Operation TRIDENT and Further Measures, 1959-63

The completion of a War Organization protocol was contingent on having a National Emergency Headquarters (NEHQ). Plans were also being drawn up for a government headquarters codenamed EASE (now known colloquially as the Diefenbunker), to allow the Government of Canada to continue to govern during and after a war. Still, a separate military headquarters was considered a separate and essential requirement.  

From 1957 onwards, Camp Petawawa had been considered a candidate to house the NEHQ, and the Department of National Defense (DND) decided to outfit this existing military outpost as their decentralized base of operations in 1959. The building and organization operation was codenamed TRIDENT, perhaps in reference to the proposed headquarters being a “tri-services” facility, with the three branches of the military in one headquarters.