These are two RCAF News Articles reprinted here to highlight the role of 5 Wing Goose Bay Construction Engineering Section in supporting a US Engineer operation. The first was originally published in August 1914, and the second in May 2015. All photos were taken in 2014.
U.S. Army Engineering Reservists Undertake Construction Projects at 5 Wing Goose Bay
Reprinted from RCAF News Article / August 21, 2014
By Lieutenant Olivier Gallant
5 Wing Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, is hosting 280 United States Army engineering reservists from 416th Theater Engineer Command (TEC), which is headquartered in Darien, Illinois, for Exercise Northern Frontier.
The exercise began on June 7, 2014, and runs until August 29.
The combined joint exercise involves members of the 980th Engineer Battalion, from Austin, Texas, which is part of 416th TEC. The wing will benefit from the work of the battalion’s Task Force Lone Star, which has deployed to a remote area to undertake five large construction projects.
The American reservists are building new roads at the wing and improving parts of the airfield. The engineers are also building a 21-metre span bridge at the Austere Operation Training Complex, located about 120 kilometres southeast of Goose Bay – with no road access.
One of 5 Wing Goose Bay’s missions is to support foreign military training. The 416th TEC was looking for a challenging training site to maintain its skills and a high readiness level. Major Benoit Mainville, a Canadian exchange officer based in Virginia, U.S.A., immediately saw the potential the wing had to offer to the battalion and initiated the exercise.
“The 416th TEC is a first-class command. They immediately saw and understood the potential of Northern Frontier,” said Major Benoit Mainville, who initiated the exercise. “With the dynamism of the Canadian team, it was a lot easier to get the United States Army Reserve to commit the resources and transform an idea into a real training event.”
Because of its remote location, the wing posed a logistical challenge. Captain Raoul Tremblay, the construction engineering officer at 5 Wing, and his American counterpart, Captain Michael Davis, an engineer with the 416th TEC, planned the bits and pieces of the exercise for a year.
The two driving forces took advantage of their experience in multi-national operations to make the collaborative training a success.
“Seeing the actual result of this year-long planning phase was the best experience ever,” said Captain Tremblay. “It is a privilege to see the end state of all projects, and to work with the United States Army Reserve 416th TEC.”
“The support from 5 Wing is above all our expectation,” Captain Davis said. “Any time we have a question or an issue the Canadian team is able to help us.
“They are doing a great job.”
5 Wing Goose Bay’s mission is to operate the airfield, provide support to NORAD, operate 444 Combat Support Squadron and support foreign military training.
Construction Engineering in the Service of the Operational Training Centre of Excellence at 5 Wing Goose Bay
Reprinted from RCAF News Article / May 8, 2015
From 5 Wing Public Affairs
An Operational Training Centre of Excellence requires impeccable infrastructure management. And this is the precise challenge that the Construction Engineering Section at 5 Wing Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, meets day after day. Every year, the Labrador region attracts a number of military units that come here to train, and 5 Wing ensures that their needs are met.
5 Wing encompasses more than 200 buildings, including hangars, warehouses, garages, dormitories, and kitchens and a variety of spaces and structures dedicated to military training and base operations. Among other things, there are two firing ranges, a rappel tower and gas chamber where members can earn qualifications for responding to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents, and vast areas used for survival courses.
“It’s an entire inspection, preventive maintenance and repair system that allows us to maintain the buildings and ensure that they meet the particular requirements of the units using them,” explains Major Sylvain Morin, wing logistics and engineering officer.
Within only a few hours, a unit can install a command post in one of the buildings set aside for that function, lodge and feed its troops, store all its materiel, and initiate operations in the air, on land and even on the sea using the base’s direct access to the Atlantic via the Lake Melville waterway. If necessary, the Wing can accommodate a total of 1,200 military personnel.
“The wing facilities become tools for the military personnel deployed to Labrador and contribute directly to the success of the exercises,” points out Major Morin.
The Construction Engineering Section works in close collaboration with Serco Canada (the main service provider for the wing) and Defence Construction Canada (DCC) to oversee the maintenance of the facilities. To offer one example, the maintenance of the two runways, among the largest in Canada, requires special attention to during Labrador’s harsh winters. Serco Canada is responsible for building inspection and maintenance and for the fire, ambulance, snow-clearance and transportation services on the base.
“We’re happy to welcome the American Reserve for a second time in the summer of 2015,” explains Lieutenant-Colonel Luc Sabourin, the wing commander. "5 Wing is multi-functional, and the broad variety of exercises held there clearly demonstrates our ability to adapt to different unit requirements. And our facilities give us this flexibility.
"We take great pleasure in putting our resources and our facilities at the disposal of the men and women who train here in order to serve their countries.”
