Reservists train for natural disaster response; build relationships with Chatham-Kent officials

If Chatham-Kent is shut down by a massive ice storm or has areas devastated by flooding, the Canadian military is available to respond to provide assistance.

But training to respond to natural disasters is key to being successful, along with building partnerships with local authorities.

These were among the objectives of ‘Exercise Arrowhead Response’ as 647 army reservists with 31 Canadian Brigade Group (CBG) spent the weekend in Chatham-Kent with soldiers training in communities from Bothwell to Wheatley and Blenheim to Wallaceburg.

Collar. Chris Brown, 31 CBG Commanding Officer, said reservists were all over the country to serve during the COVID-19 pandemic response. But he added due to the pandemic this more traditional training for reservists hasn’t taken place in the last three to four years.

“There’s a lot of energy around this exercise, it’s almost like a reunion for a number of troops to be training together who haven’t in a long time,” he said.

The soldiers are back doing the things they joined the army reserve to do, he added.

Reservists from 31 CBG came from Barrie, Hamilton, Owen Sound, London, and Windsor, Owen Sound to take part in the exercise that was headquartered out of the Col. EM Ansell Armory in Chatham,

Lt.Col. Gord Prentice, Commanding Officer of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment, said it was “a bit surreal” to have nearly 650 soldiers in the community along with “this level of organization and integration with police and EMS and fire.

“It really shows you what capabilities are there and how we could respond to an emergency,” he added.

Prentice said some members of Essex and Kent regiment were recruited during COVID so “for them this is their first major exercise.”

The 31 CBG was among the first military unit to respond to severe flooding that hit Ottawa in 2019.

“That’s why we practice these things, because the time to figure it out it isn’t during a crisis, and the time to make relationships with local community partners, isn’t during a crisis,” Brown said.

Speaking during a briefing on Saturday that included Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff and leadership with Chatham-Kent police, Brown said he was looking for relationships to be formed with municipal leaders “so when these things happen for real, we know each other and . . . you get a sense of what we can do and we understand what you can do.

“We come away with those two things out this weekend, I think we can absolutely declare success,” he added.

Lt.-Col Shawn Dumbreck, Commanding Officer of 31 Territorial Brigade Group, was in charge of leading the training operation.

He said the soldiers do a lot of training through simulations, which is good. But, he added getting out and doing exercises in the community is important to meet the challenges of moving nearly 650 soldiers and making sure it runs smoothly.

“This is a very key bit of training for us and it’s important that we exercise these big muscle movements of moving all these resources around and going into an area that maybe we don’t normally train in,” Dumbreck said.

He said responding to an emergency includes the elements of working with first responders and Emergency Management Ontario.

“As much as were all professionals in our trade, sometimes we speak different languages,” Dumbreck said.

He said those relationships are being established before a disaster occurs because “Canadian citizens are expecting their military, their local authorities, emergency response personnel, to be able to integrate well and provide that support to people in need.”

Deputy Chief Kirk Earley said more than 30 Chatham-Kent police officers were working with the military, including front-line staff, members of the Critical Incident Response Team and the K-9 unit.

“We’re doing multiple exercises with the military so that if this does occur, we are ready to go.”

Earley said it is impressive to see how the 31 CBG was able to deploy 647 military with all the resources they need.

“I think it’s just fortunate for us as a police service and the community to be a part of this.”

Canniff said hosting the exercise “is really big for Chatham-Kent.”

He said the last time this type of exercise was carried out it was done in three different municipalities.

“They thought highly of Chatham-Kent that they said they’re going to put it all here,” Canniff said.

He also believes it is good for the public to see the military in the community.

“The military is so important in Canadian history, so important to us today, but we don’t see them every day,” the mayor said.

He added it is important for the public to know the military is ready to help if needed.