Military / 430 Squadron GETTING TACTICAL IRAQ IN Valcartier’s 430 Squadron and its complement of CH-146 Griffon helicopters are maintaining critical supply lines by delivering special forces, equipment and ammunition to forward tactical infrastructure locations in support of Kurdish allies. By Chris Thatcher Photos by Combat Camera ince October 2016, a coali- tion of Canadian and inter- national special operations forces (SOF) have been supporting Iraqi and Kurdish fighters as they struggle to break the siege of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [also known by its Arabic language acronym, “Daesh”] since June 2014. Under a program known as “train, S 68 SKIES Magazine | March/April 2017 advise and assist,” Canadian SOF have been helping the Kurdish Peshmerga develop combat skills to counter a foe that has terrorized their country for the past four years. Critical to that support has been the demanding work of a Canadian tactical aviation detachment, ferrying special forces, equipment and ammunition between a base camp near Erbil, Iraq, and forward locations, known as “tacti-