Nunavut’s Canadian Rangers lend a hand in military training exercise

Sgt. Jarloo Kiguktak lashes crosspieces to a qamutik March 21 during NOREX 2015, a military training exercise held near Resolute Bay. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CAF)

The 4th Canadian Division’s Arctic Response Company Group takes a break on the sea ice along Cornwallis Island as part of a training exercise held there last week. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CAF)

It’s the beginning of spring on Cornwallis Island, but it didn’t feel that way for the more than 200 Canadian Forces members who camped there for six days last week.

Members of the 4th Canadian Division’s Arctic Response Company Group (ARCG), most of them from Ontario, just completed a 10-day training mission based out of Resolute Bay, where they conducted live-fire ranges and learned to load and unload helicopters, and rappel in rescue situations.

As they practiced survival skills in -50 C wind chills, soldiers conducted snowmobile patrols to test equipment, clothing and transport in temperatures and weather conditions rarely seen in their southern bases.

“Key aspects of this exercise are to enhance our ability to move, survive, and sustain ourselves in the High Arctic, while ensuring we can provide support and operate when and where Canadians require us,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Shane McArthur, commanding officer of the ARCG, in a March 31 Canadian Forces release.

But in a land so foreign to the visiting soldiers, local expertise is highly valued. That’s where 18 members of the 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group came in handy, to share their knowledge of the land.

One of them, Canadian Ranger Sgt. Jarloo Kiguktak travelled from his hometown of Grise Fiord, where he lives with his son, and works in shipping and receiving at the local co-op store.

Kiguktak has been guiding and training with members of the Canadian Armed Forces in Nunavut since 1978.

“I was young and I liked it,” he said in a March 30 release. “I’ve been sticking to it since.”

The Canadian Rangers are considered a sub-component of the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves, carrying out patrols on security and public safety mission in northern, coastal and isolated areas.

First established in 1947, the Canadian Rangers are predominantly made up of Aboriginal soldiers.

“I enjoy the trips and the camping,” Kiguktak said. “The soldiers knew how to listen and we had a few laughs.”

Although many of the training exercises Kiguktak takes part in are in Nunavut, they offer a chance to see new parts of the territory.

“I’ve been all over Ellesmere Island and Little Cornwallis Island,” he said.

Last year, Kiguktak and a group of Rangers flew to Alert, where they drove out on the sea ice about a quarter of the way to the North Pole.

“To be up here is an experience that not many in Canada have,” said Cpl. Isaac Pereira, a member of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters out of Barrie, Ont. NOREX 15 was his fourth winter exercise.

“Everyone is very into the exercise,” he said. “This [Arctic response] is our thing. It’s what we love to do.”