By Martin Zeilig
Although Major Richard Kang, Deputy Commanding Officer of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, did not participate in the actual exercises during Exercise First Run from January 24-26 at Netley Creek, he took great pleasure in watching his soldiers perform their tasks.
“It brings me a lot of joy to see them step up to the plate and do this job,” he said during an interview with The Voxair on February 6. “
It’s rewarding to see that.”
Netley Creek is located on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg, about 55 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg. This was the second of three exercises that the Royal Winnipeg Rifles conduct to fulfill their mandate to deploy an infantry company for a full exercise in the Arctic or High Arctic.
These exercises were held to prepare the soldiers for deployment to Carcross, Yukon, from February 14-23.
“The first exercise was classroom lectures to introduce the soldiers to the equipment they would use,” explained Maj Kang, who works as a medical laboratory technologist at a local hospital when not on Reserve duty.
They also learned about cold weather injuries, received avalanche training, and became familiar with the other soldiers they would be working with in the Arctic. “Exercise First Run was where the soldiers practiced all the skills they learned in the classroom in an actual winter environment,” he said.
“They deployed with their kit, snowmobiles, and tents, becoming comfortable with the weather conditions they expected to encounter up north.”
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