“On September 5th, I announced that members of the Canadian Army, in a non-combat role, would advise and assist security forces in Iraq battling the terrorists.
We will also contribute one air-to-air refuelling aircraft, two Aurora surveillance aircraft, and the necessary air crews and support personnel. In addition, we are extending the deployment, in a non-combat role…of up to 69 members of the Canadian Army advising and assisting security forces in Iraq.
In addition we are extending the deployment in a non-combat role of the up to 69 members of the Canadian Army advising and assisting security forces in Iraq. There will however be no ground combat mission, which is explicitly ruled out in the resolution.
If it was a MARS officer driving a ship, that unit is now taking part in a combat operation, and is filling a combat role. Because it's a ship doesn't make it a naval campaign, it means that in addition to whatever else it is doing it is now also in a combat role. The SOF guys have a mission to train Kurds, awesome, not combat, not a combat role. They also have a mission to guide airstrikes, combat, a combat role. Do the airstrikes happen without the SOF guys? No, they don't want to kill civilians so they need it to be accurate. They have an essential role in this combat. A combat role. It's a pretty basic concept.