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This article was published 01/03/2019 (2597 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A group of soldiers from the prairies recently got the opportunity to test their winter survival skills in the Canadian arctic.
Seventy-five army reservists from 38
Canadian Brigade Group — which is headquartered in Winnipeg and includes members from Minto Armouries — spent eight days in the Yukon Territory last month for a training exercise dubbed Arctic Bison.
The soldiers are part of the Army’s Arctic Response Company Group and the annual training exercise is designed to make sure they are prepared to assist during natural disasters and domestic emergencies in the north.
“Rather than focusing on a war fighting scenario, we’re focusing on domestic operations,” said Chief Warrant Officer Chris Hayden, Regimental Sergeant Major with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles.
Hayden attended the exercise for the first time this year as a member of the command group.
“The best thing that I got out of it was greeting the soldiers as they came back from the different missions,” he said. “To see the looks on their faces… and the great stories they had and to watch their skills improve over the course of the exercise.”
The soldiers were stationed in Haines Junction, about 150 kilometres west of Whitehorse, and were given two missions and 36 hours to complete each one. The first was to locate a downed aircraft site on the side of a mountain and the second was to build a landing strip for a resupply plane at a nearby research station.
During the trek to find the aircraft — which was an actual plane that crashed in the 1950s — soldiers had to travel over a mountain range and set up camp in the bush. The environment provided challenges hard to mimic in Manitoba.
“It’s one thing for us to go drive the snowmobiles out here on the prairies, it’s fairly easy, but once you get into the mountainous terrain it’s something we’re not used to,” Hayden said. “This takes us out of our comfort zone and into different places to learn what it’s like to survive in Canada’s North.”
Prior to deploying to the Yukon, the soldiers had to complete a basic winter training course to learn how to live in “austere environments” in the wilderness and how to operate winter equipment, such as snowmobiles.
“It’s not something you can just show up and get done,” Hayden said.
Arctic Bison takes place in a new northern location each year and requires a significant amount of planning and logistical considerations.
“Exercises of this magnitude, especially ones that are going to take place in the north, it takes almost a year to plan them,” Hayden said. “Now that we’re finished this one, we’re actually beginning to plan the one that we have for next year.”
A group of soldiers from the prairies recently got the opportunity to test their winter survival skills in the Canadian arctic.
Seventy-five army reservists from 38 Canadian Brigade Group — which is headquartered in Winnipeg and includes members from Minto Armouries — spent eight days in the Yukon Territory last month for a training exercise dubbed Arctic Bison.
Supplied photo by Sergeant Mark Cortens, 38 Signal Regiment, 38 Canadian Brigade Group
A group of soldiers from the Army’s Arctic Response Company Group reached a 1950’s airplane crash site during a training exercise in the Yukon Territory on Feb. 20.
The soldiers are part of the Army’s Arctic Response Company Group and the annual training exercise is designed to make sure they are prepared to assist during natural disasters and domestic emergencies in the north.
“Rather than focusing on a war fighting scenario, we’re focusing on domestic operations,” said Chief Warrant Officer Chris Hayden, Regimental Sergeant Major with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles.
Hayden attended the exercise for the first time this year as a member of the command group.
“The best thing that I got out of it was greeting the soldiers as they came back from the different missions,” he said. “To see the looks on their faces… and the great stories they had and to watch their skills improve over the course of the exercise.”
The soldiers were stationed in Haines Junction, about 150 kilometres west of Whitehorse, and were given two missions and 36 hours to complete each one. The first was to locate a downed aircraft site on the side of a mountain and the second was to build a landing strip for a resupply plane at a nearby research station.
During the trek to find the aircraft — which was an actual plane that crashed in the 1950s — soldiers had to travel over a mountain range and set up camp in the bush. The environment provided challenges hard to mimic in Manitoba.
“It’s one thing for us to go drive the snowmobiles out here on the prairies, it’s fairly easy, but once you get into the mountainous terrain it’s something we’re not used to,” Hayden said. “This takes us out of our comfort zone and into different places to learn what it’s like to survive in Canada’s North.”
Supplied photo by Corporal Miguel Moldez, 38 Canadian Brigade Group Public Affairs
Members of 38 Canadian Brigade Group’s Arctic Response Company Group review a map after orders during Exercise Arctic Bison 2019 avalanche training at Haines Junction, Yukon Territories on Feb. 17
Prior to deploying to the Yukon, the soldiers had to complete a basic winter training course to learn how to live in “austere environments” in the wilderness and how to operate winter equipment, such as snowmobiles.
“It’s not something you can just show up and get done,” Hayden said.
Arctic Bison takes place in a new northern location each year and requires a significant amount of planning and logistical considerations.
“Exercises of this magnitude, especially ones that are going to take place in the north, it takes almost a year to plan them,” Hayden said. “Now that we’re finished this one, we’re actually beginning to plan the one that we have for next year.”
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