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CFB Bagotville gets 2 Air Expeditionary Wing (CPC's 600 man Bn election promise)

Well I might be out of my lane but...I am betting this "new" unit will have some stuff that is already at Bagotville...aka the Radar Sqn (http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/3wing/squadron/12_e.asp).

Now, the most deployable assets of the support side, AFAIK, is 8 ACCS at 8 Wing and the Radar Sqns at CL and BV.  Could they be put under the "command" of this "new" unit, but not move an inch?

Not enough detail IMO at this time...once the smoke and mirrors effect is taken into account.

"This represents a fundamental change from the traditional static wing-based structure for the Air Force. The new AEW will be composed of a Command Element, an Operations Support Flight, and a Mission Support Flight. It will train together and deploy as a team, with aircraft and personnel tailored to the specific requirements of an operation."

Gee.  2 announcements, in 2 days? on major spending in the Quebec area...this one and the Fort in St-Jean.

Hmmmm.





 
I from the 3r22r and some time they say to us that it is possible that have moves to bagotville.
 
OK I feel the urge to say something here, spent 4 years and six months in Bagotville in the 70's, but I am struggling to be fair and polite. :)

As an Anglo family it was four and a half years of marking time. Yes I did take french training on base and was able to get what I needed downtown. I am a pretty open guy to new cultures but with an Anglo family it is difficult to fully engage with the local community.
Bagotville/Lac St.Jean is north, the other side of Laurentide Park, of Quebec City. It is a very very French area and there are no English options like driving to Montreal from St.Jean.

That would be the big two, the language barrier and the relative isolation from the rest of English speaking Canada.
So when they start posting in the additional Anglo families that is the challenge they will face.

Interesting to note that O'Connor wasn't shy about mentioning his time as a youth spent in Bagotville but yet he isn't bilingual.
 
This Globe and Mail story explains how the new unit makes military sense.
http://www.rbcinvest.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070721.wdefence20/front/Front/frontBN/rbc-front

However it seems to me that basing the new unit at Trenton or Winnipeg--where the types of aircraft most likely to be deployed on overseas expeditions (transports) are stationed--would make a lot more practical sense than Bagotville, where only CF-18s are now stationed. And the last time they were deployed overseas was to Aviano, Italy, in 1998/99 in response to the Kosovo crisis.

Maybe some of the new Chinooks will be based at Bagotville.

Mark
Ottawa
 
Courtesy of our friends at the Globe and Mail:

Reproduced under the fair dealings provision of the copy write act and all that jazz.


Rapid-response air unit seen as policy shift

MATT HARTLEY

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

July 21, 2007 at 12:31 AM EDT

OTTAWA — An air force unit capable of rapid deployment will be established at Canadian Forces Base Bagotville in northwestern Quebec, the government said yesterday, a move seen by some experts as a major shift away from Canada's traditional military role as a peacekeeper.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said the government would spend about $300-million on equipment and other costs to set up the unit, and would add 550 new troops to the base over seven years.

"What this unit does is allow the air force to establish an operating air field anywhere in the world, even in remote areas of the North," Mr. O'Connor said in an interview.

It was the second major military announcement in as many days in a province where the military enjoys less support than in other parts of the country, and where the Conservatives must pick up seats to win a majority government.

On Thursday, Mr. O'Connor announced $200-million in funding to resurrect the Saint-Jean campus of the Royal Military College in Quebec, a move designed to draw more potential francophone officers into the Canadian Forces. CFB Bagotville is the only predominantly French-speaking air base in the country.

Some experts see the military's new emphasis on rapid troop deployment as a major shift in both defence and foreign policy.

"We're acquiring the capacity to project forces overseas into difficult areas by buying the equipment that will allow us to go there, and by creating units such as this," said Colonel Michel Drapeau, a Canadian Forces veteran and military analyst.

"Obviously this government intends to have Canada back to where it was a number of years ago, in playing a more active role as a middle power in security operations, wherever these may take place — which is a departure from what we've done for the last 20 years."

This month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a $3.1-billion government expenditure to establish a fleet of six to eight Canadian-made Arctic patrol ships, as well as build a deep-water port, to defend Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic.

"What we're seeing now is a manifestation of this government's unequivocal decision to change the character of the Forces," Mr. Drapeau said. "This government wants to make sure the Canadian military is now a force to be reckoned with and a force that will be ready for deployment as, and when, required."

The new Air Expeditionary Wing will have the capacity to provide a control tower, radar, security engineers and any other infrastructure needed to establish and maintain an airfield anywhere in the world. It is similar to units already employed by the U.S. Air Force. (my emphasis added)

Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, the local MP, said the move would pump between $80-million and $85-million yearly into the Saguenay regional economy.

Bloc Québécois defence critic Claude Bachand said the Conservative government will be disappointed if they think Quebeckers will change their minds regarding Canada's role in Afghanistan.

"I don't think running around throwing a little bit of money on one side or another will change the opinion of the Quebeckers concerning the mission," he said.

Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre said the announcement amounted to little more than political posturing ahead of by-elections in Quebec.

"It appears that we're becoming more focused on being prepared to participate in missions around the world, in coalitions of the willing, rather than following an independent Canadian foreign policy — and I find that troubling," NDP defence critic Dawn Black said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070721.wdefence20/BNStory/National/

I recall reading not so long ago about a "Mission Support Squadron" or something to that effect in Wpg. Now, I can't quite recall all of the details, however I wonder if it is in any way similar to this Air Expeditionary Wing being created at Bagotville?

P
 
InterestedCivilian said:
The new Air Expeditionary Wing will have the capacity to provide a control tower, radar, security engineers and any other infrastructure needed to establish and maintain an airfield anywhere in the world. It is similar to units already employed by the U.S. Air Force. (my emphasis added) 

That clarifies things a bit. This is more of a support capability that I dont think we had before.
 
GreyMatter said:
That clarifies things a bit. This is more of a support capability that I dont think we had before.

Airfield Engineers do that...  Already...
 
Baden  Guy said:
That would be the big two, the language barrier and the relative isolation from the rest of English speaking Canada.
So when they start posting in the additional Anglo families that is the challenge they will face.

Yet, we never talk about franco families being posted in English countryside.  How surprised I am....  I guess francos are expected to speak English, yet Anglos aren't expected to speak French.  In the middle of Saskatchewan, there are not many French options available to me.  I learned the language and I don't whine about it. 

Max
 
SupersonicMax said:
Airfield Engineers do that...  Already... 

Really? On a quick reaction basis or as part of a fully planned deployment?  Or both?
 
Back on topic troops....

The Milnet.ca Staff
 
If you provide the money, the engineers are happy to be the "first in-last out" kinda thing.
If the resources are there, and the tools are packed up ready to go, why not?
 
InterestedCivilian said:
The new Air Expeditionary Wing will have the capacity to provide a control tower, radar, security engineers and any other infrastructure needed to establish and maintain an airfield anywhere in the world. It is similar to units already employed by the U.S. Air Force.
A little over a year ago, I had heard the Air Force was interested in restructuring itself entirely along these lines.  IIRC, the vision was to have 3 or 4 expeditionary wings such as the one described here, and these would rotate through levels of readiness just as Army units in managed readiness.  Maybe this announcement is just a first step?
 
Construction engineering+Air Force assets+force protection=Something interesting..are they foreseeing an other theater of operations?
 
delavan said:
Construction engineering+Air Force assets+force protection=Something interesting..are they foreseeing an other theater of operations?

The AF was discussing doing this when I was posted to Trenton. I left in 2003. It's not a new concept; just an announcement.
 
SupersonicMax said:
Yet, we never talk about franco families being posted in English countryside.  How surprised I am....  I guess francos are expected to speak English, yet Anglos aren't expected to speak French.  In the middle of Saskatchewan, there are not many French options available to me.  I learned the language and I don't whine about it. 

Max

Well I was going to rebut your comments by quoting the new SL policy announced by Gen Hillier a while ago but every DND related web site is down.
Dam terrorists.  :)

So rather than attempt to misquote the document I will just say that most of your military career will demand the us of English not vice versa. This was the logic in the new policy that will be modelled on the civil service policy of language training as required for the position.

Oh and ref the "whine" comment. My family didn't whine we, like most Anglo families posted to Bagotville, just got on with life and did the best we could.
I might add this was in the 70's before cable TV, Video derry ?, hit Lac St.Jean. Our only English TV was one hour of Lawrence Welk on Friday night.  God to even hear the band start up now gives me flash back.  ;D
 
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