While the Okanagan has been used for many a movie backdrop, the sights and sounds that will fill the corridor between Vernon and Kamloops during the next three weeks will be much more realistic.
The Canadian Armed Forces will be conducting training missions at night from April 7 to 23.
“Residents in the area may see and hear helicopters performing multiple low-level flights with the potential for increased local noise,” according to Lt. Navy Amélie Leduc, a spokesperson for the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.
The routine training involves CH-146 Griffon helicopters that will be utilizing military small arms and training ammunition between the hours of 9:30 p.m., and 3 a.m.
“All efforts are being made to minimize disruption,” Leduc said.
The RCAF’s 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, based in Valcartier, Que., flew three of its CH-146 Griffon helicopters to the Okanagan in a C-17 transport plane and had been training out of Penticton in March.
The pandemic has forced the Canadian Armed Forces to perform training exercises within the country, which normally wouldn’t take place, according to Leduc.
“The Canadian Special Operations Forces Command is extremely thankful for the support and understanding of the communities within which it conducts valuable training such as this in order to remain operationally focused and able to serve the national interest,” she said.
The use of training ammunition, she said, is to be “closely controlled in accordance with mandated safety measures.”
The Canadian military said the Okanagan was chosen for training this spring because the landscape is similar to Afghanistan and Iraq.