Defence Research Establishment Suffield: Difference between revisions

The military research facility located {{convert|5|km|abbr=on}} north of [[Suffield, Alberta]], operated under the name of the '''Defence Research Establishment Suffield''' from 1967 to its renaming to [[DRDC Suffield]] in 2000.

After being renamed from the [[Suffield Experimental Station]] in July 1967, the '''Defence Research Establishment Suffield''' (DRES) continued to operate under the [[Defence Research Board]]. On August 3, 1971, [[Minister_of_Agriculture_(Canada) | Agriculture Minister]] [[Bud Olson | H.A. (Bud) Olson]] announce "that a Canadian Forces Base will be established on the military reservation of the Defence Research Establishment at Suffield, near Medicine Hat" where more than 6,000 British troops will train between May and November of 1972.<ref>"UK Units Will Train In Alta",Winnipeg Free Press, page 26, 3 August 1971</ref> A few weeks later, on August 25, 1971, the Canadian Government ratified a ten-year agreement<ref>[http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1971/aug/03/overseas-training-areas#S5CV0822P0_19710803_CWA_273 Overseas Training Areas] British Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) - House of Commons, 3 Aug 1971</ref> with the British Government that allowed the United Kingdom Forces to use the Military Training Area (MTA) on the [[Suffield Block]]. The MTA occupies the northern three quarters of the military reserve and the remaining sourthern area was named the Experimental Proving Grounds (EPG).

On December 1, 1971, the Canadian Forces Base Suffield ([[CFB Suffield]]) was officially created and allocated to Mobile Command.<ref>[http://www.army.gc.ca/lfwa/Documents/Backgrounders/BG-Suffield.PDF Backgrounder - Canadian Forces Base Suffield]</ref> 162 staff members, over 90 buildings, over 80 vehicles, and the [[Ralston, Alberta|Crown Village of Ralston]] were transferred from DRES to [[CFB Suffield]] and [[CFB Suffield]] was co-located with the Research Establishment.<ref name=IMA-711027>"Interim Memorandum of Agreement Between the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Chairman, Defence Research Board Relating to (A) the Establishment of the Canadian Forces Base, Suffield (B) the Provision of Services to the Defence Research Establishment Suffield and (C) the Provisions of Services to the Canadian Forces Base, Suffield", signed 27 October 1971</ref>

In 1974, the [[Defence Research Board]] evolved into the Research and Development Branch which was administered under the [http://www.forces.gc.ca/admmat/ Assistant Deputy Minister Materiel] of the [http://www.forces.gc.ca/ Canadian Department of National Defence]. Another reorganization followed on April 1, 2000 when the Research and Development Branch was placed under the Assistant Deputy Minister Science & Technology and renamed to [[Defence Research Board|Defence Research and Development Canada]] (DRDC).

| September 1964<ref>"Edward Bobyn is director of research establishment", The Ukrainian Weeky, 7 October 1972</ref> To 1968

| R.M. Hegge<ref name="ArchiveCanada">[http://www.archivescanada.ca/ Canadian Archival Information Network]</ref>

==Large Explosive Events==

* The Dialpack 500 ton detonation<ref name="Jones1977">G.H.S. Jones, Complex Craters in Alluvium, Defence Research Board, 1977</ref> on 23 July 1970.