Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Friday, June 1, 2007

FORT SIMPSON - The Nahanni National Park Reserve is about to become a training site for a group of military personnel.

As part of an adventure training exercise called Exercise Adventurous Sapper, 42 members of the Second Combat Engineer Regiment based out of Petawawa, Ont., will be paddling the Nahanni River.

"People are very excited here," said Maj. Andre Desrochers, who will be accompanying the personnel.

"It's a trip of a lifetime."

Adventure training is something the Canadian Forces tries to do often with soldiers, said Desrochers. The training is designed to build personal character and test physical and mental limits. It also makes soldiers more comfortable with taking risks, he said.

Desrochers learned about the Nahanni National Park Reserve through a colleague and did some Internet research.

"I thought wow, what a great area to train in," he said.

As far as he's aware, Desrochers said this is the first time a group this large had done a trip of this magnitude. Time is often a limiting factor, because it takes a lot of time to train personnel to be ready for an exercise, he said.

In preparation for their trip, the soldiers have been put through canoe training at a whitewater facility in Ontario.

The personnel will arrive in Fort Simpson on May 30 and 31 and will fly to the park on June 2 and 3.

In addition to providing training, the exercise will also provide a break for the soldiers.

Almost all of the personnel that will be on the trip have done at least one tour in Afghanistan, said Desrochers.

In the last three years soldiers from Petawawa have deployed four times. During each tour at least 100 members of the Second Combat Engineer Regiment have gone. The most recent tour was from August 2006 to February of this year.

"We have very little downtime ever," said Desrochers.

The regiment is a combat force in the Army. They assist friendly forces with living, moving and fighting on the battlefield.

In Afghanistan most of the regiment's work involves mobility, including fixing roads and building bridges. Members also do counter-mobility to disrupt the movement of non-friendly forces, said Desrochers.

The regiment members also deal with threats from explosive devices by defusing them or marking areas to be avoided. Other duties include building and maintaining protective works around the base in Kandahar and at other locations to which troop move.

"This year has been very demanding on our personnel," he said.

"We are still very happy to do the job and very passionate about it. We feel that we are making a difference there."

The soldiers are looking forward to their trip, he said.

During the trip, the soldiers will visit the Cirque of the Unclimbables before spending 14 days in the park, which will include hikes on Mount Harrison and Sunblood Mountain and a guided trip down the river.

The personnel will be broken into groups of 10 for the trip and will be separated on the river by 24 hours.

"It's going to be a good challenge," he said.

Although the main purpose of the trip is to paddle the river, the journey was timed so the personnel can take part in the Aboriginal Day activities in Fort Simpson on June 21.

"We really want to take part in that and experience the cultural diversity," he said.

Chief Keyna Norwegian of Liidlii Kue First Nation said the band is looking forward to having the soldiers participate in the activities.

"I think it's great," she said.

The visit will provide good publicity for the community and the soldiers will be welcome to participate in the games, said Norwegian.