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Cfb SuffieldCanadian Forces Base Suffield (also CFB Suffield), is the largest Canadian Forces Base and one of the largest military training bases in the world. It is located in south-central Alberta 50 km north of the city of Medicine Hat and 250 km southeast of Calgary. Chemical Warfare Training The lands comprising modern-day CFB Suffield were known as the "Suffield Block", resulting from the Dominion Land Survey and comprised minor agricultural land, given the perpetual semi-arid climate. The total area measures approximately 2,690 km sq and borders an area north of the South Saskatchewan River. Following the fall of Algeria to Nazi Germany, the British Army required a new training facility for carrying out experiments in chemical warfare. In 1941, the federal government expropriated the Suffield Block, purchasing the majority of the land from the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Hudson's Bay Company; 452 residents were displaced. Experimental Station Suffield commenced operations on June 11, 1941. British forces left the joint operation of Suffield to the Canadian Army in 1946. In 1947 the Canadian Army turned operation of Experimental Station Suffield over to the Defence Research Board. In 1950 the facility was renamed Suffield Experimental Station and in 1967 it was renamed to Defence Research Establishment Suffield (DRES). Throughout the period from 1947-1971, the Canadian Army continued occasional use of the Suffield ranges. Armoured Unit Training In 1971 an agreement was signed between the British and Canadian governments permitting the British Army to use over three-quarters of DRES for armoured, infantry, and artillery live-fire training. DRES was renamed Canadian Forces Base Suffield (CFB Suffield) and new base housing and support facilities were constructed for the British Army and Canadian Forces personnel, including a new headquarters community at Ralston. DRES continued until 2002 when it was merged into a new organization Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC). British Army training has continued at Suffield since 1971, with the shared-use agreement being extended several times (currently until 2006). Regular and reserve units of Canadian Forces Land Force Command began to make use of the base beginning in 1991, around the same time as the downgrading of CFB Wainwright. The "British Army Training Unit Suffield" (BATUS) consists of pool training equipment used by army units rotating through the base on exercises, as well as a training "opposition force" (OPFOR). Wildlife Refuge Ironically, the decision to designate the Suffield Block a military training facility in 1941 left thousands of hectares of undisturbed prairie grassland intact from the effects of industrial agriculture. In 1992, the military designated approximately 420 sq. km as a "National Wildlife Refuge" - primarily those lands bordering the South Saskatchewan River, making this the third largest national wildlife area in Canada. External link Suffield Suffield
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