A6

By MICHAEL STAPLES
staples.michael@dailygleaner.com

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Activity at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown will continue at a high level over the foreseeable future, says its outgoing commander.

Col. Ken Chadder, who hands over control of the military training facility later this month to Col. Mike Pearson, said the base won't be getting quieter any time soon.

"Gagetown is going to continue to be busy because of the training tempo," Chadder said.

While the government has promised to bring troops home from Afghanistan in 2011, activity on the base promises to get even busier, he said.

Brigades that have been going out of the country or to other Canadian bases will, instead, start making more use of the training areas at Gagetown.

"It will be a thriving environment here," said Chadder, a 32-year veteran of the Forces. "We're pre-positioning ourselves to be able to handle that from an infrastructure and support capability."

Chadder, who will sign command of the base over to Pearson on July 10, is heading to Ottawa where he will be assuming control of the Canadian Forces Experimentation Centre. He will be working at the strategic level with officers from fellow NATO nations.

Chadder said the base has faced a number of challenges over the past two years. One of which has been the reintegration of Task Force 107.

That saw the Gagetown-based Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment designated the lead unit for the formation of the battle group that travelled to Afghanistan in February 2007.

"The support to Task Force 107 basically drained the base; it took all the resources we had to support (it)," Chadder said. "We have had to rebuild over the last couple of years to support the operational and training tempo because the Combat Training Centre has increased its training almost exponentially."

With focus on the Afghan mission, the base didn't have the resources to handle the increased tempo and the increased training level at the same time, he said.

"We have worked on that over the last couple of years. Thanks to the army, they have given us more resources. We have hired more civilian members to the defence team, more reservists and we have got more money to help build the infrastructure and support the base. If you look around, there are lots of buildings being built and we have a five-year plan now of where we want to go and how we want to sustain the support here on the base."

Chadder said the base has positioned itself for the future and has built up to a state where it can continue to provide support.

Chadder said he would like to stay at Gagetown for another year.

"But it's a command billet," he said.

"There are a number of people out there (who) they need to cycle through. Unfortunately, that's the way they do it - two years to get the exposure. It would be nice for a third, but you know when you come in you have two years and you try to do what you can."

Chadder said he didn't view the job in terms of what he could accomplish during his stay, but how he could set the conditions for success of the next commander and that of his successor.

"At this level, that's what you're looking at," Chadder said. "To look five years down the road within your two-year window."