IQALUIT - Hundreds of Canadian soldiers and Rangers stormed the beaches of Apex at dawn Aug. 18 as part of Operation Nanook.

In the exercise, Canadian Forces simulated what they would do if an "unmanned aerial vehicle" crashed on the remote tundra.

It was the first time Canadian Rangers accompanied reserve and regular infantry during a military exercise. In the past, infantry have followed Rangers on patrol, not the other way around.

At high tide at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Zodiac skiffs carried soldiers and Rangers off the naval cruiser HCMS Toronto and the coast guard ship Pierre Radisson, floating side-by-side in Frobisher Bay.

Port inspection divers clad in heavily-insulated drysuits waded through the Arctic water, marking inconvenient rocks and establishing a safe lane for the skiffs to land.

Upon landing, Rangers and infantry hoisted 40-kg rucksacks for the 5 km trek to the Road to Nowhere, the simulated crash site.

There the troops established a small settlement of tents, the forward location which would be the base of operations for the land exercises. The base served as home to the land forces until their extraction two days later.

Although armed with military assault rifles, none of the soldiers were carrying live ammunition. The Rangers' rifles were loaded for defence from polar bears.

Around 23 Rangers from all over the North took part in the beach landing and exercises on the open tundra, according to Maj. Mike Clarry.

Chief Warrant Officer Mark Saulnier said Rangers were needed since methods of navigation such as magnetic compasses aren't totally reliable in the North. He said Rangers, especially when they are within 300 km of their home community, can read the land and help southern-bred soldiers survive.

"Their main job in this operation, they're there as guides," he said. "They know the land."

The exercise was originally supposed to be an aerial drop on Brevoort Island, but poor weather forecasts threatened the aerial parts of the operation, so the decision was made to have the exercise closer to town. Clarry said the point of the exercise was to practise co-ordinating several different branches of the military at once.