“Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.”
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

This report did not doubt the reserve force’s inherent sense of service to community, or their ability to participate effectively in a support capacity during mediation of natural disasters and other local emergencies. It did, though, stress two major structural problems; namely, limited overall numbers, and impaired capacity to generate an adequate numbers of leaders. Currently, the regular forces are reinforcing the reserves and not vice versa.

The participation of Army Reserves as part of specialized local “Heavy Urban Search and Rescue” (HUSAR) teams is presently under “consideration” within the second phase of the Land Force Reserve Restructure (LFRR) project that has been underway since 2000.

Still, without additional financial and logistical measures, Canadian reservists will hardly be able to handle this kind of intensive and specialized role. The number of future Army reservists is expected to remain relatively modest. According to the current LFRR project, the Canadian Forces hope to have some 18,500 part-time soldiers by the end of fiscal year 2005/06.

The immediacy of the terrorist threat notwithstanding, Canadian federal authorities have recognized that a terrorist inspired strike with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) would be a local event. Furthermore, it appears that neither the Army Reserves nor the Regular Forces could, at present, respond in an adequate or immediate fashion. Instead, the decision has been made to significantly expand the size and scope of community-based terrorism response capabilities.

Research at CFB Suffield

One key impulse in this direction has been the development of a Counter Terrorism Technology Center (CTTC) at Canada’s central NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) warfare defense and research facility in Suffield, Alberta. Since 2001, that facility’s traditional function as a training provider for the Canadian and allied forces has been expanded to include a program that, within two years, will impart a similar standard of training for key elements of Canada’s first responder and emergency preparedness communities.

The choice of CFB Suffield is fortunate since few other facilities can offer a comparable level of specialized expertise and controlled environments. The caliber of this facility is also an area within the NATO alliance where Canada is able to participate as a recognized leader.

The facility’s renowned ‘live agent’ training capabilities are being regularly utilized by some of the premiere CBRN teams in the world, including the United States Marine CB Incidence Response Force, the U.S. Technical Escort CB Response Team, the Australian CBR Response Team as well as the Canadian NBC Response Team and the Canadian Land Force Technical School.

The history of Canadian involvement in research of chemical and biological weapons at CFB Suffield dates back more six decades. It is a history of intense scientific cooperation between the military and civilian research sectors of several different major powers, including the United States and Great Britain.

Established in 1939, CFB Suffield advanced to be one of the leading allied facilities in the field of chemical and biological weapons research by at least 1942.

Area “E” was specifically set up at the then Suffield Experimental Station in 1944 to test biological agents some 30 miles north of the main base. Canada, and more specifically the University of Toronto and Connaught Laboratories, can be viewed as the birthplace of biological weapons research in North America. For instance, it was in October 1940 over Balsam Lake north of Toronto that the idea of using sawdust particles dropped by air as a disease-carrying medium was first field-tested.

The Second World War saw nearly 2,500 Canadian soldiers utilized at Suffield to test chemical agents, including mustard gas, blister gas, and tear gas. At the same time, the facility also tested biological agents such as brucellosis and tularaemia.

By 1947 the British Government gave the chemical and biological research effort at Suffield a priority equal only to the drive to develop an atomic weapon. Britain, the United States and Canada collaborated on a significant germ warfare program throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In the end, however, many of the lessons derived made it painfully clear that chemical and biological weapons were too unspecific for effective battlefield use. Hence, by the 1960s, the focus switched from developing weapons to developing countermeasures. These ranged from improved NBC protective equipment and clothing, to new ways of safely detecting, decontaminating and destroying warfare agents. In 1968 Suffield hosted “Exercise Vacuum”, the last large-scale allied NBC warfare exercise on Canadian soil, utilizing 1,500 troops, and 500 scientists, control staff and umpires.

The Research Continues Today

The new WMD threat environment has led to renewed interest in larger field exercises amongst Canadian and NATO planners. Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) recently hosted a multinational NATO NBC defense training exercise during April 25th to May 11, 2003 at CFB Suffield.

The exercise, code-named operation “Prototype Response” involved some 70 active participants and 30 observers from 13 NATO countries. Operation “Prototype Response” was, in part, intended to test the mettle of participants in scenarios involving NBC agents. Specifically, two key NATO capabilities were tested, namely the Prototype Nuclear Biological Chemical Event Response Team (PNBC-ERT) and the Prototype Deployable NBC Analytical Laboratory (PDNBCA-Lab). In both instances, Canadian and NATO authorities were concerned with advancing our ability to detect and mitigate the potential for harm associated with a WMD attack.

In such an attack, NATO commanders would look to PNBC-ERT to assess immediate effects of an NBC event, and advise on ways to mitigate aftereffects and limit casualties and collateral damage.

Similarly, the PDNBC-Lab is designed to be field-portable, and quickly transported to a suspected NBC event to collect and identify samples of possible NBC contamination and assist command and control authorities by performing immediate scientific analysis of WMD agents.

It’s Still about Funding

Following September 11th the federal government pledged some $976 million over five years to upgrade the ability of our national first responder and scientific community to deal with CBRN incidents.

This funding measure was to be spent on three major areas. Some $513 million was to be directed at enhancements to national laboratory networks, and for training and new protective equipment for first responders. A further $396 million was to be channeled through the then newly established Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness Canada (OCIPEP) for strengthening Canada’s ability to respond to threats against critical infrastructure. Finally, some $170 million was to be made available through coordination of Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) to recognize and close any technology and other gaps in our national CBRN capabilities.

Some DRDC money appears certainly destined for the DRES in Suffield, a National Defence facility in Southern Alberta with roughly 145 staff. The DRES, though, is only one of five affiliated Defence Research Establishments maintained and operated in Canada under the Department of National Defence. Other related establishments exist in Atlantic Canada (DREA), Quebec (DREV) and Ontario (DCIEM and DREO). Together, these facilities spend an average of $200 million annually to maintain a combined staff complement of about 1100 specialists in a variety of defence research fields.

Construction of an indoor scenario and lecture training center, as well as an integrated test and evaluation facility largely for training the next generation of Canadian first responders at the DRES in Suffield is currently underway. Once completed, this expanded facility will offer first responders scenario-based training, including live agent training. In addition to exposing trainees to a diluted form of mustard agent, the facility will also operate as a Canadian reference center for chemical and biological agents. Three other key areas of responsibility include development of operational guidelines for first responders, certification of CBRN capable equipment for first response applications and any related test and evaluation services.

Peter Knaack writes on safety and domestic security issues and is a member of the Royal Canadian Military Institute. Mr. Knaack holds a Master’s degree; and a Bachelor’s degree. Mr. Knaack may be contacted through FSJ.

Reference: Fire Services Journal