Back from the Arctic
 

Just got back from the arctic exercise, which was overshadowed by the unfortunate incident which some of you might have heard of in the news ( the plane crash ) :( Due to the current investigation, I can't post pics of the incident

Anyhoo...Here are some pics

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4558.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4559.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4561.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4554.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4491.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4468.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4418.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4368.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4377.jpg

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4366.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4320.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4331.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4191.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4182.jpg

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

You lot care about Jack Layton?

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

That must have been quite stressful, handling an actual plane crash instead of a mock up (and I appreciate that is an understatement). Thank you, for taking on essential work that must sometimes feel under-appreciated by the general public.

Lovely photos. The area looks both beautiful and sad.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Thank you for the kind post. It was a sad incident indeed, and not something that anyone wants to witness or have happen to their loved ones. The response was very rapid. Resolute Bay has a population of 220 people

In the pics above, you can see the PM in the truck, and The Governor General in military CADPAT. I got to meet them both

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4437.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4410.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4354.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4307.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4184.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4189.jpg

Canadian Ranger

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4148.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4146.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_4210.jpg

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Posting pics makes no difference to the investigation. Its not a military aircraft nor secret flight, Transport Canada conduct the investigation and the media post pics of air incidents all the time.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

True....but am talking about pics from the crash and the response, which the public hasn't seen yet. Transport and safety board are still in the area conducting their investigation.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

I'll come back when you post some more interesting pictures then :frown:

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

+1 ( men in or out of uniform ain't my thing )

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

I was struck by the contrast between the timeless things in the Arctic - the whale and walrus bone, the inukshuk, the landscape, and the trappings of a modern army like satellite dishes and huge portable buildings and especially that portable rpv launcher! Also by the difference in logistical support between the Rangers and southern troops. With the addition of maybe a satellite phone and some fuel drops the man on the ground with a quad or snowmobile and a Lee Enfield .303 covers a lot of area up there. They bring to mind the outposts of the NWMP and RCMP from the late 19th and early 20th centuries only with machines instead of dogs or horses and national defence instead of the law as a mandate.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Looks like the surface of mars!:)

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Where's the snow and ice:confused::confused:

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Its summer;)




That and global warming is a real phenomenon, no matter what Glenn Beck says.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Well, I think your photos are good :p

The landscape is bleak as a bleak thing - and while bleak, it is also interesting and I shall not complain about prairie grassland ever again.

Gremmie - it's summer innit? ;)

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

The fact that its summer and no snow is very disturbing...:eek:
Looks like the OP had a glorified holiday up there, hope he doesn't call that work:huh:

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

That's what I thought. I know it's summer, but I really pictured the arctic to be a big floaty iceberg all year round.
I need to get out more!

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Picking up bits of dead bodies doesn't sound much like a holiday to me.

Thanks for the pics OP, not something one gets to see very often.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

He did not say he was picking up any dead bodies, you've assumed that.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Even seeing them is not particularly pleasant, not what I'd call a holiday.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Resolute Bay is a tourism juggernaut. Millions pass through annually. The dozens of 5 star hotels are ranked among the most posh and chic in the world.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Indeed....where would be all be without our Brit Expats 'armchair warriors'.....:cool:

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

There are actual teams of body baggers who are flown to crash sites. Apparently there's a skill to collecting all the bits in the proper fashion and you can't trust that to any man in a uniform.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

The RAF has their own team. I knew one of them. He and his co-workers apparently were "not liked very much" by the other flyers.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

How wrong you are as per usual. Sure there are trained pers...and many who just get on with things as tasked.

For instance, many of the items (read into that what you want) from the 1998 Swiss Air disaster were picked up by Forces personnel (both on the water and along the shoreline).

The black box recovered from that crash was located and recovered by a friend and fellow paratrooper:

http://navydiver.ca/news/SixtyMetres...ordArticle.pdf

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Thanks for taking the effort to post the photos.

Joking aside, that place reminded me of Sunderland.

But with technology.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Why do the Rangers wear bright red? They don't exactly blend into the background.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Well, sure, if a government doesn't have people on hand with the skills for a task, they call in the army. Collecting wreckage, clearing Toronto's snow, that's the sort of odd job that justifies keeping a standing army.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

What utter nonsense!

Obvious to most I am sure...but to one at least, it is not...:cool:

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Thank you very much for the comments....I am glad I took the DSLR camera, and I'll be sure to post more pics. The launcher mentioned in another post was to launch a UAV ( scan eagle that is capable of 24hr fly time ) and the live feed pictures are just mind blowing on the big screen.

The crash meant we couldn't go ahead with the MAJAID ( major air disaster ) that we had planned, for a couple of days later. The 24hr daylight was sure interesting, coming out of the tent at 2 or 2am with the sun still out.

The lanscape is bleak as you mentioned, not a tree in sight or flowers for that matter.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Were there any decent pubs about?

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

That is harsh. The arctic is nowhere near as bleak as Sunderland.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

I figure you got a slightly more real-life experience than a choreographed exercise though?

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Now we are talking.

I will take this opportunity to also ask what the selection of cheese was like up there.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

can I buy Marmite and Ribena:rofl::rofl:

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

I'm surprised that the military seems to be so more relaxed about its personnel taking cameras along on exercise, and posting photographs taken on exercise on the internet.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Me too,mind you photos of the army holiday cant be bad for recruiting:rofl:
"Join the Army and feel a man , wear a red waterproof whilst quading around Sunderland":rofl:

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Yes, but it's a fancy DSLR. Can't you tell by the composition and lighting?

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

That's one of those expensive cameras, isn't it?

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

Maybe it's a taxpayers camera.

Re: Back from the Arctic
 

I have to admit to being amazed that special forces are involved with the aftermath of an air disaster, unless, of course, it is anticipated that the survivors will all be terrorists. One lives and learns;)