Large military live fire exercise STORMING BEAR for Canadian army 11511163

Defence & Security News - Canada
 
Large military live fire exercise STORMING BEAR for Canadian army.
The Road to High Readiness (RTHR) is being paved in Petawawa this month with live fire combined arms training. Exercise STORMING BEAR, which began on 24 October and will run until 21 November, will see Task Force Tomahawk units completing complex, combined arms and multi-element live fire ranges in the Petawawa training area as they achieve level 4 Company and level 5 Battlegroup standards. (Source Canadian army - By Lieutenant Dan Mazurek, Task Force Tomahawk Public Affairs Officer)
     
The Road to High Readiness (RTHR) is being paved in Petawawa this month with live fire combined arms training. Exercise STORMING BEAR, which began on 24 October and will run until 21 November, will see Task Force Tomahawk units completing complex, combined arms and multi-element live fire ranges in the Petawawa training area as they achieve level 4 Company and level 5 Battlegroup standards. (Source Canadian army - By Lieutenant Dan Mazurek, Task Force Tomahawk Public Affairs Officer) Canadian soldiers from the 1st Royal Canadian Regiment (1 RCR) return to their Light Armoured Vehicle 6.0 (LAV 6.0) after completing a sweep of an enemy during Exercise Storming Bear on 1st November 2016, at 4th Canadian Division Support Base Petawawa, Ontario. Photo by: Corporal Kris Reeve
     
The Road to High Readiness is the Canadian Army’s flagship training regime that prepares soldiers for national or expeditionary deployments, as mandated by the Government of Canada. Exercise STOTMING BEAR is a key stepping stone for high readiness training, and will set the stage for the culmination RTHR training: Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE in May 2017. The goal of the training is to generate a competent, confident and integrated Army brigade that can provide scalable, mission-tailored and responsive forces for full spectrum operations.
 

1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, The Royal Canadian Regiment, The Royal Canadian Dragoons, 2 Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, 2 Combat Engineer Regiment, 2 Signals Squadron, 2 Service Battalion, 2 Field Ambulance, 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron as well as other enablers are all participating. Canadian Army soldiers from the Primary Reserve also participated in Exercise STORMING BEAR, fully integrated into their equivalent and affiliated Regular Force units.

The complex, dynamic nature of these ranges involve dismounted soldiers advancing on objectives supported by live firing armoured vehicles, 155mm artillery, CH-147 Chinook helicopters and other supporting elements. The fact that soldiers will be firing live ammunition amidst these varying moving pieces is the crux of what makes high leveled combined ranges so intricate and such valuable training.

Because elements of Task Force Tomahawk: 2nd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment and C Squadron, The Royal Canadian Dragoons, are based out of Gagetown, New Brunswick, Exercise Storming Bear is further complicated by the distance separating these units.

These challenges to individual soldiers as well as unit and task force command and control organizations will help prepare Task Force Tomahawk when it is called upon to fill High Readiness tasks next year. Until then the Task Force will continue on the Road to High Readiness, the next bound being Exercise Sharpening Tomahawk which will take place in Petawawa at the end of November.
     
The Road to High Readiness (RTHR) is being paved in Petawawa this month with live fire combined arms training. Exercise STORMING BEAR, which began on 24 October and will run until 21 November, will see Task Force Tomahawk units completing complex, combined arms and multi-element live fire ranges in the Petawawa training area as they achieve level 4 Company and level 5 Battlegroup standards. (Source Canadian army - By Lieutenant Dan Mazurek, Task Force Tomahawk Public Affairs Officer) Canadian soldiers from November Company of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) conduct a Company sized attack on the objective during Exercise Storming Bear on 3rd November 2016, at 4th Canadian Division Support Base Petawawa, Ontario. Photo by: Corporal Kris Reeve