EX Nordic Dragoon
On February 16th “A” Squadron of the Royal Canadian Dragoons deployed to the Petawawa training area for Ex NORDIC DRAGOON. The three day long exercise took place in the Petawawa training area and was designed to teach soldiers the basics of winter warfare.
With the CF currently focusing their efforts on operations in Afghanistan, A Sqn seized an opportunity to design a winter warfare exercise to teach and refresh a skill set that might otherwise go ignored. While the primary goal of the exercise was simply to get new soldiers to learn how to dress for, live in, and operate in winter conditions, other skills were also utilized. Troopers and corporals had a chance to lead patrols and practice their navigation skills and soldiers at all levels were given a chance to go over battle procedure; from the officers planning the operations, to the troops receiving orders from their patrol commanders.
Preparation for the exercise started a week before the troops deployed to the field. The soldiers of A Sqn were given lectures on the symptoms and treatment of conditions common in cold weather such as frostbite
With the CF currently focusing their efforts on operations in Afghanistan, A Sqn seized an opportunity to design a winter warfare exercise to teach and refresh a skill set that might otherwise go ignored. While the primary goal of the exercise was simply to get new soldiers to learn how to dress for, live in, and operate in winter conditions, other skills were also utilized. Troopers and corporals had a chance to lead patrols and practice their navigation skills and soldiers at all levels were given a chance to go over battle procedure; from the officers planning the operations, to the troops receiving orders from their patrol commanders.
Preparation for the exercise started a week before the troops deployed to the field. The soldiers of A Sqn were given lectures on the symptoms and treatment of conditions common in cold weather such as frostbite
and hypothermia. In addition to learning how to keep themselves healthy under adverse winter conditions, they were also taught how to live and fight in the cold. This was all complemented by physical training involving snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, which trained the troops how to move through snowy terrain and hardened them to the elements.
The exercise kicked off with a snowshoe hike to Charlie Range. Carrying their weapons, and pulling the sleds that contained the equipment they would need to survive for the next three days, the troops snowshoed cross-country in order to get to their patrol base. Once there, they set up their patrol base and command post and hunkered down for the exercise. The theme for the first day was mentoring and the experienced soldiers in each tent group took the time to guide the younger soldiers through the setup of the camp and night routine. This start to the exercise allowed the troops to ease into their first winter warfare experience and prepare for the more challenging days ahead.
On the second day the troops kicked off with a series of day patrols and snowmobile training. The day patrols involved snowshoeing through the woods, and navigating with a map and compass in order to reach a series of pre-designated check points. To make things more interesting, the soldiers also had to keep hidden from the “enemy force”, which were actually the soldiers going over their snowmobile familiarization. While this was happening, the troops helping man the command post got a chance to brush up on their radio procedure by taking down all the reports from the patrols, and keeping track via radio of all the troops’ movements. As night fell, the soldiers prepared for night patrolling. The majority of the Sqn trekked through the dark in search of their navigation points while a select group of “snowmobile commandos” set out to wreak havoc on the patrols. After a successful night of patrolling and a few robust firefights, the Sqn returned to camp for a few hours of much-deserved sleep.
The exercise kicked off with a snowshoe hike to Charlie Range. Carrying their weapons, and pulling the sleds that contained the equipment they would need to survive for the next three days, the troops snowshoed cross-country in order to get to their patrol base. Once there, they set up their patrol base and command post and hunkered down for the exercise. The theme for the first day was mentoring and the experienced soldiers in each tent group took the time to guide the younger soldiers through the setup of the camp and night routine. This start to the exercise allowed the troops to ease into their first winter warfare experience and prepare for the more challenging days ahead.
On the second day the troops kicked off with a series of day patrols and snowmobile training. The day patrols involved snowshoeing through the woods, and navigating with a map and compass in order to reach a series of pre-designated check points. To make things more interesting, the soldiers also had to keep hidden from the “enemy force”, which were actually the soldiers going over their snowmobile familiarization. While this was happening, the troops helping man the command post got a chance to brush up on their radio procedure by taking down all the reports from the patrols, and keeping track via radio of all the troops’ movements. As night fell, the soldiers prepared for night patrolling. The majority of the Sqn trekked through the dark in search of their navigation points while a select group of “snowmobile commandos” set out to wreak havoc on the patrols. After a successful night of patrolling and a few robust firefights, the Sqn returned to camp for a few hours of much-deserved sleep.
The final day of the exercise began a few hours earlier than many of the soldiers expected. After an arduous day of patrolling the soldiers were rather rudely awakened at 0400hrs and told that they had to shift their patrol base several kilometres to the south. This was the basis of a competition that pit the tent groups against each other in a race to reach the new patrol base to secure and set up the new camp as quickly as possible. While the competition was close, a winning tent group was determined. This tent group was led by MCpl Rymes and crewed by Tpr Mackey, Tpr Shepherd, Tpr Lehman, Tpr Malloff. After the competition was finished, breakfast was served and the Sqn returned to base to complete post-Ex drills.
Despite the cold, the soldiers of A Sqn maintained a high level of morale throughout the entire exercise. While there were a few close calls, such as the Sergeant Major’s tent almost catching fire, and several troops sustaining minor injuries from trees, the exercise achieved the aim. Everyone involved became more proficient at adapting to winter conditions and furthering their soldier skills.
Despite the cold, the soldiers of A Sqn maintained a high level of morale throughout the entire exercise. While there were a few close calls, such as the Sergeant Major’s tent almost catching fire, and several troops sustaining minor injuries from trees, the exercise achieved the aim. Everyone involved became more proficient at adapting to winter conditions and furthering their soldier skills.
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