Defence Research Establishment Suffield

The military research facility located 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Suffield, Alberta, operated under the name of the Defence Research Establishment Suffield from 1967 to its renaming to DRDC Suffield in 2000.

History

After being renamed from the Suffield Experimental Station in July 1967, the Defence Research Establishment Suffield (DRES) continued to operate under the Defence Research Board. On August 3, 1971, Agriculture Minister H.A. (Bud) Olson announce "that a Canadian Forces Base will be established on the military reservation of the Defence Research Establishment at Suffield, near Medicine Hat" where more than 6,000 British troops will train between May and November 1972.[1] A few weeks later, on August 25, 1971, the Canadian Government ratified a ten-year agreement[2] with the British Government that allowed the United Kingdom Forces to use the Military Training Area (MTA) on the Suffield Block. The MTA occupies the northern three quarters of the military reserve and the remaining southern area was named the Experimental Proving Grounds (EPG).

On December 1, 1971, the Canadian Forces Base Suffield (CFB Suffield) was officially created and allocated to Mobile Command.[3] 162 staff members, over 90 buildings, over 80 vehicles, and the Crown Village of Ralston were transferred from DRES to CFB Suffield and CFB Suffield was co-located with the Research Establishment.[4]

In 1974, the Defence Research Board evolved into the Research and Development Branch which was administered under the Assistant Deputy Minister Materiel of the Canadian Department of National Defence. Another reorganization followed on April 1, 2000 when the Research and Development Branch was placed under the Assistant Deputy Minister Science & Technology and renamed to Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).

Chief DRES Tenure
Mr. E.H. Bobyn September 1964[5] To 1968
Dr. B.J. Perry 1968 to June 2, 1971[6]
C.R. Iverson June 11, 1971[7] to ?
R.M. Hegge[8] ? to 1979
Dr. C.H. Baker 1981[9]
Dr. J.C. Moldon[8] Aug 1990 to ?

Large Chemical Training Events
  • Exercise Vacuum was undertaken in the fall of 1968 with the objective "To test, under realistic battle conditions, new defensive doctrine, training agents, clothing and equipment designed as a result of shortcomings brought out in previous trials ..."[10] Almost 2000 men participated in Exercise Vacuum, which was held on the Suffield Block. Simulants (mainly based on the tear gas CS) were used in the experimental phase of Exercise Vacuum.[11]

Large Explosive Events
  • Distant Plain 6 was a 100-ton detonation (spherical form) in 1967[12]
  • The Prairie Flat 500 ton detonation (spherical form) on 9 August 1968[12] at the Watching Hill test site formed a 64-meter diameter crater[13]
  • The Dial Pack 500 ton detonation[14] on 23 July 1970.
gollark: I can have our enslaved graphics designers do it.
gollark: We could just put more bees onto the bees.
gollark: In what guise?
gollark: I propose more bees.
gollark: So actually it's optimal.

References
  1. "UK Units Will Train In Alta",Winnipeg Free Press, page 26, 3 August 1971
  2. Overseas Training Areas British Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) - House of Commons, 3 Aug 1971
  3. Backgrounder - Canadian Forces Base Suffield
  4. "Interim Memorandum of Agreement Between the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Chairman, Defence Research Board Relating to (A) the Establishment of the Canadian Forces Base, Suffield (B) the Provision of Services to the Defence Research Establishment Suffield and (C) the Provisions of Services to the Canadian Forces Base, Suffield", signed 27 October 1971
  5. "Edward Bobyn is director of research establishment", The Ukrainian Weekly, 7 October 1972
  6. "DRES director dies in hospital", The Medicine Hat News, 2 June 1971
  7. "Suffield director appointed", The Medicine Hat News, 11 June 1971
  8. "Canadian Archival Information Network". Archived from the original on 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  9. "Minutes of a Meeting on 1981 Natural Gas - Oil Development Between Alberta Energy Company Limited and CFB Suffield Held in the Board Room 24th Floor Standard Life Building, Calgary, Alberta at 0930 Hrs 20 May 1981", CFB Suffield File: 1180-3 (BCOMD)
  10. Canada. Department of National Defence, "EX VACUUM Visitors Brochure," DRDC Suffield Record #2003-4266 (1968)
  11. C.H. Laforce, "The Use of Human Subjects in Chemical Warfare Agent Experiments: An Ethical Perspective", Canadian Forces College, May 2006
  12. G.H.S. Jones, Crater and Ejecta Study, Defence Research Establishment Suffield, 1970
  13. Neville J. Price, Major impacts and plate tectonics, University College London, 2000
  14. G.H.S. Jones, Complex Craters in Alluvium, Defence Research Board, 1977



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