Rangers brave bumps, bruises to complete historic mission

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Rangers got hurt, snowmobiles got trashed, but the bumps and bruises suffered by the longest sovereignty patrol in Canadian history proves that Rangers are ready for more – not fewer – treacherous trips across remote regions of the Arctic, says the team’s commander.

A cold, tired crew of Rangers arrived in Alert by snowmobile last week, after more than 1,300 kilometres trekking across the tundra and pack ice between Resolute and the tip of Ellesmere Island.

According to military officials, the trip represented a victory in the country’s battle to show the world that Canada still has ownership over its inhospitable lands north of the 60th parallel.

Major Stewart Gibson, leader of the mission dubbed Operation Kigliqaqvik Ranger III, said his arrival with four other Rangers also showed Canada how vital the northern military reservists are to protecting the country’s sovereignty in the North.

“The Rangers know they can do this,” Gibson said in a phone interview from Alert. “It demonstrates very clearly that these guys are Arctic capable and Arctic tough.”

However, Gibson admitted that the punishing conditions that he and his patrol faced while traveling Ellesmere Island did beat down the team’s morale more than once. Worse yet, two members suffered injuries serious enough that they were evacuated by airplane along the way.

Only days after receiving a medal for his talents for northern travel, Corp. Doug Stern hurt his back after he plowed into a hidden rock while riding into a valley. Stern, a resident of Cambridge Bay and employee of Quttinirpaaq Park on the northern quarter of Ellesmere Island, had to abandon his special role on the trip — collecting Peary caribou droppings to study reasons for the herd’s failing population.

Days after Stern was airlifted from the scene, Master Warrant Officer Gerry Westcott, of Yellowknife, who worked as second in command on the patrol to Alert, injured his leg when he put his foot down to try gain balance after his snowmobile hit a rock.

Gibson defended his team, saying he expected some injuries, due to the nature of travelling land that hasn’t been crossed by anyone else.

“What the injuries reflect is the ruggedness of the terrain. In my opinion, we’re not overtasking my men. They’re quite capable and they’re all looking for more tasks. And they’d be quite happy if I could give them a task every week to go out and do something.”

Gibson’s crew on the second leg of the mission, from Eureka to Alert, represented the best of an already select group of 20, chosen from the more than 1,500 Rangers across the North. Every Inuit member chosen to continue from Eureka completed the trip. They were team mechanic Donald Ittuksardjuat, of Arctic Bay; scout Joe Amarualik, of Iqaluit; and Corp. Stephen Qrunnut, of Igloolik.

Gibson credited the Inuit members’ success to their skills and familiarity with the land. He pointed to one example when he wanted to push straight across a valley, but Amarualik advised taking a detour, which saved them time, and potential damage to their snowmobiles.

“They bring that whole knowledge and ability to work in the Arctic,” he said. “From experience on the land they know a valley’s a valley and by looking at the land, they can tell how that valley is going to turn out. ‘Is it going to turn into a cliff? Is it heading off in the right direction?’

“These skills are very easily transferable to new terrain.”

After planting an iron tripod with the Rangers logo in the snow near Alert, the team returned to Yellowknife for debriefing and equipment clean-up. The tripod was one of three installed during the trip, meant to show Canada’s control over its Arctic islands.

Canadian military officials tout Operation Kigliqaqvik Ranger III as the best available means to defend Canada’s sovereignty over the North, which they say will be increasingly threatened as global warming opens the Northwest Passage. Countries such as the United States argue that the increasingly navigable waterway should be treated as an international strait, not Canadian waters.

The Rangers’ next enhanced sovereignty patrol is scheduled for next year.