1st Canadian Parachute Battalion	First Special Service Force	Post War	The Canadian Airborne Regiment

The Canadian Airborne Regiment

The Canadian Airborne Regiment was stood up on 08 April 1968. The new regiment was to be self-contained, except for the required aircraft. Colonel Don H. Rochester stated that “all were to be volunteers and so well trained in their own arm or service that they could devote their time to specialist training.”

The regiment had been given an impressive list of responsibilities: the defence of Canada, a UN stand-by role, peacekeeping, response to natural disasters, special air service missions, coup de main in a general war setting and the responsibility for parachute training.

For 27 years the Canadian Airborne Regiment was a successful, productive regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces. During its deployment to Somalia in the early 1990’s, its presence created an atmosphere of security and control. Its humanitarian efforts were even more successful. It created five committees to restore local government; escorted over 60 convoys that provided aid to 96 villages; built schools and one bridge, trained school teachers, doctors, nurses and police officers, provided clean, healthy drinking water, and repaired roads, buildings, wells, and generators.

Unfortunately, it was during this deployment that the choices and decisions of a few affected the future of many and, sadly, the entire Regiment. Disciplinary problems focused the attention of the entire nation on the Regiment, and after much debate and discussion the Canadian Airborne Regiment was disbanded in 1995.

Today Canada’s parachute capabilities can found within the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), Royal 22ieme Regiment (R22eR) and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR). These highly trained soldiers proudly carry the history of the jumpers that preceded them, ensuring that the airborne spirit survives.