A second dispatch of helicopters departs from 408 Squadron on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, for a month-long mission from Edmonton to play war games in Alaska with armed forces from Norway, Italy, Mongolia and the U.S.
Capt. Roxanne Robitaille and her big heavy-duty parka and heated glove warmers reported ready for service Thursday morning.
“Got the cats at my mother’s place, and they’re taken care of,” she said.
Time to go to Alaska for some international war games in sleek CH146 Griffons, with their giant mechanical dragonfly good looks.
“I think it’s going to be an exciting opportunity to work with other members. More dynamic. There’s lots of groups involved,” she said.
“I think it’s important to work in different environments, to push ourselves professionally, to not always be in the same bubble of exercise. Working with different people, different tactics, different ways of working, it’s always interesting to see other perspectives and how we fit into that,” she said.
“I just love that, getting out. Travelling is always fun. We’ve got a great view from the cockpit, but an even better view when we go elsewhere. It’s a really fun opportunity to leave the house and do what we train to do.”
As the rising sun slanted through the hangar doors at 408 Squadron, CFB Edmonton, the first officer and her crew prepared their whirlybird for the long flight to Fairbanks for a five-week mission in Exercise Striking Bat
But first, pretty much retracing the old Northwest Staging Route, the sky highway dotted with landing strips and radio ranging stations that once saw American airplanes flown to the Eastern Front to help the Russians battle Nazi invaders.
Some 85 years later, there’s once again pit stops in Peace River, Fort Nelson, Whitecourt, Watson Lake and Whitehorse before crossing into the States and landing in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, this time loaded like a pack mule and flying at heights of just about 500 feet or so above the treetops.
This year marks the 85th anniversary of the 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron’s formation. It was founded in 1941 at Lindholme, U.K., as a Second World War bomber unit, suffering 930 personnel casualties killed, MIA or POW, and losing 170 aircraft in wartime to a modern tactical helicopter squadron.
They were in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2011, and they’ve deployed to Mali, Haiti, and Iraq, not to mention multiple domestic deployments in support of Canadians on Operation Lentus for wildfires and floods and other urgent events.
For a month, they’ll be fostering collegial working alliances with forces from the hosting United States, as well as Norway, Italy and Mongolia, a sparse and massive landlocked independent nation sandwiched in between China and Russia.
If Hall’s name sounds familiar he shares his Kingston, Ont., hometown with Taylor Hall, the former Edmonton Oilers player and current Carolina Hurricanes left winger.
But this game is a war game, and the 408 Hall’s crews are playing in the big leagues this week.
Four of the squadron’s six CH146 Griffons left CFB Edmonton Monday and arrived Wednesday in Alaska. Two more staffed with Valcartier, Que., crews left for Alaska on Thursday.
The 408 participated in the same exercise in 2024, led by the Chinook squadron out of Petawawa, Ont.
“Previously, we’ve done this exercise in the U.S.’s southwestern deserts. But obviously, we’ve made a bit of a pivot from operations in desert environments to more of a focus on the Arctic,” Hall said.
“Being an Edmonton-based unit, we have natural advantages when it comes to familiarization with cold weather operations. The Arctic and sub-Arctic provide different challenges, things that we’re not used to in Edmonton. In terms of support nearby, obviously, it’s fewer and farther between the farther North you go.
“Going up to Alaska, there’s unique training areas up there. Just the scale of exercise would be very hard to replicate,” Hall said.
Just getting there takes skill. Some 90 Edmontonians bound for Alaska, either air crews in choppers, ground crews following in support with “big green army trucks” ready to help with maintenance, or via regular commercial flights.
“I’m not sure how many personnel they’re sending to this exercise, or what capacity, but obviously it’s always a pleasure to work with allies. And if we do get the chance, I think that would be very interesting,” he said.
“This is a simulated large-scale combat operations against a peer enemy. We’ll be integrating with the various army units there, our allies as well as Canadian Army units there, providing our normal tasks that we train for, which includes air movement and aerial supports, either with firepower or precautions, moving things, and shooting things,” Hall said.
The aircraft are armed with side-firing .762 belt-fed ammunition door guns and .50 calibre heavy machine guns.
The Alaska adventure is a practice exercise, not a real battle, but are there always hazards to be considered, Hall said.
“Anytime you’re conducting flying operations, there’s an element of risk, and that’s certainly even more so when you’re operating in remote locations like the Arctic or sub-Arctic,” he said.
“We’ve prepared our crews by doing dedicated winter training prior to the exercise here in Edmonton with a crawl/walk/run philosophy, where we start slow and safe and get progressively more complicated as we go. That’s obviously especially important working with allies and making sure that everyone has the same understanding and anticipating appropriately when we have a plan that we’re operating from a common understanding of what’s going to happen,” Hall said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney recently earmarked some $80 billion more for Canada’s commitment to military preparedness.
“We’re starting to see some effects here at the unit. We’re in a period of growth now with the Canadian Armed Forces. We have future helicopters that have been earmarked. That said, here at 408 Squadron, we’re using the equipment that we have,” Hall said.
It may give folks on the ground a thrill to see the powerful choppers on route, but the crews get similar thrills from the friendly waves they get from the ground, Hall said.
“We appreciate all the support from Canadians in general. We always love seeing Canadians waving at us on our transit. So if you see helicopters up in the air, don’t hesitate to wave,” he said.
Lt. Col. Taylor Hall on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, as s second dispatch of helicopters from 408 Squadron depart for a month-long mission from Edmonton’s CFB Namao to play war games in Alaska with armed forces from Norway, Italy, Mongolia and the U.S.© Shaughn Butts
The executive committee has worked hard over the past year reaching out to former 408 members, previous Association annual members as well as updating our current members’ list. If you are aware of someone who should be included in the distribution list and isn’t (i.e.: once paid for lifetime membership but are not receiving updates), please let me know. Also, please don’t hesitate to invite members to join in.
Joining is easy through www.canadahelps.org . Find the RCAF Association and once on that page, use the drop down menu to find 408 Goose Squadron Association. Through these means, a $100 donation get you both a lifetime membership AND a tax receipt!
Major Sylvain Lapierre, CD
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