Geoff Parker, the highest-ranking member of the Canadian Forces to die in Afghanistan since the mission's launch in 2002, was promoted to his rank just weeks before a suicide bomber took his life on the outskirts of Kabul yesterday.

At 42, Col. Parker was a career soldier who had risen rapidly through the ranks, all the while a husband and father to two young children.

A bomber driving a minivan with nearly a tonne of explosives swerved into a convoy of three SUVs, killing Col. Parker, along with five U.S. soldiers and at least 12 Afghan civilians. The Taliban have claimed credit for the attack.

"Geoff was well-known, highly respected and a great friend to countless army officers and soldiers across Canada," said Colonel Simon Hetherington, deputy commander of Task Force Kandahar. "To some he was simply known as 'Parker' because that is what his wife called him. We all knew him to be remarkably smart and the consummate professional officer."

But retired Captain George Chisholm of Oakville remembers him as a gangly 13-year-old army cadet, a bright young lad with a sharp sense of humour. Even back then, he was a born leader who watched out for younger cadets. Despite hard slogging on rainy, freezing-cold camping trips, Col. Parker was known as the cadet who returned grinning.

"He was just an outstanding young man," said (Ret.) Capt. Chisholm, who was the commanding officer of the army cadet corps in Oakville when Col. Parker was a teenager. "Cadets gave him a sense of purpose. His mother says it was his saving grace. It put him on the straight and narrow and kept him there."

Col. Parker, from the Royal Canadian Regiment, was the 145th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan. Born and raised in Oakville, where flags were lowered to half-mast yesterday, he attended White Oaks Secondary School.

Col. Parker's family learned of his death yesterday morning, and has decided to mourn privately, said Major Catherine Haylock, public affairs officer for Land Forces Central Area.

"The family wishes to grieve privately and work through this difficult time," Maj. Haylock said. The Parkers are surrounded by a "strong military support family."

Military colleagues called Col. Parker a rising star in the Forces; that certainly seems like the case, said Scott Taylor, war correspondent and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine.

"That's young for a full colonel," he said. "For someone who still has potentially 23 years of service, that puts him easily within range of making general."

Col. Parker joined the military in 1989, before he had finished his Bachelor of Engineering Science at the University of Western Ontario. When he graduated the following year, in his early twenties, he finished his Infantry Officer training and was posted to the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment in London, Ont.

He spent half of his life in the military, bouncing between ever-higher postings in Belleville, Petawawa and CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick, where he served as Commanding Officer of the Second Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment. Back in 2007, he and his wife, M.J., were excited to move east and explore the Maritimes with their children, Charlie, now 11, and Alexandria, now 9, according to his official biography.

Last summer, Col. Parker moved back to Ontario and worked with Land Force Central Area Headquarters in Toronto. (Ret.) Capt. Chisholm said he was happy to be closer to his elderly mother, Edna. Col. Parker's latest assignment, a NATO appointment in an international operational mission for which he was hand-picked, would be "the true test of one's capabilities," Mr. Taylor said. He is believed to be one of the highest-ranking soldiers to die on duty in Afghanistan.

"I don't even know if the Americans have lost a colonel yet. That's pretty high," Mr. Taylor said.

"It would have been a fairly important international role he was assuming. If you perform well there, you're going to be fast-tracked for promotion."

Col. Parker never forgot the cadets. A few years ago, he and (Ret.) Capt. Chisholm reconnected; Col. Parker made the six-hour drive from Petawawa to attend the 1188 Lorne Scots Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps's annual inspection.

"Geoff was the kind of guy who would not stand on a lot of tradition," said Rod Hardman, who was a cadet in Oakville alongside him and watched him grow up.

When Col. Parker returned for last year's cadet inspection, for example, he encouraged the young men to call him Geoff, rather than colonel.

"Geoff was a natural leader. He really understood people well, and you liked to be around him," Mr. Hardman said. "He was the best."

The timing of both the repatriation and the funeral have not yet been determined.

[Mike Blais]

Parker's death stuns N.B. town

Oromocto mayor remembers Col. Geoff Parker as having 'a great future'

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/05/19/nb-oromocto-mourns-parker-553.html#ixzz0oNk4UWXa



The small community of Oromocto, N.B. was shattered by the news on Tuesday that Col. Geoff Parker was killed in a suicide car bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Parker is the highest-ranking Canadian Forces member to be killed in Afghanistan since the mission started in 2002 and until last June, he was the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment stationed at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown.

Oromocto is a tight-knit community of less than 9,000 people about 20 kilometres east of Fredericton. The town was developed around the military base so many residents have strong ties to the military as many of the Canadian Forces members working on the base live in the community.

Oromocto Mayor Fay Tidd said the news has saddened many people in her town because Parker was a well-known figure from his time at CFB Gagetown.

"I suppose we should expect these things, he was working for the UN mission. But the news for Oromocto is shattering because everyone knew this man so well," Tidd said.

"It is unbelievable that these things happen so quickly. It is going to be with great regrets that we try to face everything that is happening."

The Canadian colonel was among 18 people killed Tuesday in a suicide car bombing in Kabul. Five U.S. soldiers and 12 Afghan civilians also died in the blast.
Rising star

Col. Simon Hetherington, the deputy commander of Task Force Kandahar, said that Parker was in Kabul to speak with different international organizations in preparation for an upcoming mission.

"The post he was preparing to fill was important and of such high profile, he was hand-picked from across the army to do so. A rising star. His potential was undeniable," Hetherington said.

    'I'm in shock. You know, what can I say, I'm just afraid for our young people.'— Bob Sloanwhite, Oromocto resident

Parker's potential to rise through the ranks of the Canadian Forces was evident to Oromocto's mayor when she last saw him.

"It's startling news because it doesn't seem very long since I was [at CFB Gagetown] for the change of command and thought, 'What a great future this man had,'" she said.

Parker is the 145th member of the Canadian Forces to die in Afghanistan since 2002.
Town left 'In shock'

Parker's death saddened many people in Oromocto who have friends and family in the military.

Hope Say, whose husband is in the military, said the news is difficult to hear when a Canadian Forces member is killed.

"It's awful, you always feel like [the military is] your big extended family, so when anything happens to anybody, you feel it of course," Say said.

"Because I'm a wife, I'm sure he probably had a wife and kids and it's just sad to hear."

Bob Sloanwhite, whose son is in the military, said he didn't know Parker personally, but his death still hits close to home for him.

"I'm in shock. You know, what can I say, I'm just afraid for our young people," Sloanwhite said.

Parker was born and raised in Oakville, Ont.

A 1990 graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Parker was married with a son and a daughter, according to his military biography.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/05/19/nb-oromocto-mourns-parker-553.html#ixzz0oNjt9tMv

[Tom Innes]

RIP Sir, My deepest condolences to family.

Pro Patria

Tom