KANDAHAR - Many of them came charging into Kandahar last fall with visions in their minds of gun battles and light armoured vehicles laying down cannon fire across the desert.
But for members of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, theirs turned out to be a very different war.
The battle group's commanding officer, Lt.-Col. Jerry Walsh, seemed fond of quoting some of his soldiers, whom he said described their tour as "living like rats" in the tiny, spartan patrol bases that dot the Panjwaii district outside Kandahar city.
Even for the veterans of Charlie Company, the last six months have seemed a little bit unreal.
The unit, among the most storied in today's Canadian army, has seen two tours of this region. It was among the first companies to be bloodied by the Taliban as violence spiralled out of control in the spring of 2006.
There are many fresh faces in the ranks, some of them young kids who joined up in 2007 watching the images of Charlie Company's battles on the television news.
But that was then. That was back in a time when Canada was defending virtually the entire province and soldiers were running between battles.
"We were firefighters back then," the veterans like to say.
The influx of thousands of U.S. troops was marked the other day by the handover of Canada's so-called model village project in Deh-e-Bagh, in nearby Dand district, to an American unit.
The reinforcements have radically changed the face of this conflict.
Maj. Todd Clark, the planning officer for the U.S. 1st Cavalry, 71st Infantry Regiment, was briefing Canadian Brig.-Gen. Dan Menard on how the Americans are settling in.
"A lot of people back home think that when a guy goes to war, he goes to war, but coming here, I've realized how different it is, one place to another," said Clark, a veteran of three tours in Iraq.
"There's a lot to be done here, but more importantly, there's a lot to be learned."
The strategy of western soldiers living in communities with their Afghan counterparts at combat outposts, instead of inside the confines of fortified bases, has also reshaped the war.
The Patricias were the first battle group to do it.
When they patrol, it is in support of the Afghan army and on Afghan time, which is decidedly more relaxed than what Canadian troops are familiar with.
And for many of these guys, life in Kandahar has exemplified the old adage: War is 95 per cent boredom and five per cent sheer terror.
"I'm happy to have it done," said Cpl. Robyn Murree, 25, of Halifax, a member of 9 Platoon who will soon leave the army for a posting with the navy.
"It was good for the first time, but I thought it would be a lot different."
There are still enormous risks, but instead of wild firefights, there is a steady stream of homemade bombs and roadside explosions. Eleven soldiers died and an untold number of wounded went home during PPCLI's latest tour.
Delta Company was among the hardest hit with casualties.
"In '06 when you got in a firefight, you could take cover; with (homemade bombs) you can't take cover," Sgt. Devon Boyko of Regina, Sask., who has been keeping track of the foot patrols using a global positioning system.
"We do a lot of walking because on my GPS, since October, we've walked just slightly over 200 kilometres and that's in IED territory. It's a lot of kilometres through some heavily (mined) areas."
Troops from the Ontario-based 1st Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, another battle-hardened unit that fought the landmark Operation Medusa in 2006, have started to slip into the lines to replace the Patricias.
Cpl. Stephen Moss, of Charlie Company, said the day of his first and perhaps only firefight in the Zhari district's volatile community of Pashmul will stay with him forever.
"It wasn't even that big of a thing," said Moss, who is also leaving the army. "It was close, but ... you get the adrenalin rush. The rest of the time it's been like today, us walking around."
With three tours of Afghanistan under his belt, Master Cpl. Shawn Grove kept the bigger picture in mind as the tour drew to a close.
Are the Afghan people better off than when Canadians first landed?
His answer: Generally, yes.
"I've talked to Afghan guys who say the city is a lot safer than it used to be," said Grove, who taught himself to speak fluent Pashtu, one of the local languages.
"The ANP, ANA guys say the city is a lot better. They say it's easier to get medical care and stuff like that."
But there is a bigger question, one that seems to haunt many Canadians with a little over one year to go in the mission. It is a question many guys in Charlie Company are reluctant to answer, especially with a number of them leaving the army.
Has it been worth it?
The answer is often: I don't know. We'll see.
"A lot of people both on the governance side and security come through here and they want to change the world in their six-month or year-long span," said Capt. Matthew Despard, 27, the commander of 9 Platoon.
"What's important to remember is that we're just links in a chain that is going to stretch on for years into building Afghanistan."
One day not so long ago, Despard, a native of Orleans, Ont., was watching his soldiers pile into a waiting fleet of light armoured vehicles as they prepared to embark on their latest operation.
It was a melancholy moment as Despard realized that guys he'd spent the better part of two years training and fighting with would soon be going home.
Although there would no doubt be attempts to stay in touch, normal life eventually takes over, he said.
"I realized everyone is going to leave, or leave the army after this tour and go and do their own things, but this is going to be one thing that is going to bring people -- who will most likely be strangers -- together," Despard said.
"It will be this place."
