De-Icing Required

English/Anglais  
IS2008-3002  
22 March 2008  
Yellowknife, NT

A CC-130 Hercules aircraft kicks up a cloud of snow as it taxis in to pick up personnel and supplies at Joint Task Force North (JTFN), Yellowknife, NT. The aircraft will be transporting personnel and supplies from JTFN and the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (1 CRPG) to Eureka and CFS Alert, Nunavut, for OP NUNALIVUT 08.   

OP NUNALIVUT 08 is one of three major sovereignty operations conducted each year by the Canadian Forces in Canada's North. The primary intent of this operation is to project Canadian sovereignty in the High Arctic through a Canadian Forces patrol presence. In addition to projecting sovereignty in this remote region of Canada, this year's operation will assist International Polar Year (IPY) scientists as they conduct research on the Ellesmere Island ice shelf. The patrols, conducted by the 1st Canadian Patrol Group (1 CRPG), will guide, shelter and assist the scientists as they carry out their work.  

The Canadian Rangers are skilled Reserve members of the CF. They are experienced in Arctic survival and are deployed almost every time the CF operates on the land in the North. They act as guides, experts on the land, and provide predator control. The Canadian Rangers are a major contributor to the training and effectiveness of the military in the North.   
  
Photo: MCpl Kevin Paul, Canadian Forces Combat Camera   

Français/French
IS2008-3002
22 mars 2008
Yelloknife (Territoires du Nord-Ouest)

Un avion CC-130 Hercules soulève un nuage de neige pendant qu’il roule sur la piste avant d’aller prendre à son bord du personnel et des approvisionnements, au QG de la Force opérationnelle interarmées (Nord) (FOIN), à Yellowknife (T.N.-O.). L’avion transportera le personnel et les approvisionnements depuis le QG de la FOIN et du 1er Groupe de patrouilles des Rangers canadiens (1 GPRC) jusqu’à Eureka et à la SFC Alert (Nunavut), pour l’opération Nunalivut 2008.

L’opération NUNALIVUT 08 est l’une des trois opérations de souveraineté majeures menées chaque année par les Forces canadiennes dans l’Arctique canadien.  Cette opération vise principalement à faire valoir la souveraineté canadienne dans le Grand Nord au moyen de patrouilles effectuées par les Forces canadiennes. En plus de faire valoir la souveraineté du pays dans cette région éloignée, l’opération de cette année permettra d’appuyer les scientifiques qui, dans le cadre de l’Année polaire internationale (API), effectuent des recherches sur la plateforme de glace flottante de l’île d’Ellesmere. Les patrouilles, menées par le 1er Groupe de patrouille des Rangers canadiens (1 GPRC), contribueront à guider, à héberger ainsi qu’à soutenir les scientifiques pendant que ces derniers accompliront leurs tâches.    

Les Rangers canadiens sont composés de réservistes qualifiés des FC. Ils possèdent une solide expérience de la survie dans l’Arctique et sont déployés presque chaque fois que les FC lancent des opérations terrestres dans le Nord. Ils agissent à titre de guides, d’experts sur le terrain et contrôlent les prédateurs. Les Rangers canadiens contribuent grandement à la formation et à l’efficacité des militaires dans cette région.     

Photo : Cplc Kevin Paul, Caméra de combat des Forces canadiennes

With the passage of time, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Arctic have become “old friends.” It was a friendship that started out tentatively, with a few exploratory flights during the interwar period, strengthening as the decades rolled by. With the advent of the cold war, the Arctic became very much an RCAF operational theatre. The creation of the North American Air Defence Command (NORAD) spurred the growth of radar sites, forward operating locations for fighter aircraft and the need for permanent establishments such as Alert. These activities were augmented by regular resupply flights, sovereignty patrols and the permanent stationing of 440 Squadron at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, in 1994. For the RCAF, it is not a matter of returning to the Arctic—we never left.… The Commander of the Air Force has taken steps to ensure that the RCAF continues to be at the forefront of government activity in the Arctic. One of these steps is to encourage the study of our past, gleaning knowledge and recognizing lessons that can be applied to current and future oper­ations. Hence, the need for publications such as De-Icing Required.   – from the Foreword by Col J. J. A. M. Cournoyer.

P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Major W.A. March (eds.), De-Icing Required: The Canadian Air Force’s Experience in the ArcticSic Itur Ad Astra -Canadian Aerospace Power Studies Series No.4 (Trenton: Canadian Forces Air Warfare Centre, 2012). xiv, 151 pp.

P. Whitney Lackenbauer de W.A. March (dir.). Dégivrage requis! la dimension historique de l’expérience de la Force aérienne du Canada dans l’ArctiqueSic Itur Ad Astra – études sur la puissance aérospatiale canadienne No.4 (Trenton: Centre de guerre aérospatiale des Forces canadiennes, 2012). xiv, 181 pp.

2012-de-icing-required

Contents

Introduction: Whitney Lackenbauer and Bill March

Chapter 1:        Air Force: Leader in the Arctic, Ernest Cable.

Chapter 2:         Constructing a Role: The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic, 1945-1953, Peter Kikkert. 

Chapter 3:         Operation Canon: A Case Study of Early RCAF Arctic SAR Capabilities, Sandy Babcock.

Chapter 4:         Military Culture and the Mobile Striking Force, Raymond Stouffer.

Chapter 5:         The Roundel and Building RCAF Arctic “Air Mindedness” During the Early Cold War, Richard Goette.

Chapter 6:         Inuit-Air Force Relations in the Qikiqtani Region during the Early Cold War, Whitney Lackenbauer and Ryan Shackleton.

Chapter 7:         Sovereignty For Hire: Civilian Airlift Contractors and the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, 1954-1961, Daniel Heidt and P. Whitney Lackenbauer.

Chapter 8:         Frigid Ambitions: The Venture of the Alert Wireless Station and Lessons Learned for the Canada First Defence Strategy, Rachel Lea Heide.

Chapter 9:         SITREP: The Morning Light Has Been Extinguished, William P. Sparling.

Chapter 10:      Arctic Alternative Futures, Daniel Lachance.