Cindy MacDougall
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 22/99) - Military personnel stationed in Yellowknife can forget about partying in the new year.

The Department of National Defence will power up its year 2000 operation next Tuesday, with Northern Area headquarters running 24 hours a day until Y2K has come and gone.

Dan Drew, senior operations officer at Northern headquarters, said the forces are ready to defend and help the North, no matter what happens at midnight on Jan. 1.

"We are an asset of last resort," Drew said. "The whole point of the operation has been to help people if there is need for that."

One of the forces' major roles during Operation Abacus, the military's name for the Y2K mission, is to make sure there are communication lines to and from the outlying communities.

Small groups of militia from western Canada will be deployed with a Canadian Ranger to nodes across the North. Each group will have a high frequency radio and will send updates on any problems.

"These circles (of monitoring) overlap, so 60 communities in the North, including Nunavut and Yukon, will be covered," said Drew.

If there is an emergency, help can be quickly flown in from Yellowknife. Three Twin Otter aircraft and a air squadron will be ready for any emergency.

The troops in Yellowknife and around the North will also get a hand from down south.

Over 100 military types, from cooks to military police, will arrive in Yellowknife Monday to lighten the load on the staff at headquarters during the 24-hour operating period.

"It's a fairly hectic schedule for us, but we're prepared," said Drew of the 12-hour shifts many of his staff will work.

An infantry unit in Manitoba is also ready to come North if a major emergency strikes.

Although Drew said he is confident Canada is prepared for Y2K, the Department of Defence is worried about the role computer viruses may play.

"If a system crashes, you may think it's a Y2K problem, but it may really be a virus that was put in before and triggered by the Year 2000," said Col. Pierre LeBlanc, commanding officer at Northern Area headquarters. "The department is closely monitoring the situation."

Drew said a major part of planning was making sure soldiers' families would be safe.

"We've set up a family support plan that allows us to continue working without being concerned for our families' safety," Drew said.

If power goes out in a part of the city, military families will move in with other families who still have power.

If the whole city loses power, water, or another necessity, the families will be moved out to the base near the airport.