Rendezvous Comments RV ’83 Maj Gen Doug Baker commanded the exercise at Wainwright and the previous Gagetown exercise in 1981, which had been the first divisional training exercise since the Korean War and Buffalo IV. Baker had trained in Wainwright for Korea, and was unfortunate to be aboard the trainload of troops enroute to Fort Lewis, Washington when a derailment caused the death of some of his comrades. Participating were 10,000 troops with emphasis on the army’s mobility in the event of being called to the defence of Norway as a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) brigade group. For landlocked Wainwright, the use of rail, road and air transport proved highly successful. With Wainwright’s lack of major food or parts warehousing, securing such supplies was made more realistic of an emergency wartime situation where no ready stockpiles would be available. It was discovered that Wainwright was a perfect location for map reading practice, as very few easily identifiable landmarks are present. Assault river crossings of the Battle River also proved to be something to improve upon before the next exercise. Comparison of the ’81 and ’83 events disclosed assets and liabilities of each location with Gagetown possessing more sophisticated firing ranges for preliminary training and Wainwright having more useable areas for large equipment and long distance firing. Upon completion of RV ’83 the Department of National Defence and senior administrators of Mobile Command realized the importance of Camp Wainwright in Canadian Forces’ training program and agree to hold future inter-brigade training exercises here. RV ’85 The second RV exercise held at Camp Wainwright involved 14,000 vehicles from the Maritimes to Vancouver. Improvements already completed to accommodate the concentration of such a huge military exposition added to the accomplishments of RV ’85. Live ammunition and tactics were used at battle group level in Operation Antelope, and tank forces were cross-trained using required wartime Leopard tanks rather than training Cougar vehicles. Divisional organization was on site and fully exercised in combat with a sizeable enemy force. Battle exercise utilized a 15 mile assault course with fixed targets. In rotation, each infantry battalion advanced, supported by necessary units of artillery, armour, engineers, helicopters and fighter aircraft. The Canadian Light Field Hospital deployed under canvas for the first time, affording space for 50 patients per day. Noted in the Star Chronicle (who printed the Maple Leaf military newspaper during RVs) were a few statistics for supplies consumed during the ’85 exercise. Approximately 2.5 million meals were prepared during the six week period; 1,200,000 eggs, 540,000 litres of milk and 9000 kg of peanut butter disappeared from the cooks’ larder. Vehicles were estimated to burn 4.5 million litres of diesel and 3.5 million litres of gas. In 28 days a Chinook helicopter from 447 Squadron, Edmonton, broke a world record of 183 hours flying time for a 30 day period, about 90% of these hours in support of RV ’85. A parade of nearly 11,000 troops formed up for inspection by the Commander of Mobile Command, LGen C.H. Belzile, to complete the event. A cairn commemorating the divisional exercise was dedicated with the inclusion of a time capsule to be opened in 100 years.