Oh bugger, I heard Kandahar is one of the more nasty zones...Did you ever work with the Germans by any chance? My dad used to be in the West German army and I'm a displaced German (good old USA...) so I like keeping tabs on what they're up to. I also actually have a neighbor in the Marines who was deployed to Afghanistan come to think of it.
I have done some presence patrols around the german area of operations with them. and i can tell you theyre realy good at what they do, excellent armored crew mostly. they really know how to operate their tanks, and the Leopard 2A6s? oh my god theyre sexy. the CF just recently got some too! anyhow, you would want to mess with a german leopard thats for sure 
apart from that, the elements deployed over there i believe are elements of the 13th mechanised infantry div. (based in Leipzig if i am correct) mixed with elements of the 10th armored division. they are also currently testing new equipment for live battle situations? such as the Boxer, Puma, two new helicopters (one of wich im pretty sure is their Eurocopters).
weve had fun at times with them tho. 
they surely are. other than in many other countries, joining the military ain't really regarded as a "service to the community" or a "gift to your country", there is no patriotism in joining the army, as it is in the US and I'm sure also in Canada (isn't it?). Also, if I'm not mistaken, the Operation in Afghanistan is a purely voluntary mission, so, the ones that go to Afghanistan really "want to" go there and want to be a soldier, mostly not because of patriotism or bcs they want to give something back, but because they see it as the best job, at least the best job they can get.
On the other hand, contrary to Austria, where the situation is pretty much the same, Germany has something like military history and military tradition, which Austria doesn't (I mean...seriously...we won ONE of 12 battles on Mt. Isonzo in WW1...and we still say we won...). So, the people volunteering to go to Afghanistan are convinced they belong there, the "German Disciplin" is famous and their equipment.... German tanks were always superior.... German cars were always top of the time....so....well
Canada got Kandahar? sounds pretty..... bad. I mean... German troupes got a pretty "chill-y"assignment in comparison, at least until one or two years ago...
anyway, good to have you back on save terrain!
