From May 1 until May 11, approximately 2500 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel validated their readiness on Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 21 (Ex MR 21) in Wainwright, Alberta. While Wainwright may seem a long way from CFB Kingston the ties are closer than you might think. The Canada Army Doctrine and Training Centre is responsible for the MAPLE RESOLVE exercises, the Canadian Army’s largest and most complex annual training exercise.
Ex MR 21 validated the readiness of 1st and 2nd Battalions, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, as part of 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1 CMBG) which will assume the High Readiness Brigade role on July 1, 2021.
In addition to 1 CMBG troops, the Ex MR 21 training audience included enablers from the Canadian Combat Support Brigade, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and nearly 100 people from CFB Kingston.
Approximately 260 soldiers from the Canadian Combat Support Brigade, headquartered at CFB Kingston were exercised, including elements from Kingston’s own 21 Electronic Warfare Squadron and the Canadian Army Intelligence Regiment and CFB Gagetown’s 4th Artillery Regiment (General Support).
While the number of participants was reduced to roughly 50% from historical numbers, Ex MR 21 was the largest training event conducted by the Army since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Training in a COVID-19 environment is an extra layer of complexity, but it is necessary,” said Colonel Patrick Robichaud, Commander of the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre. “We constantly evaluated the risk posed by COVID-19 and consulted our medical partners as excellent training was achieved during Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 21.”
The threat of a COVID-19 outbreak within the training audience or spread to the local community was addressed through several layers of public health measures.
A vaccination clinic was conducted between April 27 and 30, where a first dose of the Moderna vaccine was offered to all exercise participants not already vaccinated. Over 1700 doses were delivered, which equates to over 90% uptake. The vaccination clinic notwithstanding, public health measures such as arrival and exit testing, physical distancing, mask-wearing and cohorting were followed.
A “training area bubble” strictly limited the movement of personnel, pre-exercise quarantines were mandated, and surveillance COVID testing was also conducted throughout the exercise for select cohorts.
The RCAF provided an Air Task Force to the exercise to support training operations and further improve air-land integration. This included two CH-147F Chinook and eight CH-146 Griffon helicopters, an MPN-25 radar, and approximately 400 personnel.
The Canadian Army rose to the added challenge of executing its most complex force-on-force annual training exercise in a persistent COVID-19 environment – using lessons learned from previous events, and further refining procedures to ensure continued success. While this iteration winds down for another year, the training will not stop: planning for Ex MR 22 has already begun, and roughly 2000 soldiers from 1 CMBG will remain in Wainwright to conduct live-fire training on Ex AGILE RAM.
To view more photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianarmy/albums/72157719059763813