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Uniforms descend on Delta Armed Forces, Canadian Rangers, Fisheries and Oceans team up for exercise
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, July 25, 2013
INUVIK
If the Beaufort Delta appears to be full of uniforms over the next few weeks, don't worry about it. Operation Nunakput is back in town.
RCMP Const. Amanda McGillvary, left, Canadian Ranger Sgt. Robin Dawastare, navy Capt. Derek Moss, RCMP Chief Supt. Ron Smith, RCMP Staff Sgt.-Major Al McCambridge, RCMP Const. Trent Hayward are in Inuvik for Operation Nunakput, a joint exercise between the Canadian Rangers, the RCMP and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It will be underway in the Inuvik area for the next few weeks. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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The exercise is part of Joint Task Force North (JTFN) in co-ordination with Canadian Rangers from 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (1CRPG), said Capt. Stephen Watton.
"We will conduct Operation Nunakput 13 in the Western Arctic, one of three major sovereignty operations conducted annually by the Canadian Forces in the North."
The manoeuvres will run from early July to mid-August in co-operation with the RCMP and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Operation Gateway.
That means about 20 Canadian Forces members will assist with marine patrols along the Mackenzie River and extending into the coastal waters of the Beaufort Sea, Watton said.
Inuvik will be acting as the unofficial headquarters for the operation.
"Patrols will place emphasis on supporting joint marine patrolling in order to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance activities in the Mackenzie River and Beaufort Sea regions while strengthening relationships with other government departments," Watton said.
It's an important practical and symbolic exercise, said navy Capt. Derek Moss, the deputy-commander of Joint Task Force North.
"Every summer we partner with Fisheries and Oceans and the RCMP and hopefully in the future with Environment Canada to do surveillance and presence missions, as we call them, in the Mackenzie River, Great Slave Lake, Great Bear Lake and this year to Herschel Island in the Yukon.
"Every year we get a few federal government departments together to co-operate and train together so that it prepares us better for real-world missions, safety and security missions."
About 60 members of the Canadian Rangers from all over the NWT are taking part, Moss said.
"People shouldn't be too worried if they see a lot of uniforms around," he added with a smile. "The Rangers are a familiar sight. We're from Northern communities, so it's friends and neighbours patrolling and providing a Canadian Armed Forces presence in the North, which is one of the mandates from the federal government, but also to support the RCMP and
Fisheries and Oceans."
The RCMP has provided about 20 officers, mostly in boats, who will link up with the Ranger patrols and to share information, Moss said.
"We're doing a crew swap right now, and we're bringing people in from around the NWT."
Moss laughed at the suggestion the operations was the Canadian Armed Forces idea of a summer vacation and camping trip.
"I wish it was," he said. "The bulk of our work happens in the summer, so most of our folks don't get a summer vacation.
"We have year-round operations, but is a very busy time for us."
RCMP Supt. Rod Smith said officers regularly make a summer patrol run from Great Slave Lake to the Beaufort Sea.
"We travel for about a week from Hay River to Great Slave Lake and then up the Mackenzie River and to the Beaufort Sea and of course here in Inuvik," Smith said. "This is another example of our partnerships and the high level of inter-operability between our respective agencies and it gives us an opportunity to provide security and demonstrate sovereignty here."
These kind of manoeuvres, particularly the search-and-rescue provisions, are important to the Inuvik area.
Staff-Sgt. Jerry McKenna, the former detachment commander in Inuvik, who is now a senior officer locally, has been working on resurrecting the local search and rescue program along with town councillor Alana Mero. Neither were available to discuss the issue by deadline.
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