SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Sgt. Sean Murphy's eyelashes are coated in ice. So are his eyebrows and face mask. It's around -35 C without windchill and the Yellowknife resident is watching Canadian Ranger Matthew Manik use a saw to cut a block of snow for an igloo near Resolute, Nunavut in an area called Crystal City.
Sgt. Sean Murphy, a Ranger instructor with the Canadian Armed Forces from Yellowknife, in Resolute on Feb. 27. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
It's about five kilometres from the community's airport where military air crew from Canada and other nations come to train how to survive in the extreme cold. The stark, white rolling hills are broken up by the snow caves and igloos, built as part of the training.
Few Canadians get to see the area and Murphy jumped at the chance to visit with the military.
"I love being up here," he said on Feb. 27.
"I enjoy working in an environment like this. It is a challenging environment and there's a lot of good lessons that can be learned."
Decked out in distinctive red that stands out on treeless landscape of the high Arctic, the Rangers are reservists with the army branch of the military described as the eyes and ears of Canada's North.
Murphy was one of a small number of military members in Resolute from Yellowknife during Operation Nunalivut, an annual sovereignty exercise held by the Canadian Armed Forces to train and demonstrate the ability to deploy and operate in the high Arctic. The operation began Feb. 22 and wrapped up March 10.
The bulk of the 200 personnel involved in the operation were about 800 kilometres southeast in Hall Beach, Nunavut.
In Resolute, the training involved military and RCMP divers dipping into the Arctic Ocean through a triangular hole in the ice of the bay. It was the first time police were taking part in the dive training.
Officers from dive units across the country took part to pick up lessons on cold-weather operations from the military.
Murphy, who was born in Yellowknife, said he arrived about a week ahead of the bulk of the other personnel. His role was to provide additional expertise to military units from the south to help them while in the high Arctic.
That involved working with four members of 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, which was helping with navigation and keeping watch for polar bears or other animals.
"They have skill-sets that they've developed through the years, including traditional skill-sets that we can leverage and learn from to increase our capabilities," Murphy said. "For me, it's a unique opportunity to work in the environment and work with the Rangers to learn their specific skill-sets and help them with the interaction with the military."
Resolute, a hamlet of 198 people on Cornwallis Island, is one of the northern-most communities in the country at 74 degrees latitude.
In late February, when seven reporters were flown by the military to the community to observe the operation, the community was gaining 18 to 22 minutes of sunlight per day. Twenty-four hour sunlight begins in April.
The start of the Cold War saw a weather station and airstrip constructed on Cornwallis Island. Resolute was established in 1953 when Canada forcibly relocated Inuit families from northern Quebec.
The country formally apologized for the relocation in 2008.
