First held in 2007, Operation Nunalivut is an annual sovereignty operation in the Canadian Arctic. The mission, however, does more than give military a chance to fly the flag over the region.
Like all the training the Canadian military holds in the Arctic, including Norex 18, which concluded on February 18, Operation Nunalivut provides experience for the soldiers who may be called on to take part in live missions there.
As a military exercise, the most obvious point of the training is to sharpen soldier’s warfare skills. But with enemies few and the number of civilians increasing, Arctic training has increasingly come to include exercises that focus on saving lives, not taking them. The most recent Norex training, for example, involved locating a mock plane crash and keeping its survivors alive until they could be taken someplace safe. Other exercises have simulated responding to a cruise ship accident.
Simultaneously preparing for war and to prevent disaster is possible at least.
For more information
forces.gc.ca/en/operations-canada-north-america-recurring/op-nunalivut.page
Further reading
Canadian forces plan High Arctic sovereignty operation
arctictoday.com/canadian-forces-plan-high-arctic-sovereignty-operation