Coronavirus: Canadian Forces cancel major joint exercise with U.S. Army

The Canadian Armed Forces announced the cancellation of the Maple Resolve — an annual international exercise in Canada that is designed to prepare a brigade and its soldiers for deployment — over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“I have decided to cancel EX MAPLE RESOLVE. While this may impact our higher-level warfighting ability short-term, it will protect the force and keep us poised to conduct operations. I am very happy how our Army is responding to COVID-19, and together we stand #StrongProudReady,” Lieutenant General Wayne Eyre said on his official Twitter account.

According to the CAF, the event was a yearly exercise held in Wainwright, AB, that included major offensive and defence operational scenarios against simulated enemies, some of which took place across entire mock villages. They said professional actors were hired to play residents and media representatives.

Exercise Maple Resolve is the largest exercise the Canadian Army has, and over 4,000 people were scheduled to participate this year.

Sources said several considerations factored into the decision to cancel the exercise, including the concern over COVID-19 spreading among the troops and how that could hurt operational capabilities. Recent international travel restrictions that would likely prevent allies from attending also would have made going forward with the exercise a challenge.

Another set of factors considered was that of Maple Resolve’s rural location, which could easily overwhelm medical resources in small surrounding communities. Alberta public health authorities were concerned over the potential impact of sick soldiers on a health care system already bracing for the strain of COVID-19 among the civilian population, according to a source.

Military leaders were also concerned about centralizing a large number of CAF military health care capabilities in a single location.

The federal government has already asked for military assistance in repatriating Canadians from China in the form of military health care workers. A future request for further military assistance from the provinces or federal government could be complicated by centralizing so many military health resources in a single location and risk exposure of those personnel.

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According to military sources, conversations on cancelling the military exercise were extensive given the scope and importance of the exercise. In his tweet, the Army Commander stated the cancellation could hurt the military’s war fighting capability.

The brigade level exercise allows for high level training and live fire, critical for troops going overseas. A military source said those deploying to global hotspots like Ukraine or Iraq will still receive smaller scale training to ensure they have the skills they need and are certified and combat ready.