Militia officers suspended over racist war games

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Two officers with the Saskatchewan Dragoons militia unit have been suspended pending a military investigation into a training exercise with allegedly racist overtones at Camp Dundurn in September 1995.

The exercise's scenario, called "Ex Lunatic Fringe," was leaked to the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix last month. In the scenario, several members of the Dragoons were taken "hostage" by 14 people portraying Native people who had set up a barricade. The "hostages," but not the "hostage-takers," knew they were being held in the Canadian Armed Forces' largest explosives and ammunition depot.

In the scenario, the "hostage takers" were led by a 24-year-old glue-sniffing ex-convict named "Frankie Fencepost." Other hostage-takers had names such as "John Grey Eyes," "Ruby Running Shoe" and "Jim Beardy".

In the scenario, the "hostage takers" murder a security guard. "Frankie Fencepost" hoped that this would bring an end to the hostage taking because the body was starting to stink and bloat.

The training exercise was one of several exercises which are held at Camp Dundurn by the Dragoons and other militia units on weekends in the fall, winter and spring, said Col. Robert Chisholm, commander of the militia's Saskatchewan district. The first he knew of the "Ex Lunatic Fringe" exercise was when a Star-Phoenix reporter called him after its outline was faxed to the paper, he added.

The "Ex Lunatic Fringe" exercise came after a summer of armed Native standoffs at Ipperwash, Ont., and Gustafsen Lake, B.C., and after several hostage-taking incidents involving Canadian troops on United Nations peacekeeping duties in Bosnia.

News of this training scenario saddened Ernie Cameron, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations; vice chief. For the past three years, Cameron has worked with the armed forces on the "Bold Eagle" program, which gives Saskatchewan Native youth an opportunity to experience military life, duties and responsibilities.

If the people who designed the training exercise had contacted the FSIN, Cameron said, " we could have helped them get this (exercise) done right." The outline for "Ex Lunatic Fringe" dehumanized First Nations people and made a mockery of the complex issue of land claims, he added.

"The good thing about this incident, if there is one, is that the higher-ups within the militia are concerned about what has happened, Cameron said. "We've always had a good working relationship with the militia senior officers."

The two suspended officers are Maj. Larry Mack, the Dragoons' commanding officer, and Capt. Bill Green, the officer in charge of that exercise.

Col. Chisholm has ordered an inquiry into the "Ex Lunatic Fringe" exercise, to be headed by his deputy, Lt. Col. Randy Brooks. The inquiry's results will decide what disciplinary action, if any, will be taken against the Dragoon's officers or enlisted men, Chisholm said.

"I'm more concerned about getting the job done right than getting the job done quickly," he said.

The inquiry should be completed by the first week of April, though an extension can be granted if the need arises, he added.

Camp Dundurn, 50 km southeast of Saskatoon, is the major training area for Saskatchewan's six militia units. Eight officers and 58 enlisted personnel comprise the Saskatchewan Dragoons.