Op NANOOK-NUNAKPUT checks out the Northwest Passage
October 18, 2024 - Sgt Jonathan Barteaux, 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group
The aim of Operation NANOOK-NUNAKPUT 2024 (Op NA‑NK 24) was to monitor shipping traffic in the Northwest Passage.
This aim was achieved by sending elements of the Land Task Force (LTF) out to occupy observation posts in various locations, with support from a detachment of Canadian Rangers from 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (1 CRPG).
This detachment consisted of local Rangers from the Cambridge Bay patrol, with Ranger Instructors (RIs) from 1 CRPG Headquarters in Yellowknife. Whenever the LTF sections deployed out onto the land, the Rangers and RIs were embedded with them to act as guides and advisors, using their vast and deep knowledge of the land in their area. The Rangers and RIs were also able to provide predator defence in the event of wildlife encounters.
Some individual Rangers had decades of experience in the organization, including participating in previous NANOOK‑series operations, whereas others were newly enrolled and experiencing this type of operation for the first time. All Rangers, however, were knowledgeable and experienced on the land, with plenty of life experience working in the Arctic tundra terrain that is often very unfamiliar to the conventional troops from Southern Canada.
Caption
Local Canadian Rangers from 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (in red) provide assistance and knowledge to the Canadian Armed Forces members of the Land Task Force at an observation point on Victoria Island, Nunavut, during Operation NANOOK-NUNAKPUT on Aug. 24.
Photo by MCpl Alana Morin, Joint Task Force - North
While the Rangers all felt at home on the tundra in their local area, they also got to experience it in a different manner than they were accustomed to during Op NA‑NK 24. They saw their familiar ground, but instead of arriving by ATV, boat or on snowmobile like they are accustomed to, many of the Rangers got their first rides in a CH‑147F Chinook helicopter or a CC‑138 Twin Otter flown by Royal Canadian Air Force personnel in the Air Task Force. The Rangers shared their experience with the LTF soldiers in the form of advice and story telling to round out the Southern soldiers' Northern experience.
The Rangers and RIs were also notably present for a close encounter with a foreign vessel. When the first LTF section was inserted into their observation post location, they came face to face with a sailing vessel moored in the bay immediately in front of their position on Jenny Lind Island, southeast of Cambridge Bay. Shortly after the LTF occupied the observation post, a zodiac full of Polish Arctic adventurers came ashore and introduced themselves to the section. After a brief friendly conversation, the section was then able to provide more detailed information to report on the boat and its crew than any other previous Op NA‑NK has ever been able to provide on a vessel they have observed.
Caption
Canadian Armed Forces members, including those from 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, pose for a group photo during Operation NANOOK‑NUNAKPUT in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, on Aug. 23.
Photo by Cpl Guillermo Bonilla, Canadian Armed Forces Photo
Caption
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces and 1 Combat Engineer Regiment divers set off to undergo Surface Level Training in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, as part of Operation NANOOK‑NUNAKPUT on Aug. 27th.
Photo by MCpl Alana Morin, Joint Task Force - North