ALERT - Greenland's soldiers of sovereignty are a hardy lot; they run 4,000 km in a season lasting up to four months, travelling across every uninhabited inch of the country's High Arctic at least once every five years, consuming 5,000 calories a day in the process.

Premier Eva Aariak, right, speaks to Danish Sgt. Morten Gormsen, one of two cross-country skiers with the Sirius dog sledge patrol team No. 3 during the closing troop inspection of Operation Nunalivut at Alert on April 26. - Jennifer Geens/NNSL photo

They also love having their bellies scratched and will lick your face with exuberance.

Team No.3 of Denmark's famed Sirius dog sledge patrol – 13 thick-furred Greenlandic sled dogs and two ultra-fit soldiers who ski alongside the sled -- joined Canadian Forces during Operation Nunalivut last month based out of Alert.

A Twin Otter plucked the team from its patrol route two and a half months into the spring season so they could participate in the operation; last week the plane was to take them back to the spot where it picked them up so they can finish their patrol – another month and another 1,000 km to go.

"They have to walk home," Danish Rear Admiral Henrik Kudsk told reporters with a smile.

From April 6 to 26, the Sirius team from Greenland joined the more than 130 people who swelled the population of Alert.

Usually home to 55 personnel, at one point during the operation there were 246 people housed at the station. That included 35 Canadian Rangers from Nunavut, NWT and Yukon.

Abraham Qamminaq of Hall Beach said he had come prepared for bitter cold.

"I was expecting -40," he said. "I came with my caribou pants and, surprise, it was like home."

Daytime highs averaged -14 C, and the coldest it got all month was -34 C.

Mild weather became a concern as part of the operation had the Rangers stationed at a camp on the sea ice 90 km north of Alert.

The operations base at Alert monitored ice conditions by satellite and relayed them to the Rangers, and tracked the camp's drift at between two and eight kilometres a day.

"The ice was changing so fast," said Lt. Col Gino Chretien, that two or three days after the camp was dismantled, the ice it had been on was flushed out of the region with the current.

For the first time all the Ranger patrols were equipped with GPS tracking devices, so the officers at the station knew exactly where every patrol was at any time.

"They used to call in our movements three times a day," said Qamminaq. "Now they see it all on the computer."

Waning sea ice in the Arctic is the "catalyst" for High Arctic sovereignty operations, said Brig. Gen david Millar, commander of Joint Task Force North.

He said the opening up of Arctic waters, and the increased activity that goes with it, increases the possibility of everything from accidents and environmental disasters to terrorism and drug trafficking.

"The purpose of sovereignty operations is to enhance our capabilities to respond to safety and security issues," he said.

Kudsk said Greenland shares these challenges and teaming up in the face of them is a wise strategy.

"We need co-operation to tackle it," he said.

Search and Rescue technicians participating in the operation were called into action for real on April 15, when Australian adventurer Tom Smitheringale, who was 50 days into a solo trek to the North Pole and 10 days away from his goal, fell into the water about 500 km north of Alert, still attached to his skis and toboggan. He was in the icy water for 10 minutes before he managed to pull himself up onto an ice floe.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton received the signal from his personal locator beacon, and a helicopter and Twin Otter were dispatched from Alert to pick up the SAR techs, who were conducting an exercise on Ward Hunt Island. Within six hours of receiving the beacon signal, the helicopter set down on the small floe and rescued Smitheringale. He was treated by medical technicians at Alert for hypothermia and some frostbite on his toes and fingers.

Millar said 15 adventurers attempted the journey to the pole this spring, and only one has made it, though four were still out on the ice last week.

Defence Minister Peter McKay said Operation Nunalivut was a good example of international co-operation and partnership, something which will be expanded on this summer with Operation Nanook, which will take place in Resolute and in the Northwest Passage.

Premier Eva Aariak told the assembled personnel and dignitaries that sovereignty would be best served by helping Nunavut's communities become sustainable by devolving jurisdiction over the land and seabed – and its resources -- to the territory.

"I hope interest and investment in sovereignty will translate into other interest and investment in our communities," she said.