Keen-eyed Cochranites might have noticed a heavier than usual military presence in town as the Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signal Squadron (1 CMBG HQ & Sig Sqn) conducts a military training exercise over the next few days at the Cochrane RancheHouse.
Capt. Jonathan Barraclough, a troop commander with the 1 CMBG HQ & Sig Sqn said the squadron is conducting a command post movement exercise and explained what it entails.
“So, we started in Calgary and we’re making our way west towards the mountains ending at the Rocky Mountain Cadet Camp,” Barraclough explained. “And Cochrane here’s one of our stops along the way.
“What we’re practicing is the movement of the brigade command post for the purpose of, in either a domestic or international operation, being able to provide the commander of the brigade and their staff a place to work out in a non-traditional office environment.”
He further explained that his group are signalers that specialize in providing command and control services to the brigade, and that is what is taking place at the RancheHouse.
“We’re practicing especially working on doing urban set-ups inside buildings and those kinds of things instead of using tentage or vehicles for our set of areas,” he said.
With several armed forces members moving everything from communication equipment or even tables and chairs, inside the RancheHouse, Barraclough said it is all training to ensure that it can be completed quickly, effectively, and securely.
“We actually have two locations right now, one here and one’s in Calway Park, and the scenario that we’re practicing is the notional staff would move from there to here, as the battle progressed towards the mountains,” Barraclough said.
With the 1 CMBG HQ & Sig Sqn moving every two to three days, he said the exercise started on the Oct. 16 and is expected to take place until Oct. 26.
Barraclough said it is a really happy to work with the community of Cochrane adding that he is grateful to the Town to let them use the RancheHouse for their exercise, as it gives them the chance to use buildings, while working around regular people.
“We are so used to working in military training environment where we get everything and we do what we want, but here it adds a layer of complexity and quite frankly realistic training for us,” he said. “Especially if we look at a what’s going on in Ukraine, with the use of urban environment for the operations that are on-going there, you [can] do some really realistic training here.
“And we’re really thankful to the communities inside Alberta that are letting us use their areas.”
