Chris Lowrey
MANSFIELD ET PONTEFRACT June 1, 2018
Residents of Mansfield et Pontefract can be excused if they were alarmed by the sight of a military presence in their neck of the woods.
Canadian Forces members from CFB Petawawa were in the municipality over the last few days performing military exercises.
The exercises took place from June 1 to 6. The troops were involved in both Air Force and platoon-level training.
The exercises were a part of the group’s special operations and tactical aviation course. Since they were already performing the Air Force training, it made sense to do the platoon-level training at the same time.
The Air Force preparations employed the use of Griffon helicopters.
Around two-dozen troops took part in special warfare training, which focuses on small groups performing specialized exercises.

“We call them direct actions, or hits,” said Captain Sally-Ann Cyr of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment. “We have a problem set where the guys need to go in and solve. They essentially work in very small teams to be able to go in and do that. So they would have personal weapons with them, they might have specialty capabilities such as snipers.”
The training took place at the Davidson Mill and included all sorts of tactical operations, much of which was performed at night.
“This particular training we’re going to be using explosives, which is why we wanted to make sure that we communicated with the community so much because we didn’t want anybody to be taken unawares,” Cyr said.
The explosives were very small scale and mainly used on plywood structures.
“To somebody who’s not used to being around it, it might seem loud,” Cyr explained.
Cyr said that both the municipality and the residents have been extremely co-operative.
“We met with the town council long before this happened,” stated Cyr. “And of course we have to have permission from the owners of Davidson Mill. So the community has been very, very aware and extremely supportive. I can’t say enough about how supportive they’ve been.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Lt. Col. Andrew Leslie, the commanding officer of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment.
“Our regiment is extremely thankful for the outstanding support from the municipality and residents of Mansfield et Pontefract,” Leslie said in an email. “Training in your community provided a unique and challenging environment to test our capabilities.”
The soldiers didn’t stay onsite as Special Forces members usually perform their operations and leave, a process the training aims to mimic.
“Within Special Forces we don’t tend to set up large camps,” Cyr said. “We kind of go in and do the business and then leave again, that’s essentially how we train.”