CFB Kingston training exercise helps prepare Canadian troops for Mali mission

If you saw helicopters circling downtown Kingston on Friday, don’t worry, it was just a drill.

Canadian troops are currently training for their mission in Mali. Some of that training took place at CFB Kingston where a medical evacuation scenario played out. Captain Mike Wilkinson with the Royal Canadian Air Force says the exercise was very much a learning experience.

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One Chinook and a couple of Griffon helicopters were involved, as were around 40 people. Wilkinson says it was one of the bigger Air Force exercises, and in the end, it’s all about being better prepared for whatever the real world might throw at them.

“There’s always lessons to be learned,” Wilkinson said.  “There’s different ways of doing things.”

Friday’s exercise took place on the McNaughton parade square at Base Kingston.