Local reservists get a taste of an arctic expedition with military training

A handful of reservists from Prince Albert returned home this week after participating in a winter training exercise on Lake Winnipeg.

About 100 members of the Arctic Response Company Group (ARCG) travelled by snowmobile from Gimli, Man. to Berens Island on Lake Winnipeg.

The ARCG is a unit, which can deploy within 24 hours to handle crises in Canada’s north. It’s usually sent to support regular forces and the Canadian Rangers. Soldiers are required to train regularly and participate in annual winter exercises. The majority of soldiers on the exercise are reservists, and serve in the military part-time.

The exercise was conducted to ensure the soldiers participate in non-tactical winter warfare to support potential future domestic operations in the north.

In this year’s scenario, the soldiers travelled to a notional civilian airplane ‘crash site’.

Some soldiers deployed to the crash site – a 600 km round trip – to assist government officials with investigation and crash management.

While one group of reservists travelled on the ice, others were positioned at a command headquarters in Gimli providing logistical support.

For more on this story, please see the March 4 edition of the Daily Herald.