NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Canadian Forces Station Alert:

Located on the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island approximately 817 km from the North Pole, this is Canada's most northerly station. The Alert Wireless Station was originally established on 9 April 1950 by the RCAF as a part of the Joint Arctic Weather Station System, a co-operative effort of the Canadian Department of Transport and the United States Weather Bureau.

In 1958 the station took on the function of a High Frequency Direction Finding and Signal Intelligence station operated by the RCAF. In 1959, the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals assumed control of the station. By 1961, members of the Royal Canadian Navy were also posted to the station.

Alert is named after the British ship HMS, which spent the winter 1875-1876 at Ellesmere Island near the site of the present station.

As a result of the Unification, the station was re-named CFS Alert and became a part of the Canadian Forces Supplementary Radio System.

In the mid 1990s, a reorganization and consolidation occurred within the Canadian Military. Several bases were either downsized, merged or closed. As a result, CFS Alert was downsized and converted to remote operation in 1998, along with CFS Masset and CFB Gander's Radio Station. Staffing levels at Alert were reduced from 215 to 74 personnel. In 2006, further reductions in the military staffing occurred.

On 1 April 2009, CFS Alert became an Air Force component and unit of 8 Wing Trenton. Today, Alert's mission remains signals intelligence collection and radar station in support of search and rescue. Currently, Alert has 55 personnel: 2 military, 30 commercial contractors and 4 Environment Canada employees.

Source material: DND press release from February 1994 and September 1998, Communications & Electronics Museum site - www.c-and-e-museum.org & CFS Alert site - http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/7803/alert.htm.

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Forward Operating Location Iqaluit:

Originally opened as Naval Radio Station Frobisher Bay in 1953 as a High Frequency Direction Finding Station, replacing the former NRS Fort Chimo, one of Canada's National Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) organization. The airfield at the station had existed since 1944, when it was build by American engineers and later transferred to the Canadian Government.

No. 926 Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron (USAF) operated the radar facilities at the station from 1953 to 1961. The RCAF assumed control of Frobisher Bay during the summer of 1958.

The "Upper site" of the station was abandoned in 1974. The "Lower site", renamed Iqaluit, has been a Forward Operating Location since the early 1990s. The airfield is still in use.

Source Material: Canada's national Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) organization web site - http://www.tscm.com/cse.html, Communications & Electronics Museum site www.c-and-e-museum.org & the Pinetree Line web site - http://www.pinetreeline.org/other/other17/other17a.html.

For the full story of NRS Frobisher Bay, visit Pinetree Line web site - http://www.pinetreeline.org.