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Eichel, Scott: my armed forces recollections (October 28, 2008)

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ABSTRACT: Scott Eichel Eichel_S_0571_01.mp3 6:10min Saddam had to be removed from Kuwait - overall mission Had to support the logistics of the operation 5 sea kings - attached to navy - in place properly equipped The fighter organization started off being combat air support for the naval task organization in the upper part of the gulf - initially confined to protecting the ships and ground assets that may have come under attack - did eventually move to sweep and escort mission - made sure they were equipped for what they were doing Fighters moving exclusively from combat to sweep and escort -led inevitably to air to ground -limited air to ground firing 9:50min "Initially, T couldn't formulate in my head what the outcome of this would be, but I was anxious." 13:50min From NDHQ it appeared to be running smoothly Seemed to be quite satisfactory in the air forces "The cooperation and coordination at the lower operational levels ... to the point that there was all kinds of equipment being swapped around and as far as I know, there was no paper trail. no invoices." It was excellent - mostly pretty good Communication was good 21 :00min Were as prepared as we could have been Everyone was caught off guard "We were not as prepared than we could have been, but no less than we ought to have been ... It took almost no time to reconfigure." It evolved to the point when they were fairly well equipped 23:30min "Given the focus of the Canadian public on its concerns we were under-funded for the job we were supposed to be doing, let alone going to the Middle East. We probably could have used more money quicker, but in the end it got done and the money was found." The military is always under-funded, but we made do There was equipment being shuffled/traded amongst troops 27: 10min We were under fire, not to an extent as the British or the Americans Our mission was tailored to the Canadian troops strengths Not until after January 16 30:15min Breathing/respiratory problems Not aware of the ptsd, although there have been reports Stress, medications, environment 32:15min The navy would have applied some lessons The army - would speculate that some of the lessons learned would have been taken from Iraq 34:IOmin The first duty of a government is the physical security of its people - the second is the economic security No strategic importance for us to invade in Rwanda, but there was for the Persian Gulf The UN is predicated on a collection of people getting together trying to do the right thing, but it end up being a group of competing interests 41 :45min -'For anybody who has been in the business, they will tell you that you can't be an effective peacekeeper unless you have got the kind of training that enables you to go to war:'

Interviewer: Disher, Courtney

Interviewee: Eichel, Scott

Rank: Major General.

An interview/narrative of Major General Scott Eichel's experiences during the Gulf War. Interview took place on October 28, 2008.

In Collection:
Contributor Subject Language Keyword Date created Relation
  • Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews.
Resource type Rights statement Extent
  • 1 sound recording (MP3)
Geographic Coverage Coordinates
  • 33.13906, 35.85869
  • 60.10867, -113.64258
Additional physical characteristics
  • Original sound recording (MP3) also available.
Physical Repository Collection
  • Canadian Military Oral History Collection
Provider Genre Archival item identifier
  • ES_571
Fonds title Fonds identifier Is referenced by Date digitized
  • October 6, 2009
Technical note
  • Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 24 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2009. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
Rights
  • This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
DOI
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file details Eichel_S_0571_01.mp3