page_title: Royal 22nd Regiment
section_title: Afghanistan
hierarchical_section_title: Royal 22nd Regiment / Operational history / Afghanistan
caption_attribution_description: English: Quebec city, CANADA Français&#160;: Citadelle de Québec, ville de Québec, CANADA
context_page_description: The Royal 22nd Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Known colloquially in English as the Van Doos or in French as le Vingt-deuxième, the mostly francophone regiment comprises three Regular Force battalions, two Primary Reserve battalions, and a band, making it the largest regiment in the Canadian Army. The headquarters of the regiment is at the Citadelle of Quebec in Quebec City, also the site of the regimental museum, and all three of its regular battalions are stationed at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, 15 kilometres outside of Quebec City. The regiment serves as the "local" infantry regiment for the province of Quebec, where it draws most of its recruits.
context_section_description: The 3rd Battalion, along with an attached mechanized company from the 1st, provided the basis for the Canadian ISAF contingent in Kabul, Afghanistan, from February to August 2004.
  In August 2007 the battle group based on the 3rd Battalion of the Royal 22ᵉ Régiment returned to Afghanistan, replacing the 2nd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment in Kandahar province. This battle group was made up of a company from each of the regiment's three regular battalions. It also included combat support and service support from all the units of 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Valcartier, Quebec. There was a reconnaissance squadron from the 12ᵉ Régiment blindé du Canada, a composite tank squadron from Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (with troops from the other two armoured regiments), a battery from the 5th Regiment light artillery du Canada, an engineer squadron from 5 Combat Engineer Regiment. The battle group, awarded the Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation, was "instrumental in dismantling improvised explosive device networks, re-capturing checkpoints and returning them to Afghan control, enhancing the capacity of Afghan forces and providing guidance on community building and local governance".
  The Royal 22nd Regiment also provided about 150 trainers (in Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs)) for the three Afghan "Kandaks" serving with them. As well it provided a protection company for the PRT in Kandahar.
  The regiment distinguished itself in Kandahar through its determined and successful efforts to establish Afghan police sub-stations, protected by ANA and Canadian presence, in an ever-widening secure zone in the former Taliban home districts of Zhari and Panjawaii. Light infantry elements often fought toe-to-toe with the Taliban, relying heavily on sniper fire and man-portable grenade launchers to gain the edge over the militants. The battle group, and its associated OMLT and PRT elements, had 10 men killed in action during the six-month tour. The many wounded included Captain Simon Mailloux, a Van Doos platoon commander who returned two years later to Kandahar even though his leg had to be amputated.
  A second Van Doos battle group, this time based on the 2nd Battalion, deployed to Kandahar from March to November 2009 and was the vanguard of the much-vaunted "key villages"  program, wherein Canadian soldiers cleared urban areas of Taliban activity during sweeping combat operations and then installed sub-units permanently in those hamlets, guarding the approaches to Kandahar City. The composition of this battle group was nearly identical to previous incarnations, and it was able to rely heavily on the recently deployed CH-146 Griffon and CH-47 Chinook helicopters to perform a wide variety of airmobile operations, as well as traditional mechanized manoeuvres. The Griffon helicopters proved especially capable at spotting Taliban movements and directing accurate artillery fire on them, preventing Taliban groups from effectively re-infiltrating areas previously cleared.
  Over the course of the seven-month Roto 7, ten soldiers from the battle group were killed in action ("Roto 7" denoting that this was the eighth consecutive Canadian battle group deployment in Kandahar since 2006, as rotations are numbered starting at "0"). An additional five Canadian soldiers, all belonging to the battle group's parent organization, Task Force Kandahar, also died during that period. The vast majority of these soldiers were killed by the Taliban's lethal employment of anti-vehicle or anti-personnel improvised explosive devices.
  The final Canadian combat mission began in the fall of 2010 with the 1st Battalion Battle Group (BG) commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Michel-Henri St. Louis. One of the main operations taken on by the BG was Operation Baawar beginning in December 2010 featuring a major road project and a strongpoint construction project led by engineers, tanks, and infantry.
caption: The badge of the Royal 22nd Regiment above the entry to the Citadelle of Quebec
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