Residents of the Nordegg, Sundre, Rocky Mountain House area should keep their eyes to the skies this weekend, as members of the Canadian Armed Forces 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron will be conducting training exercises in the area.

Officer Commander the Air Reserves and Public Affairs officer for the 408 Tactical helicopter Squadron Major Rodney Dietzmann says their bases at CFB Edmonton and CFB Wainwright don't offer much in terms of a challenging or varying landscape, which is why they choose to do these exercises in the mountains.

“We need to train all the time for domestic support requirements including mountain flying operations. We deploy in the area of Ram Falls and accomplish that kind of training there so our pilots can stay current in mountain flying operations.”

The Griffon helicopters will be supported by a few land vehicles, as well as a number of military personnel.

MAJ Dietzmann says they will use the Ram Falls Airstrip as their overnight base.

“People can expect to see three Griffon helicopters, they’ll be green, and they’ll be two vehicles on the ground supporting us as well, they’ll be military camouflage green as well. They will be flying throughout the day, and fueling up at commercial airports in the area. So we won’t be fueling up at Ram Falls, but you’ll be able to see the helicopters come in and out of there, as sort of our overnight base.”

They will be in the area by this evening, and gone by early Sunday afternoon, with flying taking place tomorrow between the mid-morning and early evening, and will be in the area from Nordegg, south to Sundre, and just west of Rocky into the BC interior.

More information about 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron and their role is available at: http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/squadron/408-squadron.page

Video courtesy of the Government of Canada: