Major military exercise cancelled over COVID-19. Anyone who has been on exercise and has seen how fast and often gastro goes through troops will not be surprised. Large number of people living together, eating together and limited running water. #coronavirus #COVID19
More info on this: it is note worthy that LGen Eyre says this could impact the Canadian Armed Forces war fighting ability. That's not a decision taken lightly. This is the biggest exercise the Army conducts and had over 4,000 ppl scheduled to participate #CAF #COVD19 #coronavirus
Maple Resolve is a Brigade level exercise which is BIG for those who don't speak military. It is the culmination of training for troops going down range to places like Ukraine, Latvia and Iraq. #CAF #COVD19 #coronavirus
The military will be running smaller exercises for troops headed to places where there could be live fire to make sure they are still certified, however the bigger an exercise is the more skill is needed to operate in it and they can't duplicate that #CAF #COVID19 #coronavirus
Despite the hit to war fighting capabilities there were other concerns to consider: namely what would happen if COVID-19 spread? Hundreds or potentially thousands of infections with multiple negative effects #CAF #COVID19 #coronavirus
First risk of going forward: a whole bunch of troops get sick and it hurts capabilities #CAF #COVID19 #coronavirus
Second risk of going forward (and a concern for provincial authorities): hundreds or thousands of soldiers flooding the Alberta healthcare system #CAF #COVID19 #coronavirus
Third risk of going forward: the military has already been called upon to help with the COVID-19 response on the medical side. They could be again in greater #s. Centralizing resources & medical staff in place where they could be stuck or get sick hmm #CAF #COVID19 #coronavirus
I can't see how the Army could have gone ahead w exercise given the risks for the military, the health of the troops, the potential impact on the Alberta health system. It is a massive decision to cancel it but the risk of going forward was tremendous #CAF #COVID19 #coronavirus
