How Canada Built and Then Quietly Disbanded Its Own Airborne Regiment

In 1968, Canada built an airborne regiment to drop into the Arctic and hold the line anywhere on earth within hours. Twenty seven years later, the country wiped it off the books completely. This is the full story of how the Canadian Airborne Regiment rose to glory at Cyprus in 1974, and how it fell apart in the dust of Somalia in 1993. We walk through it all. The Cold War fear that created the unit. The maroon beret and the brotherhood behind it. The killing of Shidane Arone at Belet Huen. The hazing tapes that horrified the nation. And the disbandment in March 1995 that punished the whole regiment for the crimes of a few, while the inquiry that might have reached the top was quietly shut down. So here is the question we keep coming back to. Was disbanding the Canadian Airborne Regiment real justice, or just the easiest way for a government to make a painful problem disappear? Let me know what you think below. If Canadian military history matters to you, subscribe. These are the stories that get buried unless we keep telling them. SOURCES: Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces to Somalia (Létourneau Commission) Veterans Affairs Canada Legion Magazine CBC News Archives