CFB Cold Lake

Construction of what would become known as RCAF Station Cold Lake began in 1952 at the height of the Cold War after the site in Alberta's "Lakeland District" was chosen by the RCAF for the country's premier air weapons training base. The chosen location was near the former Town of Grand Centre (now part of the City of Cold Lake), and was based on factors such as low population density, accessibility, weather, suitable terrain, and available land for air weapons training. Although the location of the range attempted to avoid First Nations reserves, it "encompassed traditional Aboriginal and treaty areas and the First Nations affected by the creation of the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range (CLAWR) were eventually compensated."[3]

Personnel arrived at Cold Lake on March 31, 1954, with operations at RCAF Station Cold Lake beginning that day. The following year, the federal government signed an agreement with the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta for use of a tract of land measuring 180 km by 65 km covering an area of 11,700 square kilometres. This became known as the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range (CLAWR) and is the raison d'être for the location of the base.

CLAWR is the northern equivalent to the United States Air Force's (USAF) Nellis Air Force Range and provides a different training environment with heavy boreal forest and numerous lakes more closely resembling European terrain. It hosts over 640 actual targets and 100 realistic target complexes, including 7 simulated aerodromes with runways, tarmac, aircraft, dispersal areas and buildings, as well as mechanized military equipment such as tanks, simulated radar and missile launching sites, mock industrial sites, and command and control centres.

Weapons Practice Unit CF-100 Mk 5 firing rockets at first annual Air Defence Command rocket meet, Cold Lake, September 1957

Operations in the 1950s and early 1960s centered around training crews destined for the CF-100 Canuck all weather interceptor which was in operational use in Canada and Western Europe. From 1962 onwards, the arrival of the CF-104 Starfighter resulted in a change of task, to the training pilots for Canada's NATO commitment in West Germany, which continued up until the arrival of the CF-18 Hornet in 1982. From then through the present, the base is the training focal point for this aircraft, in addition to operational squadrons being located here.

On February 1, 1968, the RCAF was merged with the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Army to form the unified Canadian Forces. RCAF Station Cold Lake saw its name changed to CFB Cold Lake and became the responsibility of Air Defence Command. ADC and several other CF commands transformed in 1975 to become Air Command (AIRCOM).

A CF-18 Hornet takes off from CFB Cold Lake during the second Tiger Meet of the Americas, 2003

During the 1980s, CFB Cold Lake was thrust into the international media spotlight when CLAWR was used as the target for testing of the newly developed AGM-86 Tomahawk air-launched cruise missiles by the USAF. These missiles were launched from strategic bombers over the Beaufort Sea and traveled down the Mackenzie River valley, closely following the terrain at elevations of several metres above ground level. The tests caused significant controversy among peace activists and local First Nations on the projected flight paths since the new untested weapons were considered a destabilizing force in the international arms race, potentially contributing to instability worldwide. The Federal Court of Canada ruled in favour of allowing the tests to proceed in 1983 and the Canada–United States Test and Evaluation Program or CANUSTEP agreement was subsequently signed between both nations, allowing for the cruise missile tests to use Canadian airspace in the Northwest Territories and Alberta en route to CLAWR.

In 1990, 18 sounding rockets were launched.[4]

In 2000/2001, several CFB Cold Lake - 4 Wing buildings were recognized as Federal Heritage buildings on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings: Hangars 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and the Senior NCO's Building B-30.[5]

In 2007, this was the setting for Jetstream, a TV series depicting eight pilots training under the 410 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron to fly a CF-18.

Cold Lake, with the ramp, taxiway A, runway 31R/13L and runway 31L/13R from front to back. The concrete object is the footing for the old ATC tower.

Today, CFB Cold Lake has the following units stationed at the facility:

• 401 Tactical Fighter Squadron (CF-18 Hornet)
• 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron (CF-18 Hornet)
• 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron (CF-18 Hornet)
• 417 Combat Support Squadron (CH-146 Griffon)
• 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (CT-155 Hawk)
• 1 Air Maintenance Squadron
• 42 Radar Squadron
• 10 Field Technical Training Squadron

It also hosts a number of Lodger Units, including the Aerospace Engineering Testing Establishment, 4 Construction Engineering Squadron, 1 Military Police Squadron, Real Property Operations Detachment Cold Lake, and 22 Health Services Centre.

In addition to its use as a training base, CFB Cold Lake's fighter/interceptor aircraft defend the western half of Canadian air space and together with aircraft from CFB Bagotville cover Canada's Arctic territory. They are operationally controlled by NORAD from CFB North Bay and Cheyenne Mountain Operations Centre in Colorado Springs. Cold Lake aircraft forward deploy to airfields throughout western and Arctic Canada as operational requirements dictate.

Cold Lake also hosts NATO flight training operating from 15 Wing Moose Jaw, as well as 5 Wing Goose Bay. MAPLE FLAG is a major international air weapons training competition hosted annually by CFB Cold Lake in May–June, making use of CLAWR. The name is derived from the USAF's famous Red Flag training exercises at the Nellis Air Force Range in Nevada. NASA and ESA astronauts use Cold Lake for winter survival training.[6]

Non-military use of the CLAWR increased since the 1990s, and "will continue to grow as various sectors vie for access to airspace, land and resources (such as natural gas, commercial fishing, and logging) in and around the range.[3] Canadian Natural Resources Limited's (CNRL) Primrose and Wolf Lake in situ oil sands project near Cold Lake (operated by CNRL subsidiary Horizon Oil Sands use the high pressure cyclic steamstimulation (HPCSS).[10]

• Cold Lake Regional Airport
• Cold Lake Air Force Museum
• Jetstream (TV series)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CFB Cold Lake.

• Official website
• Page about this airport and CF base on COPA's Places to Fly airport directory
• Exercise MAPLE FLAG
• Official website for Jetstream, a television show shot at CFB Cold Lake

• Past three hours METARs, SPECI and current TAFs for Cold Lake Airport from Nav Canada as available.