Grn Petawawa hosts virtual luncheon for local businesses

This year has been unprecedented in many ways, affecting the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in ways they could have never imagined.

“We’ve had to be adaptive, disciplined and extremely creative,” said 4th Canadian Division Support Group (4 CDSG) Commander Colonel (Col) John Vass during the annual Garrison Petawawa Commander’s Business Luncheon.

This meeting between military officials and local business and political leaders “deepens the existing relationships that we already have,” said Col Vass, adding Garrison Petawawa personnel have a huge effect on the local economy and vice versa.

Historically this event has been attended in person, but organizers had to move online to adhere to safety regulations. Though it was over Zoom, the Nov. 19 event was well attended and gave participants insight into what will be occurring in the upcoming year.

In response to the ongoing global pandemic, Garrison Petawawa for the most part has been following COVID-19 regulations at the federal level. Though they receive input from the Renfrew County and District Health Unit and the province, this allowed them some flexibility to better adapt to their local circumstances and operational requirements. Most of the decisions were around the desire to keep the military members healthy and able to continue essential military operations in addition to protecting those most vulnerable in the community.

Only people who do business on the Garrison are granted access; keeping track of who enters what building allows better contact tracing in case of a potential outbreak. This includes deliveries and other business reasons.

“We just want to ensure that people coming on to the Garrison have a reason,” said Col Vass.

The Recreation Complex, the Silver Dart Arena and Dundonald Hall have also been closed to the general public, which has had an impact on the countless community members who use these facilities.

Leadership at all levels, however, have been working hard to resume business. This includes finding ways to reopen facilities and allow CAF members to return to work and train for upcoming deployments with a few changes to minimize transmission of the virus.

It has been a balancing act to ensure the approximately 8,000 soldiers have what they need.

“COVID-19 is really forcing us to do things differently,” added the 4 CDSG Commander.

Despite the challenges, this year has seen soldiers deployed or planning to deploy.

“At any given time, we have between 700 and 800 members of the Brigade deployed overseas,” said 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2 CMBG) Commander Colonel (Col) Eric Landry.

Currently, there are about 500 soldiers in Latvia, more than 200 in Ukraine and about 100 split between Kuwait and Iraq.

They will soon be replaced by personnel who have been training these past months.

“This is probably why you heard all the shooting day and night that happened last week,” said Col Landry, adding that most of the training is on the garrison.

But it isn’t always feasible to keep them in one location, so they have also been training around civilian facilities like the Petawawa Civic Centre. This method allows them to be prepared for anything that comes their way, whether on an oveseas deployment or helping local families combat flooding.

“We are only doing the training that is in our operational mandate,” said Col Landry. “We’ve stood down on a lot of training activities. Likely they will resume next year, so next fall, we’ll go again into training mode.”

Brigade Sergeant Major (BSM) Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Jeramie Leamon echoed those sentiments, but added he believed the lockdown and strict measures at the beginning of the pandemic helped greatly in keeping numbers of infected CAF members low.

“We are keeping watch and gauging the threat of COVID for our soldiers in the Garrison,” said CWO Leamon.

As for infrastructure, many of the projects announced in the past are ongoing or nearing completion. This includes upgrading the Residential Housing Units (RHUs), street rehabilitation, a new building for the Royal Canadian Dragoons to be completed in June 2022, a new building for the Petawawa Military Family Resource Centre (PMFRC) on Festubert Boulevard, and making the Garrison an overall greener base. The new Integrated Health Care Facility should be completed in April 2021.

“We are also working on access control on and off Garrison,” said Captain (Capt) Nathan Biederman representing Real Property Operations. “As you are well aware, traffic tends to get backed up. So we have projects to widen Menin Road, which is a continuation of Petawawa Boulevard.”

Traffic Circles at Menin Road, at Montgomery Road and at the Main Gate are planned. Access points to Highway 17 from Brindle Road are also in the works.

“It will give the Mattawa Plains units better access to and from the base and alleviate some of the traffic coming from the front,” said Capt Biederman.

Just like infrastructure projects, postings have a big impact on the local economy. This summer, many members and their families remained in Petawawa.

“A lot of the posting season will depend on COVID both in Petawawa (and) across the country,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Iain Clark, 4th Canadian Division Support Base Petawawa Personnel Services Commanding Officer of next year’s posting season. “There will be a posting season. Will it be affected by COVID? That is (yet) to be seen.”