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CFB Suffield

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CFB Suffield
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OwnerGovernment of Canada
OperatorDepartment of National Defence
LocationCypress County, Alberta
Built1971
CommanderLieutenant-Colonel Keller
OccupantsDefence Research and Development Canada
British Army Training Unit Suffield
Elevation AMSL2,525 ft / 770 m
Coordinates50°16′24″N 111°10′30″W / 50.27333°N 111.17500°W / 50.27333; -111.17500 (CFB Suffield)
Websitewww.army.dnd.ca/cfb_suffield
Helipads
Number Length Surface
ft m
H1 130 x 375 40 x 110 Gravel
Location of Suffield, Alberta

Canadian Forces Base Suffield (also CFB Suffield), is the largest Canadian Forces Base and the largest Commonwealth military training base. It is located in southeastern Alberta 50 km (31 mi) north of the city of Medicine Hat and 250 km (160 mi) southeast of Calgary.

The base has its own radio station, CKBF-FM, which airs programming for both the Canadian and British military personnel stationed at the base.

History

On August 25, 1971, the Canadian Government ratified a ten-year agreement[2] with the British Government that allowed the United Kingdom Forces to use the northern three quarters of the Suffield Block. On December 1, 1971, the Canadian Forces Base Suffield (CFB Suffield) was officially created and allocated to Mobile Command[3]. By January 1972, the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) was established and the first live round was fired by a battlegroup from the 4th Royal Tank Regiment (4th RTR) on July 15, 1972.

Chemical warfare training

The lands comprising modern-day CFB Suffield were known as the "Suffield Block", resulting from the Dominion Land Survey and comprised marginal agricultural land, given the perpetual semi-arid climate. Some settlement was attempted, but most farms were abandoned during the droughts of the 1920s. The total area measures approximately 2,690 km2 (1,040 sq mi)[4] and borders an area north of the South Saskatchewan River.

Following the fall of Algeria to Nazi Germany, the British Army required a new training facility for carrying out experiments in chemical warfare. In 1941, the federal government expropriated the Suffield Block, purchasing the majority of the land from the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Hudson's Bay Company; 452 residents were displaced. Experimental Station Suffield commenced operations on June 11, 1941.

British forces left the joint operation of Suffield to the Canadian Army in 1946. In 1947 the Canadian Army turned operation of Experimental Station Suffield over to the Defence Research Board. In 1950 the facility was renamed Suffield Experimental Station and in 1967 it was renamed to Defence Research Establishment Suffield (DRES). Throughout the period from 1947–1971, the Canadian Army continued occasional use of the Suffield ranges.

Armoured unit training

In 1971 an agreement was signed between the British and Canadian governments permitting the British Army to use over three-quarters of the Suffield Block for armoured, infantry, and artillery live-fire training. DRES was renamed Canadian Forces Base Suffield (CFB Suffield) and new base housing and support facilities were constructed for the British Army and Canadian Forces personnel, including refurbishing the community at Ralston. DRES continued until 2000 when it was merged into a new organization Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).

British Army training has continued at Suffield since 1971, with the shared-use agreement being extended several times (made indefinite in 2006). Regular and reserve units of Canadian Forces Land Force Command began to make use of the base beginning in 1991, around the same time as the downgrading of CFB Wainwright. The British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) consists of pool training equipment used by army units rotating through the base on exercises, as well as a training "opposition force" (OPFOR).

Defence R&D Canada−Suffield

Defence R&D Canada (DRDC) is an agency of the Canadian Department of National Defence responding to the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces. Its mission is to ensure that the CF remains scientifically and operationally relevant. The agency is made up of six research laboratories, one of which being DRDC Suffield. DRDC Suffield is the lead laboratory for Chemical and Biological Defence research, as well as in areas generally related to military engineering, mobility systems, and weapons system evaluation.

Wildlife refuge

Ironically, the decision to designate the Suffield Block a military training facility in 1941 left tens of square kilometres of undisturbed prairie grassland intact from the effects of industrial agriculture. In 1992, the military signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Environment Canada and in 2003 lands along the South Saskatchewan River comprising some 458 square kilometres were designated as the Suffield National Wildlife Area.

See also

References

  1. ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
  2. ^ Overseas Training Areas British Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) - House of Commons, 3 Aug 1971
  3. ^ Backgrounder - Canadian Forces Base Suffield
  4. ^ CFB Suffield
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