CFB Bagotville took part of AMALGAM DART
From March 20 to 26, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) conducted an air defense exercise in the Arctic in which approximately 100 soldiers from CFB Bagotville took part.
This exercise named AMALGAM DART involved a wide variety of Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air Force military aircraft operated from northern locations including Whitehorse,Yukon, Yellowknife, NWT, Edmonton in Alberta, Goose Bay in Labrador, Iqaluit in Nunavut and Thule in Greenland.
As CFB Bagotville is an integral part of the defense system put in place by NORAD, the Bagotville soldiers regularly take part in the organization’s exercises and simulations. CF-18s from 433 and 425 Squadrons were deployed to Labrador and Greenland during AMALGAM DART.
NORAD regularly conducts exercises using a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responses to unknown aircraft. NORAD carefully plans and closely controls all exercises. This air defense exercise was an opportunity to hone these skills as Canadian and US forces operated with their allies and partners in the Arctic.
The COVID-19 obviously disrupted the preparations for this major exercise a little while it was necessary to take into account all the rules put in place by the various local authorities as well as respect the strictest health standards of the Armed Forces. Canadian.
Thus, during the exercise, a multi-level risk mitigation procedure was used. Participating US military personnel were to have undergone two negative COVID-19 tests, spaced at least five days apart, with the last test before arriving in Canada.
These restrictions in no way compromised the conduct and success of the exercise.
For more than 60 years, NORAD has identified and intercepted potential air threats to North America through the execution of aerospace alert and control missions. NORAD also monitors inland waterways and maritime approaches to Canada and the United States as part of its maritime alert mission.