North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be conducting Exercise AMALGAM DART, an Arctic air defence exercise, from June 10 to 18, 2021. The exercise will feature a variety of military aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and United States Air Force (USAF) operating out of Alaska U.S. and other northern locations including 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta.

While the majority of exercise flights will be conducted over sparsely populated Arctic areas and at high altitudes where the public is not likely to hear or see them, there will be increased aircraft activity at Cold Lake. Residents of Cold Lake may also experience an increase in military vehicle activity around 4 Wing Cold Lake for the duration of the exercise.

During the exercise, a layered risk mitigation procedure will be employed which will strictly limit contact with the local population to the greatest extent possible in order to reduce risk of exposure to COVID-19 for exercise participants and members of local communities. Based on best practices recommended by Canadian health authorities, participating military personnel will follow established mitigation protocols, such as mask wearing, frequent cleaning of surfaces and other PPE use as appropriate.

Participating U.S. military personnel will require two negative COVID-19 tests, separated by a minimum of 5 days, with the last test prior to arriving in Canada. All exercise participants will adhere to local, Territorial/Provincial, Federal and Canadian Armed Forces/Department of National Defence guidelines, regulations and orders regarding public health measures for the duration of Exercise AMALGAM DART.

The defense of Canada and the U.S. is NORAD’s number one priority. While our air operations may change, our vigilance will not. NORAD continues to execute its missions with the same conviction and diligence that has been the command’s trademark since 1958.