News
WATCH: ‘ExecuTrek’ takes business leaders on a tour of Canada’s largest military training event
CFB Wainwright- May 14, 2019
I was fortunate recently to take part in the Canadian Forces Liaison Council’s (CFLC) ‘ExecuTrek’ to see Exercise Maple Resolve in Wainwright, AB. There were about 80 of us; business leaders from the region, some of my fellow Honorary Colonels from across the west, and a group of International Studies students from Simon Fraser University in BC. We travelled in a Hercules aircraft from Edmonton International. From there, buses took us to see everything from battles to briefings.
The scale of Maple Resolve is quite extraordinary. Approximately 5,500 soldiers, 250 actors, contractors and consultants are on site at the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre at Wainwright, AB. Every asset in the field, from tank to LAV to every weapon, every soldier, has sensors attached. Every metric is captured on each and every asset; if a gun is only accurate at 300 metres, then a shot from 400 metres will fail, etc. etc. If wounded, a soldier is assessed a 3 hour window in which to get medical attention. If they don’t receive it, they become a casualty. Computer modelling allows every activity in the operation to be easily recreated and reviewed in real time.
Canadian Army soldiers serving with 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (CMBG) based at the Edmonton Garrison and in Shilo, Manitoba will train with elements of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the British Army, the French Army, the United States (U.S.) Army, U.S. National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, and U.S. Marine Corps. There are more than 900 soldiers from the U.S. Armed Forces, about 150 soldiers from the British Army, and 40 soldiers from the French Army. There are a number of US Blackhawk helicopters from the Colorado National Guard being used for medical air support.
As the premier Canadian Army training event of the year, Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 19 is a proving ground for soldiers in the contemporary operating environment.
During the exercise, soldiers will test their ability to integrate with Allies, non-governmental organizations, and host nation forces as they hone their skills within a realistic, complex and challenging environment. The exercise, designed and developed by the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, provides Canadian Army soldiers, leaders, and other Canadian Armed Forces personnel a unique opportunity to enhance their combat readiness.
A wide variety of tactics, weapons, simulation technology, armoured fighting vehicles, and aircraft are used within a realistic, evolving and challenging operating environment. This exercise puts elements of our Canadian Armed Forces and our allies together in the most realistic setting possible short of an actual deployment.
CMTC’s mission is to design and deliver full-spectrum, immersive, joint and collective training events for the Canadian Armed Forces in a complex Contemporary Operating Environment in order to certify High-Readiness forces. In conjunction with the Royal Canadian Air Force, CMTC is a focal point in the Air Land Integration of the CAF. While major exercises are conducted within the Wainwright training area, support to exercises and training is exportable to any location, and CMTC frequently deploys in support of exercises around Canada and the world.
CFLC ExecuTrek program brings together business leaders to experience, firsthand, Reservists training for domestic and international response. The Canadian Forces Liaison Council (CFLC) mandate is to build diverse relationships that promote the value of reservists to Canadian communities and to improve understanding and support for the military.
“As Alberta Chair for Canadian Forces Liaison Council it was a privilege to host business leaders at our CFLC ExecTrek Maple Resolve, says Carolyn Patton.” Alberta Chair of Canadian Forces Liaison Council.
“It was an exceptional day to experience, firsthand, CAF members training for domestic and international support. Reservists are an incredible resource of talent and bring a wealth of experience, professionalism, and leadership to many organizations. Our guests truly got to see them in action, up close and personal. Our community, workplaces and country are the beneficiaries of their well respected training. Many thanks to 3rd Canadian Division and the staff and leadership at CMTC Wainwright. I mentioned to the business leaders, when you see a Reservist thank them for their service. Better yet, hire them!”
Carolyn Patton – AB Chair CFLC
There is more information about Exercise Maple Resolve here.
For more information about the Canadian Forces Liaison Council, click here.
Here are links to several videos from Exercise.
Here are a few photos from the day.
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- Major Tim Day
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- Captain “Kate” Platoon Commander PPCLI
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- Rick More CEO Red Deer Chamber and Brad Dufresne, Pres Phone Experts
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- The Group travelled by Hercules
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- We learned a ton!
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- We ate army rations
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- HLCol Nick Twyman
Lloyd Lewis is Honorary Lt. Colonel of 41 Signal Regiment and serves on the Board of the AB Chapter of the CFLC. He is President of Todayville, a digital media company based in Alberta.
Earlier this week Mark Zuckerberg rocked the world of information with the news that Facebook, Instagram, and his other Meta properties would no longer use third party fact checking groups to censor information. As the week wraps up, Zuckerberg sits down for an extended conversation with Joe Rogan. For anyone interested in the world of information, this is a must see / listen.
From the Joe Rogan Experience
Mark Zuckerberg is the chief executive of Meta Platforms Inc., the company behind Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, Meta Quest, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, Orion augmented reality glasses, and other digital platforms, devices, and services.
Daily Caller
‘Embarrassingly Wrong’: Corporate Media’s Talking Heads Confess Their Biggest Blunders Of 2024
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Owen Klinsky
From MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to businessman and television personality Mark Cuban, a slew of media leaders divulged what they got wrong this past year in a Semafor article published Monday.
Media missteps included NBC News President Rebecca Blumenstein underestimating the impact of inflation on politics, Fox News anchor Dana Perino incorrectly predicting Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce would get engaged and CNBC financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin not putting “DOGE and the pairing of Elon [Musk] and Vivek [Ramaswamy]” on his 2024 Bingo card, according to the piece. Despite the variety of answers, one topic — Joe Biden’s lack of mental acuity — seemed to sit at the top of the list for many respondents.
“Like many others, I was completely, utterly, totally, embarrassingly wrong about [President Joe] Biden’s lack of mental competence,” progressive British-American broadcaster Mehdi Hasan told Semafor.
Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential election in July following a disastrous June debate performance in which he appeared to lose his train of thought several times and stated he “beat Medicare.” Prior to the decision to exit the race, the White House made various efforts to mask the effects of his age, with the president wearing sneakers rather than dress shoes and taking shorter steps up Air Force One.
The White House actively denied claims Biden’s mental health was declining, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre characterizing a video of the President wandering away from world leaders at the G7 Summit as a “cheap fake” and claiming it was orchestrated by Republicans. Much of the corporate media supported the White House’s effort, with panelists on MSNBC’s Morning Joe describing a June article from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that detailed the president’s declining mental health as “outrageous,” and CNN’s Bakari Sellers suggesting in July, well after the debate, that there was no reason to believe Biden could not serve for another four years.
Other examples of the media downplaying concerns over Biden’s mental acuity include The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg rushing to the president’s defense after co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Biden could have a “senior moment” on stage prior to the debate and MSNBC analyst Mike Barnicle describing members of the Democratic Party as cruel in July for trying to oust the president from the 2024 race.
More recently, former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza apologized in a YouTube video posted in December for waiting too long to investigate concerns that Biden’s mental acuity was deteriorating, admitting that as a journalist he should have “pushed harder earlier for more information about Joe Biden’s mental and physical well-being.”
American talk show host Brian Lehrer made a similar apology in his response to Semafor: “Many callers to my show said Joe Biden was in no shape to run for re-election. I mostly dismissed it as ageism. Then I watched the debate.”
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