Tent City
Tent City housed some of the 5,000 soldiers that took part in Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE.
Technicians from the Tactical Helicopter Squadrons perform maintenance at Airfield 21 in the Canadian Forces Base Wainwright training area during Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE on May 25, 2017.
Missions were planned from the Helicopter Tactical Operation Center of Airfield 21 in the Wainwright Garrison training area during Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 2017.
Photos Marie Conboy
Increased activity, traffic, and noise were obvious in the Wainwright area over the past month for the Maple Resolve exercise which ran from May 14 - 29.
Seven million liters of diesel, sourced through local contractors, was used during the Maple Resolve exercise according to Major Dillion, who was in control of the for the transport on the exercise.
The US Forces flew Black Hawk helicopters from as far away as Maryland to participate in Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 2017 which involved approximately 4000 Canadian Armed Forces members, also participating in the exercise this year are soldiers from the Australian Army, British Army, New Zealand Defense Force, and United States Army. The total number of participants is approximately 5000 at the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre in Wainwright.
According to the Canadian Armed Forces Public Affairs office, the exercise is the largest and most comprehensive Canadian Army training event of the year and will confirm the high readiness of Task Force Tomahawk soldiers based out of Petawawa, Ontario, it culminates a busy, progressive training schedule that began almost a year earlier.
The training confirms the high readiness of Task Force Tomahawk, certifying their ability to operate anywhere in the world in order to deliver decisive land and air power as directed by the Government of Canada. Task Force Tomahawk will assume its responsibilities as the Canadian Army’s high readiness brigade on July 1, 2017.
“The following year is going to be extremely busy for the men and women of Task Force Tomahawk, as we deploy all over the world on behalf of the Government of Canada. Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE is the final test in proving that this Task Force is ready to undertake any mission, in any condition. I am proud of the skill and professionalism of these warriors and proud to have them represent the Canadian Army abroad,” said Colonel Conrad Mialkowski, Commander Task Force Tomahawk.
“Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE is an immensely complex undertaking. Creating a realistic training environment that adequately prepares soldiers for a wide variety of tasks requires an intricate integration of assets from the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, and international partners and allies. The result is an exercise, that above all other things, confirms Canadian Army readiness to tackle a wide spectrum of missions in a complex global security environment,” said Colonel Peter Scott, Commander Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre.
Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 2017 is the largest annual Canadian Army exercise that immerses soldiers in dynamic, multi-element, combined arms, force-on-force scenarios against a challenging enemy in an environment where the realities of a deployment are replicated as closely as possible.
Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 17 involves a large air contingent including members from the Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Army National Guard. Some of the aircraft include: Canadian CH-147F Chinook and CH-146 Griffon helicopters, a King Air B200, a CC-130J Hercules transport aircraft and CF-18 Hornets. American aviation assets include UH-60 Black Hawk, UH-72 Lakota and CH-47 Chinook helicopters, and Unmanned Aerial Systems.