Area MP wants Vernon cadet camp to become full-time CAF base

[The Bread Guy]

Love to hear from folks who know more about the specifics of this place & how realistic it is for use by any CAF units.

Local MP calls for Vernon cadet camp be used for Armed Forces expansion

The MP for Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee has called for the local cadet camp to be used for military growth.Sco...

vernonmatters.ca

MP calls on government to bring military presence to Okanagan - Vernon Morning Star

Scott Anderson of Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee sees Vernon Army Camp as perfect spot for CAF locale

vernonmorningstar.com

MP's profile

Scott Anderson - Member of Parliament - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada

Scott Anderson - Member of Parliament - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada

www.ourcommons.ca

 

[medicineman]

Interesting...I did SYEP at the ARTC on the other side of the highway/up the hill from the Cadet Camp in 1986, and also worked at the Reserve MIR in 1988. They'd need to likely revamp a lot of stuff, add a decent training area as well - was pretty small IIRC AND when I was there last time, exercises were out in public/Crown land in around Peachland, but no digging in, etc and lots of warnings ahead of us doing stuff like ambushes, attacks, etc. Area's hot/dry in summer, with lake access for watermanship training and good skiing in winter - could be used for winter training/ski school I suppose. Area's quite hilly - we had some brutal route marches over hill and dale there - so good for developing fitness. I almost wonder if it would be more used as a staging post for fire suppression in the summer as opposed to death and destruction training though...unless they're looking for expansion of the BCD's and or RM Rang's.

 

[markppcli]

Love to hear from folks who know more about the specifics of this place & how realistic it is for use by any CAF units.

Local MP calls for Vernon cadet camp be used for Armed Forces expansion

The MP for Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee has called for the local cadet camp to be used for military growth.Sco...

vernonmatters.ca

MP calls on government to bring military presence to Okanagan - Vernon Morning Star

Scott Anderson of Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee sees Vernon Army Camp as perfect spot for CAF locale

vernonmorningstar.com

MP's profile

Scott Anderson - Member of Parliament - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada

Scott Anderson - Member of Parliament - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada

www.ourcommons.ca

It would require essentially a full rebuild. I stayed there a couple years ago for fire fighting. While fine for temporary quarters theres no chance your having people live there on a full time basis. It doesnt have the workshops, hangers, or weapons storage facilities youd need either. Id actually much rather see it as a regional reserve hub where instead of parading at a heritage site in Vancouver you make the drive for your weekend training and everything you need for that is kept right there.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Sure, it's perfect.

When this was training . . .




The camp was just the ticket . . .





And even thirty years later, with a little improvement, it was fit for purpose (a place for children cadets in the summer).

 

[MilEME09]

Definitely out of date and would require a full rip down and rebuild. Even then, would probably require significant purchasing of private land to expand the footprint to accommodate the needs of a modern force.

 

[Furniture]

Having spent the summer of '96 there as a cadet, I don't recall any of it being particularly suitable for military purposes.

It would need a complete rebuild, and as I recall there was a highway that cut through it...

I suspect there are better places to build a CAF station/base in BC. Maybe get the local FN's involved, and create a warrior regiment based on FN's customs like a highland or Irish regiment.

 

[MilEME09]

Having spent the summer of '96 there as a cadet, I don't recall any of it being particularly suitable for military purposes.

It would need a complete rebuild, and as I recall there was a highway that cut through it...

I suspect there are better places to build a CAF station/base in BC. Maybe get the local FN's involved, and create a warrior regiment based on FN's customs like a highland or Irish regiment.

Highway 97 does cut the camp, there is expansion space on the SW and west side, id almost say sell off the land for the east side and build new on the west side

 

[ArmyRick]

They rebuilt Meaford in the 1990s from a camp ish type of thing to a Training center. Me thinks it can be done.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Love to hear from folks who know more about the specifics of this place & how realistic it is for use by any CAF units.

Local MP calls for Vernon cadet camp be used for Armed Forces expansion

The MP for Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee has called for the local cadet camp to be used for military growth.Sco...

vernonmatters.ca

MP calls on government to bring military presence to Okanagan - Vernon Morning Star

Scott Anderson of Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee sees Vernon Army Camp as perfect spot for CAF locale

vernonmorningstar.com

MP's profile

Scott Anderson - Member of Parliament - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada

Scott Anderson - Member of Parliament - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada

www.ourcommons.ca

8 - 9 hours from Vancouver Island, 5 -6 hours from Vancouver, assuming the Coquihalla Highway is open (sometimes it's not during the busiest part of the training year) and BC Ferries are running.

So about 80% of the reservists in BC would struggle to get there for a weekend.

I recall an effort to figure out if it could be repurposed and the H&S issues alone were apparently daunting. The Cadets also used words to the effect of "Over our dead bodies" at one point too.

Making Chilliwack Great Again would be a far better use of time and money IMHO. Unlike Vernon it has an excellent gallery range, a dems range and a grenade range too.