SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Forty members of the Canadian military based in Yellowknife are currently participating in Operation Nunalivut in Resolute, the second most Northern community in Nunavut.
Brig.-Gen. Guy Hamel, commander of Joint Task Force North (JTFN), commanded the troops "to exercise Canadian sovereignty and to demonstrate the Canadian Forces' capability to operate in the High Arctic during winter," he told Yellowknifer on April 22. These activities will also test the capabilities of military equipment in the harsh conditions of the High Arctic.
There are approximately 120 members of the Canadian Armed Forces from across Canada participating in Operation Nunalivut. Once these members cross the 60th parallel, they fall under Hamel's command. The operation gives military personnel from across Canada a chance to visit the far North and see the types of challenges dealt with during daily operations, he said.
Of the Yellowknifers participating in the operation, 15 are based at JTFN headquarters, 15 are from 440 Squadron, and 10 are members of the 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group.
From April 2 to April 30, Task Force Nunalivut is participating in long-range patrols over land and sea ice, including one to Isachsen, 700 km northwest of Resolute, and to Tanquary Fiord, 830 km northeast of the community.
As happens in all military operations in the Arctic, Hamel said his troops rely heavily on the local knowledge of Canadian Rangers to plan their routes and find their way.
"To operate in the North, I strongly believe you cannot do it by yourself," he said.
Also, Yellowknife-based members from 440 Squadron are operating three Twin Otters, which are providing tactical support for Rangers travelling on the sea ice. This is key to the Rangers' ability to complete their mission, said Hamel.
"They have to know how to navigate around (ice shelves) and how to deal with the movement of the sea ice," he said, adding that out on the sea ice, patrols can encounter walls of ice up to 20 feet high, and the ice movement can cause openings of water along the route.
"The wind factor on the sea ice was just amazing," said Hamel, adding so far during the mission, air temperatures have been measured at as cold as -35 C. "I have to say, it's cold."
Finally, the military is using its annual winter mission in Nunavut to try out new communications technologies and test how they hold up in the sometimes extreme conditions. One of these technologies is an Iridium satellite system called TracK 24 which was given to each Ranger patrol group, enabling personnel at the base to track their movements over the Internet.
While so far all technology testing has been going well, this is not always the case, said Hamel. During a past mission, he said, new electrical cords given to the task force snapped in the cold.
In a place where weather conditions change fast, having the ability to track and monitor how troops are doing from afar is extremely important, he said.
As the Yellowknife military personnel were still involved in the exercise in the Arctic, Yellowknifer was unable to speak with them by press time.
