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Feb. 1st, 2005 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
electriclandfrom my cousin J, an amusing article (although that major has some strange speech patterns if we believe the quotes):
No cold like it for U.K. Marines
'You can die in minutes': Royal unit borrows Rangers' warm clothes to train in Canada's North
February 1, 2005
CFB BORDEN, Ont. - Major Alex Williamson, a tall, charming commando with Britain's much-vaunted Royal Marines, is not worried about his mission in Canada's north to cold-weather test his country's new battlefield radio system because his unit is equipped to survive to -30C.
Unfortunately, where he is going has been dipping to -47C.
That disconnect explains why this month's test of Bowman, a $4.4-billion communications system, has become a joint exercise.
The Canadian Rangers, a small, military unit mostly comprising northern aboriginals, has been called in to help.
The mission of the 16 Royal Marine Commandos with U.K.'s Infantry Trials and Development Unit, based in Exeter, near the English Channel, is to see how Bowman holds up in deep cold.
The mission of the four Oji-Cree with the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, from Constance Lake First Nation, near the Kabinakagami River, is to make sure they don't lose any fingers or toes to the cold.
"The only place we could find where it is guaranteed to get down to the temperatures we need is over here," says Maj. Williamson, who arrived at CFB Borden, about 100 kilometres north of Toronto, last week.
Next week, the soldiers will drive for two days to north of Lake Superior to begin the 10-day trial.
"The Royal Marines are the U.K.'s cold-weather experts," says Maj. Williamson.
Even so, no one in his unit has experienced anything close to the conditions they will likely face.
"We have standard operating procedures that limit the coldest temperature in which we work, and we generally limit ourselves to -30 degrees, at that point we move into our tents and wait for it to warm up a little.
"It is a safety issue," he says.
"Clearly, that is a safety issue that can be overridden by the commander on the ground, although I've never seen it done.
"You can die in minutes few," says Maj. Williamson.
In the test area, temperatures were dropping below -40, although normal lows this time of year are -28, not including wind chill.
"The Canadians have quite kindly lent us extra extreme cold-weather clothing which I am sure we will take full use of," said Maj. Williamson. "It doesn't take away from the fact that we're going to be very, very cold."
The borrowed clothing is courtesy of Major Keith Lawrence, commanding officer of the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group.
Maj. Lawrence is aware of the stark differences between most members of his unit and other soldiers -- in Canada and Britain.
"As Canadians, we all have a sense of the winter. As the Canadian military, we need the ability to operate in cold climate. But with the Rangers comes specialized knowledge and specialized equipment," says Maj. Lawrence.
"We call it the Bushman skill-set, the ability to live off the land, to operate in harsh climate away from urban areas," he says.
His Rangers are largely reservists drawn from aboriginal communities north of 50-degrees latitude. In Ontario, that's an area the size of France and Germany combined, populated by 40,000 people, 26,000 caribou and 2,500 polar bears.
Much of the Rangers' equipment looks low-tech by Royal Marines standards, but remains remarkably effective.
"What we take with us is a tool bag for austere climates. It's man versus nature -- and this is something that helps us even our odds," says Maj. Lawrence.
Ranger Warrant Officer Pierre Reeves shows the British some of the Rangers' gear.
There is an ice-fishing kit, snares for catching rabbits and ice-picks for quickly climbing out of water -- should you break through the ice -- within the 45 seconds you have before freezing.
Even their guns are odd.
The Rangers' standard-issue is the .303 Lee-Enfield, a First World War vintage bolt action rifle. Few current Royal Marines have ever fired such an antiquated weapon but its old-fashioned simplicity makes it perfect for the extreme cold.
"This weapon will work in any weather condition," says Warrant Officer Reeves. "No matter how cold it gets, it will keep firing."
Then there is the shotgun.
On long-range patrols, Rangers carry them for defence against marauding polar bears.
"If a polar bear gets within 100 feet of you, you can consider yourself dead, they run so fast and are so fierce. When they look at you, you're just a hot meal," says Warrant Officer Reeves.
Maj. Williamson listens with a bemused look.
"As a norm, we don't carry that," he says. "We have very minimal threat of polar bear on the Scottish Highlands."
In a side room at Ranger headquarters, four Royal Marines unpack large crates that finally made their way through customs.
Inside are the Bowman components: snaking wires, green metal boxes, long, thin aerials, key pads, small computer screens and camouflaged knap sacks.
Bowman has been controversial, from its high cost to problems reported in the British press -- including complaints over its weight and soldiers suffering radiation burns.
Last month, a British newspaper revealed instructions given to troops by a senior officer: "Hang on to your cellphones."
Maj. Williamson bristles when reminded of the criticism. Problems, he says, "are being ironed out very quickly."
Bowman is undergoing tough trials. In the desert of the Persian Gulf nation of Oman it was tested in searing heat. Then to the jungles of Brunei, in South East Asia, where stifling humidity was the enemy.
Now comes the toughest test, for man if not machine. The Arctic is considered the harshest -- and deadliest -- climate on earth.
"All of our military procurement will undergo climatic trials," says Maj. Williamson. "It is a recognition that British forces, and I'm sure Canadian forces as well, do deploy almost anywhere in the world these days."
Besides the testing, Maj. Williamson says he would like to see a moose during his visit.
He is actually likely to eat one.
The Oji-Cree Rangers will welcome the Marines with a feast and smudge ceremony with the ritual burning of sweetgrass, a traditional medicine plant.
Says Maj. Williamson: "It is a whole new learning process for us. We're looking forward to it."
© National Post 2005
No cold like it for U.K. Marines
'You can die in minutes': Royal unit borrows Rangers' warm clothes to train in Canada's North
February 1, 2005
CFB BORDEN, Ont. - Major Alex Williamson, a tall, charming commando with Britain's much-vaunted Royal Marines, is not worried about his mission in Canada's north to cold-weather test his country's new battlefield radio system because his unit is equipped to survive to -30C.
Unfortunately, where he is going has been dipping to -47C.
That disconnect explains why this month's test of Bowman, a $4.4-billion communications system, has become a joint exercise.
The Canadian Rangers, a small, military unit mostly comprising northern aboriginals, has been called in to help.
The mission of the 16 Royal Marine Commandos with U.K.'s Infantry Trials and Development Unit, based in Exeter, near the English Channel, is to see how Bowman holds up in deep cold.
The mission of the four Oji-Cree with the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, from Constance Lake First Nation, near the Kabinakagami River, is to make sure they don't lose any fingers or toes to the cold.
"The only place we could find where it is guaranteed to get down to the temperatures we need is over here," says Maj. Williamson, who arrived at CFB Borden, about 100 kilometres north of Toronto, last week.
Next week, the soldiers will drive for two days to north of Lake Superior to begin the 10-day trial.
"The Royal Marines are the U.K.'s cold-weather experts," says Maj. Williamson.
Even so, no one in his unit has experienced anything close to the conditions they will likely face.
"We have standard operating procedures that limit the coldest temperature in which we work, and we generally limit ourselves to -30 degrees, at that point we move into our tents and wait for it to warm up a little.
"It is a safety issue," he says.
"Clearly, that is a safety issue that can be overridden by the commander on the ground, although I've never seen it done.
"You can die in minutes few," says Maj. Williamson.
In the test area, temperatures were dropping below -40, although normal lows this time of year are -28, not including wind chill.
"The Canadians have quite kindly lent us extra extreme cold-weather clothing which I am sure we will take full use of," said Maj. Williamson. "It doesn't take away from the fact that we're going to be very, very cold."
The borrowed clothing is courtesy of Major Keith Lawrence, commanding officer of the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group.
Maj. Lawrence is aware of the stark differences between most members of his unit and other soldiers -- in Canada and Britain.
"As Canadians, we all have a sense of the winter. As the Canadian military, we need the ability to operate in cold climate. But with the Rangers comes specialized knowledge and specialized equipment," says Maj. Lawrence.
"We call it the Bushman skill-set, the ability to live off the land, to operate in harsh climate away from urban areas," he says.
His Rangers are largely reservists drawn from aboriginal communities north of 50-degrees latitude. In Ontario, that's an area the size of France and Germany combined, populated by 40,000 people, 26,000 caribou and 2,500 polar bears.
Much of the Rangers' equipment looks low-tech by Royal Marines standards, but remains remarkably effective.
"What we take with us is a tool bag for austere climates. It's man versus nature -- and this is something that helps us even our odds," says Maj. Lawrence.
Ranger Warrant Officer Pierre Reeves shows the British some of the Rangers' gear.
There is an ice-fishing kit, snares for catching rabbits and ice-picks for quickly climbing out of water -- should you break through the ice -- within the 45 seconds you have before freezing.
Even their guns are odd.
The Rangers' standard-issue is the .303 Lee-Enfield, a First World War vintage bolt action rifle. Few current Royal Marines have ever fired such an antiquated weapon but its old-fashioned simplicity makes it perfect for the extreme cold.
"This weapon will work in any weather condition," says Warrant Officer Reeves. "No matter how cold it gets, it will keep firing."
Then there is the shotgun.
On long-range patrols, Rangers carry them for defence against marauding polar bears.
"If a polar bear gets within 100 feet of you, you can consider yourself dead, they run so fast and are so fierce. When they look at you, you're just a hot meal," says Warrant Officer Reeves.
Maj. Williamson listens with a bemused look.
"As a norm, we don't carry that," he says. "We have very minimal threat of polar bear on the Scottish Highlands."
In a side room at Ranger headquarters, four Royal Marines unpack large crates that finally made their way through customs.
Inside are the Bowman components: snaking wires, green metal boxes, long, thin aerials, key pads, small computer screens and camouflaged knap sacks.
Bowman has been controversial, from its high cost to problems reported in the British press -- including complaints over its weight and soldiers suffering radiation burns.
Last month, a British newspaper revealed instructions given to troops by a senior officer: "Hang on to your cellphones."
Maj. Williamson bristles when reminded of the criticism. Problems, he says, "are being ironed out very quickly."
Bowman is undergoing tough trials. In the desert of the Persian Gulf nation of Oman it was tested in searing heat. Then to the jungles of Brunei, in South East Asia, where stifling humidity was the enemy.
Now comes the toughest test, for man if not machine. The Arctic is considered the harshest -- and deadliest -- climate on earth.
"All of our military procurement will undergo climatic trials," says Maj. Williamson. "It is a recognition that British forces, and I'm sure Canadian forces as well, do deploy almost anywhere in the world these days."
Besides the testing, Maj. Williamson says he would like to see a moose during his visit.
He is actually likely to eat one.
The Oji-Cree Rangers will welcome the Marines with a feast and smudge ceremony with the ritual burning of sweetgrass, a traditional medicine plant.
Says Maj. Williamson: "It is a whole new learning process for us. We're looking forward to it."
© National Post 2005
