Armoured vehicles rolled across the Prosperous Lake ice road outside Yellowknife on Thursday as Canada’s military carries out its latest major northern training exercise.
Operation Nanook-Nunalivut has been an annual event since 2007 at various northern destinations.
Officials say this year’s is the largest to date as Canada’s attention shifts to Arctic sovereignty and northern defence.
Billions of dollars are expected to be spent on military upgrades in Yellowknife and Inuvik over the next decade. A major announcement related to that spending is anticipated in the near future.
Temperatures in Yellowknife have dipped below -40C at times this week – their lowest in five years – making this an appropriate time to test the northern readiness of the Canadian Armed Forces.
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On Thursday, troops from Alberta who comprise Task Force Grizzly drove up the frozen Prosperous Lake to the Bluefish hydro dam for their latest training exercise.
“The scenario was there were possible enemies operating in the area as a potential sabotage,” explained Major Lyle Borody of The Loyal Edmonton Regiment.
“We had elements of our force move in to secure the area, and then what you saw when the vehicles were moving was the follow-on force coming to help with additional resources and manpower … to demonstrate that we can project out and stabilize the key infrastructure for the North.”
Asked why that particular exercise had been chosen, Borody said it was considered one of the “likely scenarios in case there was any type of insurgent or foreign activity in the area.”
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Operation Nanook-Nunalivut isn’t just about the specifics of any given day’s scenario. It’s also about Canadian soldiers understanding the realities of the North.
“It’s learning how to operate and still be able to do our job,” said Borody.
“Everything moves slower. Planning takes longer. In the summertime, you can walk at a fairly rapid pace. As soon as we’re putting on snowshoes, skis or working in deeper snow, things slow down and things take time when you’re worried about a work-rest cycle in the extreme cold.
“It’s definitely an interesting challenge of training the new soldiers on how to be effective in this environment … once they’re acclimatized, it’s a source of pride, being able to operate and do your job in a minus-52 environment and still be effective at what’s going on.”
From Reuters: More photos of Operation Nanook-Nunalivut in the NWT
The exercise at the hydro dam is expected to wrap up on Friday.
Members of Borody’s task force will have “through-the-ice training” – a polar plunge, in other words – before heading back to Edmonton and Calgary this weekend, he said.
