https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/82b9f8faa9da57e0af219b3c98422086.pdf e72c98315455af2623e644560fe0b909 PDF Text Text X* Document disclosecUunderJheJlrceK Document divulgue ^ Q j r j i { 7 e f l i ^ / ilr^ir J M dliiformation ;•' THIS DOCUMENT IS THE P R O P E R T Y O F THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT S E C R E T COPY N O . V £ MEMORANDUM TO CABINET DEFENCE COMMITTEE fp%?;'Q 17 '•* ,#'% &<> Wv^ I f y* R . k %}A ^ Jf W U . S . Air F o r c e Request for Tanker Base F a c i l i t i e s in Canada 1 At the 110th meeting of the Cabinet Defence C o m m i t t e e on June 13, 1956, the C o m m i t t e e noted the Defence M i n i s t e r ' s r e p o r t on a U . S . A . r e q u e s t to e x a m ine airfields in the n o r t h for periodic u s e as tanker b a s e s to enable refuelling in flight of SAC bomber a i r c r a f t . The C o m m i t t e e a g r e e d to authorize such an i n v e s t i gation on the understanding that it be done by the RCAF a s s i s t e d as n e c e s s a r y by the USAF and, f u r t h e r , that the c r e a t i o n of new airfields and r e l a t e d facilities would not be c o n s i d e r e d until the possibility had been exhausted of utilizing existing airfields with a m i n i m u m of additions t h e r e t o . 2 Accordingly, the RCAF and USAF c a r r i e d out the investigation of f o u r teen b a s e s , and have e s t i m a t e d the construction which would be r e q u i r e d to m e e t USAF operating r e q u i r e m e n t s . These r e q u i r e m e n t s include parking s p a c e , t a x i ways , ground handling e q u i p m e n t s , and v e r y limited m a i n t e n a n c e facilities for a m a x i m u m of forty tanker a i r c r a f t . One runway at each site s e l e c t e d would r e q u i r e .o be r e i n f o r c e d and extended to a m i n i m u m length of 10,000 feet. In addition, housing and m e s s i n g facilities for a m a x i m u m of 600 t r a n s i e n t p e r s o n n e l would be r e q u i r e d on a standby b a s i s . Existing communications and navigational aids would have to be augmented as n e c e s s a r y by the USAF to m e e t their o p e r a t i o n a l r e q u i r e ments . 3 The USAF have r e c e n t l y advised that for the n e a r future they wish to consider development of nine locations only against the originally e s t i m a t e d r e q u i r e ment for eleven advanced tanker b a s e s in C a n a d a . The nine in o r d e r of p r i o r i t y a r e ; F r o b i s h e r Bay Churchill Cold Lake Namao C o r a l Harbour Knob Lake (old site) Great Whale River The P a s F o r t Chimo Development of the f i r s t four b a s e s only i s c o n s i d e r e d to be possible financially by the USAF in the i m m e d i a t e future and, for t h i s , C o n g r e s s i o n a l approval for $40 million is being sought for expenditure in 1957/58. This amount would provide the m o s t e s s e n t i a l facilities at the f i r s t t h r e e locations and p e r m i t a s u b s t a n t i a l beginning at the fourth. However, as a p r e l i m i n a r y to any further planning, the USAF consider it i m p e r a t i v e that detailed engineering studies be conducted as soon as possible to p e r m i t the p r e p a r a t i o n of r e a l i s t i c construction e s t i m a t e s . Subject to the approval of the Canadian Government, and the availability of funds, the USAF d e s i r e s to c o m m e n c e construction of some of the facilities during the 1957 s u m m e r season. 4 Under n o r m a l p e a c e t i m e conditions each tanker b a s e would be e x e r c i s e d only as n e c e s s a r y to maintain the proficiency of tanker units and to r o t a t e the s t o r e d fuel. One full s c a l e e x e r c i s e , employing up to forty t a n k e r s , would be planned for each b a s e once per y e a r , lasting l e s s than a week. Additionally, it might be found n e c e s s a r y to stage approximately six t a n k e r s through each b a s e 000031 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information 2. S E C R E.T once or twice y e a r l y to r o t a t e the fuel to p r e v e n t s its d e t e r i o r a t i o n . These tanker b a s e s would not be used for b o m b e r s . A e r i a l refuelling e x e r c i s e s in Canada would be c l e a r e d in advance with the RCAF and scheduled at mutually s a t i s f a c t o r y p e r i o d s . All training m a n e o u v r e s would be conducted in accordance with Canadian Air Traffic Control regulations and existing Overflight A g r e e m e n t s . 5 The USAF would r e q u i r e to station a s m a l l holding detachment at each location on a p e r m a n e n t b a s i s to keep equipment s e r v i c e a b l e between training e x e r c i s e s . This detachment would c o m p r i s e about forty m i l i t a r y and seventy civilian p e r s o n n e l , but the number of US p e r s o n n e l would be r e d u c e d by whatever amount of local support could be supplied by the RCAF or the Department of T r a n s p o r t under b a s e operating a g r e e m e n t s to be developed for e a c h location. During e x e r c i s e p e r i o d s the USAF would augment the p e r m a n e n t detachment with 310 groundcrew and 280 a i r c r e w . 6 The Chiefs of Staff conclude that t h e r e a r e no m i l i t a r y objections to this USAF tanker operating r e q u i r e m e n t in C a n a d a . It is expected to be a s h o r t t e r m (10 y e a r s ) r e q u i r e m e n t , to bridge the gap between the p r e s e n t b o m b e r s ? which r e quire inflight refuelling, and the development of longer range a i r c r a f t a n d / o r m i s s i l e s . The development of these b a s e s by the United States would provide Canada with a number of f i r s t c l a s s airfields in a r e a s where facilities on this scale do not now e x i s t , thus making a significant contribution to the development of N o r t h e r n Canada, whether for civil or m i l i t a r y p u r p o s e s , and would provide facilities for the possible e s t a b l i s h m e n t of new global air r o u t e s . It is significant that these a i r fields would be expanded at no cost to Canada in either money or m a n p o w e r , REC OMMENDATIONS 7 The Chiefs of Staff r e c o m m e n d s and I c o n c u r , that: (a) the Canadian Government e x p r e s s its g e n e r a l approval to the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of tanker b a s e facilities at four b a s e s in Canada for the occasional use of the US Air F o r c e ; (b) a r r a n g e m e n t s be made through diplomatic channels for authority to be granted to the U . S . Air F o r c e to initiate action in t h r e e phases: (i) to d e t e r m i n e in detail the expansion r e q u i r e d at the four R C A p airfields at F r o b i s h e r , C h u r c h i l l , 'Cold Lake and Namao. (ii) to undertake construction as r e q u i r e d at these 'f_our b a s e s ; (iii) to conduct detailed engineering studies for the expansion of f a c i l i t i e s , if r e q u i r e d , at the r e m a i n i n g five airfields, at C o r a l H a r b o u r , Knob L a k e , Great Whale R i v e r , The P a s , and F o r t C h i m o . MINISTER O F NATIONAL D E F E N C E . Department of National Defence J a n u a r y 7th, 1957. 000032 � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDAC01796 Title A name given to the resource Memorandum To Cabinet Defence Committee Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1/7/1957 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG25-A-3-b, Volume number: 5910, File number: 50195-40, pt 1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource LAC Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource SAC Refuelling Facilities Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en