Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, also referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base located in southwestern New Brunswick. A Canadian Forces Base or CFB (fr. ... Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope restored) Official languages English, French Flower Violet Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Premier Bernard Lord (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 10 10 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked 11th 72 908 km² 71 450 km² 1...

Construction of the Base

At the beginning of the Cold War, Canadian defence planners recognized the need for providing the Canadian Army with a suitable training facility where brigade and division-sized armoured, infantry, and artillery units could exercise in preparation for their role in defending western Europe under Canada's obligations to the North Atlantic Treaty. The facility would need to be located relatively close to an all-season Atlantic port and have suitable railway connections. The Cold War (Russian: Холодная война Kholodnaya Voina) was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their military alliance partners. ... Canadian Forces Land Force Command (LF) is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Armed Forces. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ...

Existing training facilities dating from the First and Second World Wars in eastern Canada were relatively small (see CFS Debert, CFS Aldershot, CFB Valcartier, CFB Petawawa), thus a new facility was considered. At the same time, regional economic development planners saw an opportunity for a military base to benefit the economy of southwestern New Brunswick. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Canadian Forces Station Debert (also CFS Debert) was the location of a Canadian air force, army, and military communications facility in Debert, Nova Scotia. ... Canadian Forces Base Valcartier is located 25 km west of Quebec City. ... CFB Petawawa is a Canadian Forces military base located in Petawawa, Ontario, Canada. ...

The area under consideration was an expansive plateau west of the St. John River between the cities of Saint John and Fredericton, measuring approximately 60 km in length and 40 km in width; more accurately it runs between Oromocto in the north to Welsford in the south, and between the St. John River in the east and the South Branch of the Oromocto River in the west. The Saint John River is a river, approximately 418 mi (673 km) long, located in the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick. ... Saint John is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Fredericpolis silvae filia noblis (Fredericton noble daughter of the forest) Established: {{{Established}}} Area: 131. ... Oromocto is a town in west-central New Brunswick, Canada; approximately 20 kilometres southeast of Fredericton on the Saint John River. ...

Over 900 families inhabited the area living in dozens of active, vibrant rural communities, primarily engaged in agriculture and forestry industries. The terrain was variable, providing mixed Acadian forest, swamp and marshland, as well as open farming areas similar to the Northern European Plain. The influence of the St. Croix Highlands, part of the Appalachian Mountain range, creates hilly terrain and valleys in the southern and western part of the region close to the Welsford and Oromocto Rivers. A rainy day in the Great Smoky Mountains, Western North Carolina The Appalachian Mountains (French: les Appalaches) are a vast system of North American mountains, partly in Canada, but mostly in the United States, forming a zone, from 100 to 300 miles wide, running from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, 1...

The expropriation of lands began in the early 1950s, much to the surprise of local residents who had been kept in the dark about the expropriation until the last minute. The base was surveyed so as to not affect some of the historic communities along the western bank of the St. John River such as Gagetown, Hampstead, and Browns Flat; the expropriation began several kilometres west of the river and eliminated the communities of Petersville, Hibernia, New Jerusalem and many others. This remains the largest single land expropriation in the history of New Brunswick and is still a subject of rancour for those families removed from their historic homes and communities. The 1950s were the decade that traditionally speaking, spanned the years 1950 through 1959. ... Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope restored) Official languages English, French Flower Violet Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Premier Bernard Lord (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 10 10 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked 11th 72 908 km² 71 450 km² 1...

The base headquarters were chosen for the northern part of the base adjacent to the small (then) village of Oromocto. In preparation for the influx of service personnel, Oromocto was redesigned as a "planned" town, with buried electrical utilities and residential and commercial clustering typical of larger planned towns such as Richmond Hill, Ontario. Oromocto's futuristic design became a source of conversation throughout the centuries-old Loyalist towns and villages spread throughout the St. John River valley. Flag of the Town of Richmond Hill Richmond Hill (population 163,000 as of 2006) is an affluent suburban town in York Region north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... United Empire Loyalists is the name given to individuals who are descendants of British North American loyalists who, during the American War of Independence, left the 13 rebellious American colonies for the future Canada: the two British colonies of Quebec (including the Eastern Townships and modern-day Ontario) and Nova...

Construction of the base facilities in Oromocto benefitted from convenient railway connections provided by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways. A new alignment of the Trans-Canada Highway was built on the eastern bank of the St. John River, opposite from Oromocto in the early 1960s (see New Brunswick Highway 2) and a new highway bridge across the St. John River connected the Trans-Canada Highway to the village of Burton, just south of Oromocto and near the east gate for the base. Canadian National Railways logo or herald (used pre-1960) Network Map of Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway (CN; AAR reporting marks CN, CNA, CNIS), known as Canadian National Railways (CNR) between 1918 and 1960, and Canadian National/Canadien National (CN) from 1960 to present, is a Canadian Class... The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR; AAR reporting marks CP, CPAA, CPI), known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. ... Trans Canada Highway over Canada Map The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins all ten provinces of Canada. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... New Brunswick Highway 2 (also Route 2) is the designation for the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of New Brunswick. ... Burton is an unincorporated exurban community on the Saint John River east of Oromocto, New Brunswick, Canada. ...

The Gagetown Military Camp (or Camp Gagetown) opened in 1956 and was named after the village of Gagetown, although the base was located west of this historic village and was headquartered 25 miles to its north in Oromocto - an act that has caused no end of confusion over the years. The base's territory measured 1,129 km² and included numerous live-fire ranges for infantry, armoured, and artillery units, as well as aerial weapons ranges. Gagetown is a small village in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. ...

At the time of its opening in 1956, until the opening of CFB Suffield in 1971, Camp Gagetown was the largest military training facility in Canada and the entire Commonwealth of Nations. By comparison, Suffield has 2,690 km² with 2,270 km² usable by the military, and 420 km² designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. Canadian Forces Base Suffield (also CFB Suffield), is the largest Canadian Forces Base and one of the largest military training bases in the world. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as the Commonwealth, is an association of 53 independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. ...

Operations

Initially, Camp Gagetown was the home base for many army regiments, including the Black Watch and the Royal Canadian Regiment, however defence cutbacks in the 1960s saw a gradual reduction. On February 1, 1968, the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy, were merged to form the Canadian Armed Forces. Following this unification, Camp Gagetown was renamed Canadian Forces Base Gagetown (CFB Gagetown). The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Canadian Forces Land Force Command (LF) is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Armed Forces. ... The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was the air force of Canada from 1924 until 1968 when the three branches of the Canadian military were merged into the Canadian Armed Forces. ... The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was the navy of Canada from 1911 until 1968 when the three branches of the Canadian military were merged into the Canadian Armed Forces. ... The Canadian Forces (CF) (Fr: Forces canadiennes (FC)) are the combined branches of the military of Canada. ...

In the post-unification armed forces, CFB Gagetown functioned as the primary combat training centre for Force Mobile Command (renamed Land Force Command in the 1990s). In the early 1970s, CFB Gagetown began to simultaneously refer to itself as Combat Training Centre Gagetown (CTC Gagetown), referring to its comprehensive artillery, armour, infantry and engineer training schools, a role that continues to the present day. Many still refer to it as Camp Gagetown or 'Home of the Army' due to the history and current involvement with land forces. Canadian Forces Land Force Command (LFC) is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Armed Forces. ... See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from 2000 and 2001. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...

Increased defence spending in the 1980s saw numerous new training facilities built and ranges modernized, and this continued into the 1990s as the Canadian Forces closed obsolete bases. CFB Gagetown continues to function as the army's primary training facility, although due to risk of forest fires in recent years, live-fire training has been pushed primarily to the fall-winter-spring seasons. The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive, informally sometimes including the years 1979, 1990 and 1991. ... See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from 2000 and 2001. ...

Trivia

Gagetown, often referred to as "Gag Town" by soldiers, is also known as the only place in the world where one can find "swamps at the top of hills."

External link

• CFB Gagetown - official website