39 Canadian Brigade Group

39 Canadian Brigade Group (39 CBG; French: 39^e Groupe-brigade du Canada) is a Canadian Forces formation of the Canadian Army under the 3rd Canadian Division. The brigade group is composed of Canadian Forces (CF) Primary Reserve units, all of which are based within the province of British Columbia.[3] 39 CBG Headquarters is located at the Major-General B.M. Hoffmeister OC, CB, CBE, DSO Building, 1755 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6R 0G7 .

39 Canadian Brigade Group
Active	1997–present
Country	Canada
Branch	Canadian Army Primary Reserve
Type	Headquarters
Part of	3rd Canadian Division
Garrison/HQ	Major-General B.M. Hoffmeister Building Vancouver, British Columbia
Motto(s)	Latin: Splendor sine occasu, lit. 'Splendour without diminishment'[1]
March	"39 Canadian Brigade Group March"
Website	www.army-armee.forces.gc.ca/en/39-cbg/index.page
Commanders
Brigade Commander	Col Paul Ursich, CD[2]
Brigade CWO	CWO Bryan Gradner, CD
Unit abbreviation	39 CBG

The brigade group is made of approximately 1,500 soldiers located in reserve units located in communities across British Columbia. Most of the soldiers in 39 CBG are reservists, serving part-time within their communities.[4]

The brigade maintains armoured, artillery, infantry, engineer and service support units to assist Joint Task Force Pacific (JTFP) and Canadian Joint Operations Command with domestic operations support (natural disasters, etc.), as well as supporting the Regular Force units of the 3rd Canadian Division by supporting and augmenting its battle groups. Soldiers of 39 CBG are trained in supporting domestic and also expeditionary operations. Every year many members of 39 CBG volunteer to serve all over the world in UN and NATO deployments. Hundreds of soldiers within the brigade have experience in deploying to the mission in Afghanistan as well as deploying to support the security operations for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.[4]

Brigade units

Unit	Type	Location
39 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters		Vancouver
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own)	Armoured reconnaissance	Vancouver
The British Columbia Dragoons	Armoured reconnaissance	Kelowna and Vernon
5th (British Columbia) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA	Artillery	Victoria and Nanaimo
15th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA	Artillery	Vancouver and Aldergrove
39 Combat Engineer Regiment	Combat engineering	North Vancouver, Chilliwack and Trail
39 Signal Regiment	Communications	Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and Kelowna
The Rocky Mountain Rangers	Light infantry	Kamloops and Prince George
The Royal Westminster Regiment	Light infantry	New Westminster and Chilliwack
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada	Light infantry	Vancouver
The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)	Light infantry	Victoria, Nanaimo and Comox
39 Service Battalion	Combat Service Support	Richmond and Victoria

Other units

39 CBG is supported by several other units that provide specialist duties, such as medical services, military police and intelligence. These units do not fall under the 39 CBG command structure; however, they do work closely with it in order to provide these services to the soldiers of the brigade group.

Medical

The medical needs of 39 CBG, such as tending to wounded troops in the field, are provided by two field ambulance units. These two units are part of the Royal Canadian Medical Service and 1 Health Services Group.[5]

• 11 (Victoria) Field Ambulance in Victoria
• 12 (Vancouver) Field Ambulance in Vancouver

Military police

The military police support for 39 CBG is provided by the Canadian Forces Military Police. The military police unit assigned to the brigade is 12 Military Police Platoon (12 MP Pl) and is based out of the Colonel Sherman Armoury in Richmond. 12 Military Police Platoon reports to its parent units, 15 Military Police Company, and 1 Military Police Regiment, both based out of Canadian Forces Base Edmonton (CFB Edmonton).

Intelligence

Military intelligence services for 39 CBG are provided by 4 Platoon of 6 Intelligence Company based out the Major-General Bert Hoffmeister Building in Vancouver. The unit headquarters is at Brigadier James Curry Jefferson Armoury and operates several platoons in several brigade groups. 6 Int Coy operates platoons in:

• Edmonton
• Vancouver
• Winnipeg

Exercise Cougar Salvo

Exercise Cougar Salvo is 39 CBG's annual field training exercise which combines the brigade as a whole. Every year, the exercise is held in a different location, usually in British Columbia. In 2006, it was held in the streets of Kamloops, in 2007, at HMCS Quadra Sea Cadet Summer Training Centre near Comox. However, it has been held in other locations, such as in the United States. In 2012, Exercise Cougar Salvo was held in Boise, Idaho.

References

1. "39 Canadian Brigade Group". Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges. Canadian Heraldic Authority. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
2. "Brigade Commander, 39 CBG". Department of National Defence/Canadian Army/39 CBG. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
3. "39 Canadian Brigade Group Homepage". Department of National Defence/Canadian Army/39 CBG. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
4. "About 39 CBG". Department of National Defence/Canadian Army/39 CBG. 7 December 2011. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
5. "CF Health Services Reserve Units". Department of National Defence/CF Health Services. 21 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.

External links

• Official website