Convoy 2.NO

Slow down folks, take a breather.

We do not need another convoy, I don't say this to be offensive to the people who keep pushing the idea that we should have another one.  Please understand this is not an admonishment, but hopefully some insight, into what might be a poor idea.

The reality is that the convoy served a purpose that has been fulfilled. Maybe not Exactly what the convoy set out to do, end all mandates and have federal workers return to work and return to the normal Canada we all remember. I believe that some of those goals definitely were met. In hindsight, the convoy fulfilled an unknown purpose.

You see for months previous to the convoy many Canadians were being told and were starting to believe that being unvaccinated put you in a very small minority of people. With the idea that we're all alone with what we were thinking in regard to unjust mandates, media manipulation, and overall corrupt government. On top of that, it seemed very much like no one was going to do anything about what were very real concerns about the direction of the country. One of the most important things accomplished by the convoy was showing that we had numbers, power, and a strong voice; and the government was very concerned about us realizing that. This was the opposite of their narrative, which would see us as weak and fringe.

Many Canadians from many different walks of life with different cultural heritages and ideas found one common piece of ground. That common ground what's the idea of liberty and the acknowledgment of the importance of personal freedom to choose. During the convoy, many different groups were formed, and outside of that even still many more friendships and groups of friends came together. These things will not be repeated by another convoy nor should they be, because this is a war and that was only one battle.

In the military, you're trained to look at things in a different way. If I were to look at everything for what it is and as I said above it is a war, then the convoy was the initial action. We took some losses but in the end, came out victorious. After this battle or initial action we now, and in many ways have to start defending the ground we won.

When soldiers win a firefight, the first thing they do is move past the objective. Moving past the objective means it’s behind you, and you have secured your victory in this skirmish, or battle. In the light of the Convoy, the objective was to have mandates dropped and to get Canadians outside in numbers, unite them, and show the nation we weren’t alone. The objective was met.

The next step is to look to the right and left and see who’s still with you, and what condition everyone is in, are their wounds to tend to? How much ammo do we have left? This phase is called consolidation. You count your numbers, attend to your wounded and start to calculate the items and equipment you need to resupply. You then move or rally from the battle space to a safe area to fortify and await further orders for the next objective. While you wait, you commence what’s widely known as an “After Action Review/report” or AAR. Your platoon or troop then discusses what worked, and what issues arose in the previous firefight, so in the next engagement, you improve and find the gaps you need to fill, to ensure a greater chance at success each time you enter battle.

Returning to a Convoy plan is like retreating from, and then having to retake an old objective. Instead of holding, and fortifying, you retreat, and then face an enemy that knows how you won the last battle and is better prepared to defend this time around. This must be avoided, in war forward momentum is always to be capitalized on. So what is the forward momentum?

We have met “our friends”, we have networked with each other, and many groups and organizations have come together. We consolidated after we took the objective. Now we take that momentum and move to the next one. What is the next objective? Well in war you don’t always know right away. A good general will wait for an objective to present itself, and a bad general will look for an objective just to keep busy or to recive glory at the expense of the troops. We need to be the good general, and not waste our efforts for the sake of feeling like we are doing something but wait for an objective to show itself. We need to wait, and that can be scary because this puts you in a state of waiting to react. What the good general does, instead of running off to some random objective, is fortify and defend the previous objective. In the view of the convoy, this is maintaining our connections, and building them out. This will support you in case of counterattack but also gives you better ground to jump from for the next mission.

So what do we do next? Nothing. I know….hard to hear.

We wait, we man sentries and we repel attacks, while we build out our defenses, we train new recruits that come to our walls to join us. What are the defenses? It’s the communities and networks we built during the convoy; we start to find ways to grow these things. Out of the growth, we can then support each other and strengthen ourselves. When an obvious objective appears that entails large-scale action, like the convoy then we will be prepared more than we were for the convoy, we will be better organized and have each other to support the effort. We need to fight the urge to leave our defenses and pick a fight.

In my mind, the people who want to do a “convoy 2.0” are trying to re-enact a victory from a battle in a war that is not even close to being done. Imagine during the middle of the American civil war, if just after the battle of Gettysburg the troops said “hey let’s go do that again” ,“but just to remember what it was like”, whilst the enemy salivates at the chance to do better than when they lost.

Maybe people are bored or feel they need to be doing something. Maybe it’s actually easier than sitting in defense. My experience with many “convoy folk” is that they are chasing the dragon, almost like a heroin addict. They just want that feeling again. I can understand that. Some people I worry are just lazy perhaps, and hope another convoy will “fix” the country, and are apprehensive about having to do the real work for when things do get worse.

We are in a “lull” right now in the battle. Take this time to strengthen your new friendships and networks. Find plans to support each other during further attacks, and prepare. Don’t return to the previous objective expecting the same outcome, the enemy knows how to capitalize on its previous mistakes, and wants you to re-engage.