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QAUSUITTUQ/RESOLUTE
The scenario is sometimes all too familiar. Search-and-rescue needs to evacuate two injured people, one seriously hurt, out of a remote area of Nunavut - but as stormy weather closes in, a rescue mission is not possible until the next morning.

Canadian Rangers Don Oyukuluk, left, Joe Amarualik and Jasper Singoorie cook some food at Beechey Island before continuing their role during Operation Nunalivut 2012. - Jeanne Gagnon/NNSL photo

That's one scenario the Canadian Forces was training for the vicinity of Beechey Island during Operation Nunalivut 2012 in Resolute. Exercising in harsher conditions, poor weather and rugged terrain while ensuring the equipment works in these types of conditions gives the search-and-rescue technicians confidence, said Lt.-Col. Glen MacNeil, commander of Task Force Nunalivut, Joint Task Force

North.

"If you can conduct it in a harsh climate and harsh terrain like you see in certain parts of Nunavut, like here, then you can do this type of thing anywhere," he said.

Three of the five First Canadian Ranger Patrol Group members who stood guard to make sure polar bears were not a threat during the exercise were Joe Amarualik, Jasper Singoorie and Don Oyukuluk.

Amarualik said he acts as scout during the exercise, checking out the best possible route to get from point A to point B.

"The exercise has been pretty good so far," he said, adding he's been a Ranger since 1987. "It's a chance to get out of town and meet the Rangers from the other regions who are coming and the Canadian Forces."

Singoorie from Pond Inlet is also a scout, saying the exercise has been going well and no one got stuck. He said he is participating to help out and take a break from work.

Canadian Forces Sgt. Marcy Maddison, a Ranger instructor, said in their communities, Rangers have a big part in the search-and-rescue because they are trained to assist the RCMP and other organizations.

"The Rangers learn a lot how we operate, one as a military, two just the different skills the guys from down south can pass on," she said. "We learn extreme amounts from these guys in regards to what we can eat on the land, how to survive on the land. Just traversing through the different terrains, living in the different climates and dealing with the way the weather has been changing left, right and centre."

Further North, the Rangers had a bigger role where they practised ground search techniques, in a mock scenario where they were looking for a lost patrol from Grise Fiord that was supposed to meet up with the one from Resolute in the northwestern part of Devon Island. The Rangers practised ground search techniques and, via radio, guided a helicopter searching the area. MacNeil said the Rangers have proven they can talk to an aircraft and guide it to places on the land to search.

"The Rangers are doing a fantastic job covering the ground, which allows them to get to know that part of Devon Island and that part of Nunavut very well," he said.

Overall, MacNeil said they've learned some lessons, such as the necessity of bringing a lot of spare parts for equipment because going to a hardware store to buy it in the High Arctic is not an option.

Operation Nunalivut 2012 saw close to 150 Canadian Forces personnel - including close to 50 Rangers, the army, the air force and the navy - under the command of Joint Task Force North, gather in Resolute from April 10 to May 1. As the first of three annual sovereignty operations in the North, it had the goal of showing the Canadian Forces' capabilities to respond to a simulated mission and to enhance its capability to operate in a challenging and austere environment.

Canadian Forces Brig.-Gen. Guy Hamel said the deployment went well.

"The operation of the diving went extremely well, the SAR training went extremely well and (so did) the patrols with my Rangers. All the training objectives until now have been achieved," he said.

The Canadian Forces' summer exercise, Operation Nanook 2012, will not be in the High Arctic community this year because of the construction of the Canadian Forces Arctic Training Centre, said Hamel. Instead, the exercise will be in two regions - one around Hudson Bay, the other around Inuvik, he added. The eastern scenario is a maritime exercise while the western one is security-driven and will involve a number of federal departments and the RCMP, to name a few, explained Hamel. He said the scenario will see a security issue with the barge on the Mackenzie river, near Tsiigehtchic, which has no airport or runway.

Operation Nanook was first held in Iqaluit from 2007 to 2009 before heading to Resolute in 2010.

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