To be very clear, despite impressions portrayed by the media to the contrary, it would be very difficult to accept that a Canadian Reserve soldier such Cpl. Boneca was forced or tricked or otherwise pressured in to volunteering for any overseas assignment, particularly into a theatre of operations such as Afghanistan. As a Reservist, in order to be deployed to Afghanistan, Cpl. Boneca would have (i) requested the assignment, (ii) engaged in a competition for a position with his peers, (iii) undertaken fairly intensive "war orientated" training, and (iv) been made fully aware of the situation in Afghanistan including all of the possible risks and (v) he would have been provided an opportunity to decline before deploying.

Cpl. Boneca volunteered for a difficult, multi-faceted mission. Serving members of the Canadian Forces are well aware that the expectations in training and the reality on the ground never match, despite the best efforts to prepare beforehand. As well, the sheer physical and mental stress of the mission have a tendency to send most ordinary people into occasional "low" periods, where questioning what you are doing is indeed a common occurrence. It is the responsibility of every member of the armed forces, Regular or Reserve, to understand what they have signed up for and why.

We find it unacceptable that some would suggest that Cpl. Boneca did not understand what he had volunteered to do when there is every indication that he knew exactly what he was doing by volunteering. In the months leading up to the deployment to southern Afghanistan it was common knowledge within the military that the mission would be faced with many challenges and that there would be many occasions of violent encounters with the Taliban and the remnants of Al Queda. It is also common knowledge there would be deaths and casualties amongst Canadian troops, and at the time Cpl. Boneca was volunteering for this particular tour, both the Chief of Defence Staff and former Defence Minister Bill Graham were going to great lengths to prepare Canadians for casualties. Moreover, as an infantry soldier Cpl. Boneca surely understood the hardships inherent with this most demanding of trades.